Review: Keces BP-1200 – Dirty Power

Keces BP-1200

Disclaimer: The sample of the BP-1200 was sent to us in exchange for this review. Keces is not related to Headfonia in any way.

 

Intro

Dirty power.  Sounds like a problem a snake oil salesman would drum up, doesn’t it?  It sure does to me.  Of course, as long as you are getting power, that is all that matters, right?  It either comes or it doesn’t; it isn’t going to affect the sound coming out of your headphones.  At the same time, however, I noticed that, for critical listening, I’d have to do it in the late evening, generally on weekends, or the music being produced by my system just doesn’t sound as good.  During the daytime hours, the sound isn’t as clean as I know it can be.  The bass is opaque and lacking detail.  The high frequencies are unusually rolled off.  There was obviously something going on.  Even though it always seemed to happen during the day, and clean up at night, I still went through the process of elimination: Quirky cables and interconnects?  Not the issue.  Try different component combinations?  The issue persists.  Soon, the only thought I have left is power.  What if there is something to that “dirty power”.  Literally, as these thoughts are running through my head, Arthur Power gets in touch with me, asking me if I would be interested in reviewing Keces Audio’s power transformer.  This, of course, is a piece of tech that is used to help clean up, and eliminate dirty power heading into your equipment.  My response, of course, is, “are you f#%King kidding me?!”  That is timing worthy of Jack Benny right there.  Let’s see if there is any truth to all this dirty power business.

Keces Audio

Keces Audio, as you may remember, is a Taiwanese company, known mostly for their linear power supplies. They recently branched into DAC/amp territory with their S3, a terrific unit that, sadly, will probably pass under the radar, and never get the love it deserves.  Based on the quality of the Keces S3, I jumped at the chance to test some of their other wares.  The item of the day is the BP-1200 balanced isolation power conditioner.  First, I will try to offer a short explanation of what dirty power is.  To my understanding, dirty power is when high frequency electrical “noise” gets onto the mains wiring of your house.  It can be caused by houses or businesses upstream of your house, but in more modern areas it is likely to be something inside the house.  Computers, TVs and florescent bulbs can be big causes of dirty electricity.  Apartment complexes, as you can imagine, can have a really problem with this.  I am not going to go any deeper into the science here, because, for all intents and purposes, I would bet typing gibberish.  Instead of regurgitation things I only half understand, I will provide a couple informational links at the bottom.

Keces BP-1200

Keces BP-1200

Keces Audio Bp-1200

With that out of the way, let’s look at the Keces Audio’s Bp-1200 balanced isolation power conditioner.  The first thing I noticed is how heavy it is.  I went to pick up the box after it arrived and nearly threw my back out.  The website says 12kg (26lbs), but I am suspicious of that number.  Looking at it, it definitely bears a family resemblance to the S3.  It is all black and feels bullet-proof.  On the front, there is a light that tells you if the unit is on or off, and a little power button.  On the back, are four sockets to plug your gear into.  There really isn’t much to describe.  It really is just a giant black box.   The only accessory it comes with is a power cord.  Not sure what else would expect to come with something like this.

The article continues on the second page after the click HERE or below

4.1/5 - (113 votes)
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedin

Be first to comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.