BMU 1500 Balanced Mains Unit mk II

The BMU 1500 mkII™ is the first of our balanced mains units, offering high performance and suitable for most small and medium sized systems. The new 'mkII' version has a completely new design which we can confidently say is the best performing version of this model we've ever offered.





The BMU 1500 mkII is capable of powering small and medium sized Hi-Fi and Home Cinema systems and can deliver a massive 1.5kVA - 1500 watts - of pure power via its single transformer technology. The new model features a re-designed internal transformer and the resulting unit is quieter in operation and more efficient than the previous model... what's more, each Balanced Mains Unit is now tailored to your individual set up for the best performance.





The rear of the BMU 1500 mkII is fitted with five UltraSocket™ mains outlets. They are inverted to make plugging in your cables straight forward. Mains input is via a high current, 20A IEC socket and is filtered for additional mains purification. The BMU 1500 mkII is mounted in an equipment-sized fire-resistant ABS case, making it perfect for housing in an equipment rack. It’s heavy, so we recommend sitting it on the bottom shelf.



Electricity delivered to your home is naturally unbalanced; in other words there’s on average 230V on live and 0V on neutral. To ‘balance’ it, you need to split the mains supply and put 115V on live and 115V on neutral. These are 180 degrees out of phase to each other with respect to ground. Any differences between them is zeroed to ground (phase cancellation). The differences essentially being unwanted electrical noise. A lower noise floor is a resultant factor of the balanced power.

Because there’s still a 230V difference between live and neutral at the sockets you don’t need to make any modifications to equipment to work on a balanced mains supply.






If you are familiar with balanced audio circuits in Hi-Fi systems, you’ll be aware of the benefits of balanced systems. A Hi-Fi system with a balanced circuit (usually connected together with ‘XLR’ type interconnects) splits the audio signal into two halves – negative and positive. The benefit of this is that ‘noise’ on the positive half of the signal is cancelled out by ‘noise’ on the negative half of the signal. If done correctly, the resulting sound can be of higher quality than an unbalanced circuit.

Many recording studios use a balanced mains supply because it is so very effective at reducing the level of buzzes, hums and induced noise into the audio signal from the mains.The benefit of a balanced mains supply is that both 115V ‘legs’ are of different polarity – so that noise on the live legs is effectively cancelled out by noise on the neutral. It’s this noise cancellation that’s essentially the same as balanced audio.

In our opinion, feeding your system with balanced mains is the very best way to reduce mains noise and get the best performance from your system.






Before despatch, each Balanced Mains Unit is factory-adjusted to your specific domestic mains voltage for best performance and efficiency. To do this, on receipt of your order we will send you a voltage meter which you should use to monitor your mains voltage over a 48 hour period. Once you have an average figure, we will use this to match the BMU before shipping.

This is not user-adjustable but can be adjusted free of charge back at the factory if the need arises – for example, if you move house.



Safety is of paramount importance with any electrical item and our BMUs are no different. For your security, all our Balanced Mains Units feature two stage magnetic and thermal protection. The main on/off switch is integrated with a fast acting MCB (magnetic circuit breaker) which immediately cuts power in the event of a fault on the mains wiring. The second stage is thermal protection; an internal cut off switch is fitted to the transformer that will cut power in the event of excessive heat build up.



The BMU 1500 does not come with a mains cable, allowing you to choose our own; we recommend the Evolution-300 PowerKord or better, fitted with the 16A IEC.

New custom-wound single transformer

Internally wired with Kimber Kable

Fitted with 5 inverted UltraSockets

1500 Watt output

Pre-transformer filtering

Hand built to match your mains voltage

Cone feet support

New bespoke ABS box design with acoustic damping

Sleek, black, anodised front panel

High Current 16A IEC input

2 stage magnetic and thermal protection

Dimensions: 440mm W, 110mm H including feet, 320mm D

Weight: 13Kg

To maximize performance from your BMU, we recommend that any additional, plug-in filters you have (from any brand) are connected 'before' the BMU. Do not plug them into the output sockets of the BMU. While this isn't a safety issue, our extensive listening tests showed that they worked best before the BMU. Indeed cleaning up the power before it goes into the BMU has the potential to sound even better!

 

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