Running power to a $2500 entertainment center… does it really matter if I buy a sweet surge protector from stereo advantage or a basic one from walmart…
a 10 dollar one from walmart… and why.? what makes the difference?
thanks
for a $2500 system I would run at least this
http://www.panamax.com/products.cfm?group=1&sec=detail&id=273&ly=h
I am personally running the 5500 now, AC line regeneration>*
basically the $10 one from walmart is a glorified outlet expander, something of quality will monitor voltage and amperage
just read some of this to get an idea why they exactly do http://www.panamax.com/about.cfm?sec=testimonials
edit: just looked at the link, ugh don’t get that either, get something that allows isolation of banks as well…
thats RIDICULOUS lol… hmmmm so shy away from a 10 dollar one… is there a difference between the monster one and a basic one then?
that monster one that you posted is no different than the $10 one from walmart, its just more because it says monster and people beleive that BB sells them for more
http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000526;p=0
Also a standard surge protector will not clip from undervoltage which is just as bad as over voltage
however, that being said a lot of it depends on the wiring and age of your house
Well, i suppose they both do the same thing… although monster sucks, it will be slightly better than a $2 one. The really cheap ones well… suck… Just get the monster one, it s probably going to have some beefier internal wiring anyways. But its not like one of those is going to really help you much anyways… It could, but it wont.
Auctually, the one you linked to looks like a overpriced POS… n/m buy a really sweet one from walmart…
All the low cost ones work the same anyways.
word… the house is a new house… built in the late 90’s id imagine… no big deal… not my stereo or tv… was just curious as to what the difference was. and if it was worth the 30-40 dollar difference between the 2 units…
next question 1950 joules vs 3200 joules. etc etc… do those numbers really matter?
sorry for the noobish questions, im not an electrician, nor do i claim knowledge in that field lol
Aside from what everyone is going to tell you based on something they read on the internet, buy the cheap one. I work in a field where I see tons of power surges, and lightning strikes and what I can tell you is this… Nothing will save you from any type of major power surge.
I have seen countless accounts of this, from $300 surge protectors to $2 surge protectors they all have the same outcome, BAD. Don’t waste your money on an expensive one it will not save your equipment. And I know people are going to argue this, so I am not even go to click back to see the replies to this thread because I have seen all there is to see on this subject and I know the truth, they will not save you in a power surge/lightning strike.
The only reason their are high dollar surge protectors is because the have insurance policies on them that will cover what is damaged when it happens, and that’s only if you can prove it is their product that failed and prove the value of you items.
So all that being said buy the cheap one.
A cheap one is MOV based and they degrade every time a surge is absorbed. After some time they won’t protect anything.
I would buy a UPS (battery backup) with a pure sine wave output. A battery alone is a excellent power conditioner. It will cover brownouts and all sorts of shit.
Now people are buying $2500 plasmas and other $$ gear. I would not be a cheap fuck (also read STUPID) and buy a shitbox strip from Wally World
btw Monster Sucks… Buy Tripp-Lite or something
:word:
Battery backup or something like this:
http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=110
And make sure your outlet is really grounded.
Wow, that thing’s only $62 bucks at provantage. :tup:
^ That thing is prety solid. But, really… theyre not going to help in a serious over voltage situation. The only real thing you can and SHOULD do is, when it starts to get really crappy outside, umplug all your sensitive electronics’s… My receiver blew up 2 years ago during a storm, plugged into some decent surge protected strip. Not that i though it would work, its just, they all are surge protectors…
I don’t know… I think it all depends.
We use APC UPS’s here at work, and been subject to COUNTLESS brownouts/blackouts over the past few years and never once had a computer or any other piece of electronics die on us (minus a few UPS’s going bad)
I like my panamax… I don’t have the badass regeneration feature, but I got a good deal so I can’t bitch.
it scares me these days how much money you can spend on home audio and end up with total crap (for any part of the system)
I have a APC UPS on my computers and whatnot. But my audio equipment is plugged directly into the wall, no surge in the way. Everyone i know plugs dirrectly into the wall and never had a problem. That reciever was the only thing that blew on me, and it was plugged into a cheapo power strip that claimed to have surge protection. It blew up during a storm, so i assumed it was from that. But, i could be wrong…
Im just saying that, while it may help, dont assume its going to stop any REAL surge from trashing anything…
But yes, a good UPS will run your equipment off its own power when there is a under / over voltage condition, and could possibly save it… But the modified square wave those things put out is some nasty power…
regeneration is where its at. Other than that get a cheap one. Most if not all of these surge protectors have movs in them anyway. And if its a big enough surge, the mov will burn away sacrificially. I really dont think that it going to save ur equipment if you have a serious surge. I heard a neighborhood in hamburg had a problem with a transformer (not really sure) last year on the buffalo storm, people got hit with 150+V instead of the normal 120. Blew everybodys shit up. Even with a surge protector im not sure it would have saved anything
read more about people with panamaxes and other higher end “Surge Protectors”
also if they just plug into the wall they really do not have that good of equipment
I know about the panamaxes, and whats wrong with plugging directly into a dedicated outlet running right to your own breaker? The way i see it, putting anything in the path thats not needed is useless. And i dont like the concept of power regeneration, and they normally add their own sound to the whole system.