Surge protectors?

[ridged84]

Any suggestions?:confused:

[mantis]

Yeah,
Monster power center of your choice.Depending on the level of gear you own.
I personally like the rack mount models.

[ridged84]

What model are you using?

[trubluluc]

I'm using a monster 2500 and like it because it has more outlets than most rack units, and because I can place it on the floor out of sight and it doesn't take up any space on my rack.

-Luc

[goingganzo]

i am using monster 3500 it has the little back lit voltage guage

[mantis]

I use the HTS5000.I'm thinking about upgrading to the HTPS7000.I got to play with it some more to see if it's worth the extra cash.Avs2000 ,I'd like to own as well.

[del44]

I'm using the monster 3500 also. Another good thing is the switched outlets. You can use your receiver to activate them. I use mine for my subwoofers.

[jmasterj]

Monster Power HTS-5000mkII
Monster Power HTS-1000

Surge protection, + clean power.

[TroyD]

I'm curious about this as I only use a normal surge protector (AR, 14.99).

Can anybody attest to what kind of real improvements are derived from a line conditioner? Both my HT and mancave run off, essentially dedicated circuits.

I'm curious as, this is something I've kicked around but never given much serious thought.

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

Troy, in my limited experience I think they do make a difference. Of course this depends on how 'clean' the power is at the jack to begin with.

I've got a buddy (Greg, you met him, he's the dude that we met at Hillcrest Hifi that bought the B&W 303s) that lives in Arizona, and apparently he was getting a TON of RFI/EMI noise on his (non-dedicated) circuit. He bought one of the Monster jobs and noted an obvious improvement in his HT rig sound-wise.

Garbage in, garbage out theory holds some weight here, imo, but can vary from state to state, city to city, block to block.....

On a side note, I've had good luck with 'Nady' rack mount surge protectors/noise suppressors, search on them at Yahoo Shopping (about $50-60). Parts Express has a decent model for about $75 if memory serves.....

Cheers,
Russ

[TroyD]

cool, I'm certainly not disputing the fact that they probably help, just curious about them.

You know, the whole value per dollar issue.

BDT

[mantis]

Troyd,
I'd say there worth every cent.I noticed an overall better performing system as a whole.
Audio was cleaner and full of life.Seems like someone removed a film from the speakers.Nice job they do.Not to mention they carry a nice warranty.

Id get into a good quality peice,better sound better picture, protected gear,all for under a grand...well worth it.My HTS5000 was 599.99.I'm now looking to upgrade to the new HTPS7000, and a avs2000.They come in at about 3 grand for the combo.But just might be all worth it after the truck load of cash I drop on my new system.......man this hobbie is expensive............but worth it!!!

[RuSsMaN]

Wow, $599 to 3 Large?

I think I'd be upgrading some components before I drop that kind of coin on a couple protected/filtered outlets.....

Cheers,
Rooster

[mantis]

The hts5000 suits my current system just fine.Nice and well matched.
The new system will be another story.
The avs2000 is a voltage stabilizer.It's massive and a benifit to ones system.The HTPS7000 has some new technology's like splitting up the voltage into 2 60 volt rails for filtering I'm told,and combining the power back at the outlet.
This combined with a straight 20 amp circuit to my gear closet and I think I will have power clean without using a generator.

[TroyD]

Thanks for the input......

I dunno, for me a couple hundred bucks is steep for something of that nature.

See, this is what gets me and this is not directed at anyone in particular....but it seems that folks, when the get a new piece of gear, it's a night and day improvement over what they had before. This I have a hard time buying. Most gear that I demo or buy or whatever, most of the time the differences are subtle. I dunno, I'm just rambling but sometimes I question the actual improvement of things as opposed to the psychological effect.

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

Speaking of 'nature', I wouldn't worry so much about the 'protection' offered. Filtering/noise suppression sure, but protection, no.

Most residential electrical lines will not see any 'spikes' of any substance, not anywhere near high enough to damage your gear. Even the 'cheap' power strips offer $25000 and up in 'protection', why? Because it doesn't happen.

If your house, condo, apartment, teepee etc gets hit by 10000+ volts of mother nature, nothing will protect it, unless it is unplugged from the wall. (which is exactly what I do living in tornado alley)

Cheers,
Rooster

[TroyD]

I agree completely with that and that's why I use 15 dollar surge protectors.

My question is with the line conditioning portion of it. To be honest, it would take some serious convincing for me to drop that kind of dough on a line conditioner. I'm not saying they aren't worth it, but I'm skeptical.

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

Go get your yahoo shopping on, get your Nady level 1 RFI/EMI filtering on for well under a Franklin, and see if you notice a difference......

If you DO, then research the terms/specs and see whats out there... I've seen pics of that hole you live in, it might do ya good to check it out....

Don't get me wrong, I grew up in a hole worse than that, but I've been cultured since....

Cheers,
Rooster

[TroyD]

You know, I could be picking up some interference from the new chrome Cragar mags that I just put on my double-wide.....

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

Man, alloy wheels can do it, you sure they are new? Aren't these the ones you found down at the 'pick-u-part' on that 73' Vega?

Cheers,
Rooster

[nascarmann]

At least he didn't get the white spokes off my house.......

[TroyD]

Well, they are 'new' to me anyway.......

BDT

[HBombToo]

TroyD, I'm not an expert at all this buy far but I have a Q then a statement...

If your system is powered up with NO source from Preamp into your Amp and you crank up the volume on the Amp do you hear a HUM?

If not then I ask what type of audio enhancement could be expected if there is no noise source in the first place.

I am very sckeptical in regards to those types of refinements if there is no issue in the first place.

Surge protection is a different story but as Russ states nothing stops a lightning bolt that is hungry. Ensuring your 20amp breaker is in good working order and the power system is properly grounded is the best thing 1 can do, IMO of course.

HBomb

[TroyD]

Agreed HBomb.....I think we are on the same page there...

BDT

[HBombToo]

Cool
In addition the majority of members have very good equipment with very robust on board power supplies. The power supply is itself a filter and I would imagine have very very small transients riding on the dc leg or put another way, "very clean dc".

The dc is what should be noise free.

[Ceruleance]

good point about the hum. the volume on my jvc goes to 90 then 'overloads' but you can only hear the hum if you turn it up to about 85, I've never listened above 75, and certainly not at that level for more than 5 minutes, and I'm pretty damn masochistic about my volume. Obviously everyone to his own, but 500-3000 in new dvd's and music sounds a lot more rewarding than getting rid of the extra hum. It seems to me like line conditioning products would be more marketed to people who's power source has inherent problems that need to be overcome before they can even start to have a quality system, not to the average consumer just trying to get that extra degree out of their gear.

my two cents, not trying to offend anyone

[fireshoes]

I think they are very nice additions to HT systems. Buy one and try it out. If you don't see significant improvement, return it! :)

BTW, check out this link I found from Monster's website for Monsterous Custom Installation project of the year. Wow!

http://www.monstercable.com/cimonster/images/Rack.jpg

[madmax]

I have the triplite LCR-2400 which has both surge supression and brown out protection. It really does help keep the voltage stable. As my amp (I used to use some carvers) got louder you could see my kitchen light (which is on the same circuit) pulsating a little. When the amp was plugged directly into the wall you could also see the light on the vu meter pulsate. When plugged into the LCR-2400 the vu meter stopped pulsating. This tells me the input voltage to the amp was very stable. This has to have some effect on sound quality. I have never done a reasonable amount of testing to see what actually changes about the sound though.
madmax

[madmax]

Oh,
Here is a link to the LCR-2400.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=125-105

[nadams]

At Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, they get regular power surges (at 3 minutes to the hour, every hour). Freshmen can actually hear them.... they make any clock plugged into the wall gain time... and they REALLY screw up computers. My sister's computer had all sorts of power supply problems (random reboots, etc) until she put it on one of my $3 surge protectors.... everything's fine now. Slightly different situation, but if you happen to have bad power, just think of what it could do to your HT setup. I'm not advocating the use of $600 line conditioners, though. However, a surge protector does not stop me from getting a "crack" in the speakers when my air conditioner compressor kicks on and off in my room.

DooD

[HBombToo]

good point DooD! In that case perhaps a conditioner is warranted. But if no problem like that is happening... well then I ask WHY?

HBomb

[nadams]

Originally posted by HBombToo
good point DooD! In that case perhaps a conditioner is warranted. But if no problem like that is happening... well then I ask WHY?

HBomb

Agreed totally. Although the occasional "cracking" in my speakers is annoying, it doesn't seem worth it for me to buy a conditioner... As long as it's on at lease a surge protector. It might be nice to have that conditioner, but it certainly isn't required, for me.

DooD

[jmierzur]

I see you are looking at power conditioning.

Have you considered the following:

ExactPower EP15A ($1799)
Balanced Power Technologies BP-2 ($999) or Equitech (more$$)

The ExactPower unit will regulate and CORRECT the AC wave. The BPT unit will provide balanced power for your entire system. Each unit is rated for 15A. You can also find demo ExactPower EP2000 units rated for 2000 watts and use a BP-2.5.

The Monster units have certain limitations. The AVS 2000 will regulate, but not correct the AC wave. The HTPS7000 only has small transformers (balanced power) for source components. High current component power is just filtered, not balanced. (Please verify these points to formulate your on conclusions)

With the ExactPower and BPT or Equitech combination, you can get 15A of regulated, corrected and balanced power for your system. AC does not get any better than this. The cost will even be less than the Monster solution and provide a better end result.

I have tried a PS Audio PP300 in my system. All benefits provided by having my source components using the PP300 were negated by the noise of the unit's cooling fan. This unit was returned after one night of listening tests.

I have a BPT BP-2.5 on order for my 20A circuit. I will post a comparision of the BP-2.5 vs. a HTS3600 or HTS5100 (or other manufactures). The winner will be used in my system.

Monster states that their products are new and the first of their kind. Untrue, other companies have had these types (and better) of products on the market for many years. Monster is now playing catch-up.

Good luck with your evaluations.