[clpetersen]

Originally Posted by urbanluthier

I have the BP-17 cubed with phono stage and find it an excellent pre amp. One advantage the 17 has over the BP-26 is the excellent volume tracking which is very precise at low levels. Also the remote switchable inputs and esp the balance control are very useful. Compared to the pre section of my old B60 the 17 is less upfront sounding and perhaps a tad smoother. Really subtle though

The BP17 is a very quiet pre amp. Although I had a heck of a time getting rid of ground loop problem with my Esoteric K-05x (connected by balanced inputs). Finally had to float the ground on the Esoteric plug. I'm rather annoyed about this. To be clear the Esoteric is entirely at fault not the Bryston. Madding considering everything is plugged into a BIT 15.

Thanks! Very helpful. Yes, ground loops can be everyone's nightmare.

I had one (more likely a 60 Hz pick-up) between the single ended multichannel outputs on the OPPO 205 connected into a multichannel ATI amp. Solved by using a balanced to single ended cable (balanced input on the ATI). The common mode rejection on the ATI input took care of it, indicating more of a 60 common mode pick-up noise than a ground loop. OPPO was the cause. Took more than 5 minutes to figure it out though.