what's the deal with power strips/supplies

[mistermoravec]

I've always used the 20-50 dollar surge protectors from places like costco or wal mart. I was going to pick up an apc c10 from vanns.com, but the sales guy is suggesting some other one that is 120 bucks more. I'll be running 2 klipsch sub 12s, an onkyo 1007 receiver (with four klipsch s3s hooked up) and an emotiva xpa 5 (with 4 f3s and 1 s3 hooked up) off it. Do I really need a fancy power supply or is that all "monster" type hype?

[SuBXeRo]

Welll i suppose it goes as far as saying, sometimes you are paying for the name, sometimes its electroniphile grade stuff where you just wouldnt notice a difference.

I was actually looking at power conditioners today, how odd that you brought this topic up to say the least. I was looking at panamax stuff and furman as well as tripp lites and apc's. The most important thing you can do is make sure its protected against a surge hence a higher joules count. The other half would go as far as conditioning the power going in and preventing the voltage spikes or current drops and keeping things consistant. I think i saw that some condition the power as far as bein able to eliminate ground loop noise.

Looking at them, you have alot of options as far as outlets and so on, some of it just seems a bit like overkill to me. I can't see myself dropping money on a conditioner anyways until i get some good gear but compare alot of them and see what fits your bill.

Sounds to me you need to do some more research, do a search on the web and see what you come up with

[mistermoravec]

Does anyone else have any comments or advice.

So, originally I was interested in the APC C10 for $50.

Salesman suggests the APC H10 for 180.

Is the extra 130 dollars worth it. The equipment I'll hook up to it is listed in op. Essentially an Emotiva xpa-5 amp, an onkyo 1007 receiver, and 2 klipsch sub 12s.
It'll be in a living room set up in a house that was built in 2006, in a development less than 5 years old. The point being, the house wiring and the wiring running to the house is all new.

[Cal Blacksmith]

For what it is worth, my gear runs on generic power strips / surge protection. About $5 on sale.

[mistermoravec]

that is what I like to hear. Any other comments?

[Triaxtremec]

I have theater set ups in my home, my living room as well as a dedicated theater room, both of which I am using power conditioners. Currently I am using Monster Power 2400 powercenters, now you can choose whichever brand you want. The main thing is it protects my components from power surges as well as stops my video components from electrically interferring with my audio components therefore helping provide the best picture and sound from my components.

[Thaddeus Smith]

i use an APC pdu meant for server cages. not sure what, if any, filtering it performs ..but if it's good enough for 5U servers, it's good enough for me.

[wuzzzer]

I have theater set ups in my home, my living room as well as a dedicated theater room, both of which I am using power conditioners. Currently I am using Monster Power 2400 powercenters, now you can choose whichever brand you want. The main thing is it protects my components from power surges as well as stops my video components from electrically interferring with my audio components therefore helping provide the best picture and sound from my components.

Yes, and mainly because it says Monster on the box. []

[Triaxtremec]

it has nothing to do with the fact that its a MONSTER product, granted there cables are over rated but a surge protector is a good investment no matter what brand you purchase.

[mistermoravec]

so the apc c10 should be fine with 2 klipsch sub 12s, an onkyo 1007 receiver, and an emotiva xpa-5 hooked up to it?

[wuzzzer]

That seems like a lot of high power devices to hook up to a single power filter/outlet.

[mistermoravec]

would there be ill effects?

[DrWho]

would there be ill effects?

I just looked up the specs and it's rated for 15A, which would be 1,800 Watts of power. Each Sub 12 is 300W, and the XPA-5 is 1000W, which leaves 200W for your receiver, so I think you'll be fine.

You're not likely to draw the full RMS of your system anyway since Klipsch speakers tend to be extremely efficient. Worst case scenario, the breaker trips on the power strip and everything turns off.

"Upgrading" your power strip is really a waste of money unless you're trying to address some specific electrical issue in your house.

[mistermoravec]

Thanks DrWho.

So I think I will buy one, if the breaker trips I'll buy another one and divide up the pieces. Buying two of the c10 is still 80 bucks cheaper than the other one, which I think is 15a as well.

[Saturn5]

I use an APC power conditioner. It does more than just protect against power surges. It also filters line noise and can trim the voltage to maintain a steady voltage into the system. I notice when I crank up the system, it goes into voltage boost mode, suggesting my home voltage may drop slightly under those conditions.

How much have you spent on all of your home theater equipment? Now compare that with $50 vs $200 to protect it.

If you're spending thousands of dollars on electronics, why cheap out with the yard sale power protection? It's like buying a $2000 computer with a $20 power supply, and then wondering why it reboots all the time and your motherboard dies after 6 months.

[mistermoravec]

So you are saying there is a dollar to dollar ratio based on how much I've spent on equipment to how much I should spend on my surge protector? Does the same go for speaker wires? You have me worried here because I bought my speaker wire at monoprice thinking that it was all the same. Hopefully the ratio only applies to power protection and not everything else. Could someone please describe the exact ratio I should use, that way I can best determine how much I should spend on a surge protector.

[Oblio]

So you are saying there is a dollar to dollar ratio based on how much I've spent on equipment to how much I should spend on my surge protector? Does the same go for speaker wires? You have me worried here because I bought my speaker wire at monoprice thinking that it was all the same. Hopefully the ratio only applies to power protection and not everything else.

I've got 2 KHorrns, 4 Heresy, a HK AVR-254 connected with $70 of monoprice speaker wire, banana connectors and HDMI cable. No worries

[wuzzzer]

Wow, the APC C10 in silver is on sale for $49.77 at vanns!

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/753636804/apc-c10

Regular price of $199.77!

Its also at a buy-it-now on eBay for $52.99 w/free shipping. With bing.com cashback that makes it $48.75! I just bought one. Right now I have my HDTV and my receiver plugged directly into a wall outlet. I have my other devices plugged into a $5 power strip!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390075866524&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[WMcD]

I'm very skeptical about the value of the power strips or conditioners.

We have to look at individual claims.

Part of claims is whether there is a problem to be solved. (1) Solving a problem which is not there in the first place does not make sense. The second issue (2) is that if there is a problem, can these devices solve them.

A) Voltage spikes. If so, from what and how? All our gear is essentially hooked up in parallel with every electrical device in the house. Essentially, it seems impossible that the voltage at a given outlet is going to go high, save for a lightning strike nearby. In that case, we've got a boatload of problems. But is that the issue?

The theory is that the little MOV is going to short out and clamp the voltage to our amp. It is difficult to believe that anything short of a lightning strike is going to drive up voltage on every appliance in the house.

Odd noise on the line caused by local appliances. This has some merit. If there is a lamp dimmer putting noise on the line, the units with filters (in additional to the MOV) might help. I'm not sure.

On this subject we see some theory of the sellers which is pretty much non sense.

The "salesman's pitch" goes that there is grung on the a.c. lines (maybe true). What is actually correct is that the power supplies in our amps and receivers DO filter this out. If the power supplies can filter out 60 Hz and convert it to d.c., they certainly will do the same for grunge.

If you listen to the amp with no audio signal and it is silent, this means that the power supply IS removing or converting all the 60 Hz and noise -- to d.c (proper for driving the transistors or tubes).

The pitch, though, is that somehow the grunge on the line somehow gets past the power supply and affects the rest of circuits. This is just not possible. If you can't hear it in silence, it just ain't there.

C) One thing I'll give them is that some strips have connections for modems and phone lines. In that situation a lighning stike, even distant, could burn out the front end of a modem, etc. You have to wonder whether our modems don't have MOVs. to address the situation in the first place.

I just don't see the reason to spend money for the salesman's pitch.

Wm McD.

[wuzzzer]

I agree with you Gil. I wouldn't spend more than the $50 that I spent on the APC unit on a power conditioner/strip/etc. There's no way I would have spent the normal price of $200 on it! My main reason for getting the unit was to have protection against lightning strikes and the like for my TV and receiver.