the darkest day here people. my BS has died on me.
it was one from the very first batches. it had the common power glitch everyone knows about, which was cured with the retrofit in January. I didn’t find the rhythmic hum thing particularly annoying to live with, but there were phase problems and well, why not fix it if solution is available?
alas, it seems now that the retrofit introduced its own problems which led to the sad end. after the installation, I noticed the G-comp glitching every now and then, reacting as if it was engaged and overloaded even w/o anything hooked up. this went away after power cycling the unit. sometimes twice or more.
later I saw the BS doing weird led-dimming after power up sometimes. so I feel it has to do with electricity supply to the board. my mistake was not to get in touch with SSL immediately — both problems described didn’t emerge too often, so I went on playing, thinking it will be this way and now get worse, cuz you know, why should it? the (electrical) system looked stable, even if the glitches are a part of it.
it turnt out not so stable: today instead of just switching on, it went into the constant power-on-and-off REM dream, leds pulsing in unison at 60bpm 
we’ll see what SSL has to say. but as I’m out of the EU, and out of the 12 month warranty, my mood is gloom.
I loved the device. might buy again even if they deny me any kind of support/return/repair.
alternatives would be more expensive, though I’m contemplating going for a Metric Halo converter with some outboard stuff, or Cranborne 500r8 — it still feels easier and more productive just to have a BS+some outboard stuff for mastering/finishing touches atm then to assemble smth like BS for less channels but more versatile and much more expensive even if we talk 2 stereo and 2 mono paths. but it’s something one should consider, especially if 2ch is enough.
that this thing doesn’t die any time soon…
