Power conditioners

[SonicSeeker]

What would be the brands to look at in power conditioners and what ones not to.

And what would be a safe price point.

I have a Yamaha RX-Z11,Denon 3800BDCI,SUNFIRE TRUE SIGNATURE SUB,Denon DCD1015,DVR,Klipsch RF-7II,RC-64II,six KSP-S6.

[SonicSeeker]

anybody

[PrestonTom]

You should probably tell us why you want to get a power conditioner. What is your expectation?

1. Are you are aiming for safety and preventing surges from damaging equipment?

2. Are you trying to solve hum from a grounding problem?

3. Are you trying to lower the noise floor of your system?

Regarding #1: this is a good thing and you want to concentrate on the appropriate specs

Regarding # 2: this is a very indirect, and not always an effective way to deal with grounding problems. IOW, you don't need an expensive conditioner to fix a ground loop.

3. Regarding #3: the total noise floor will most likely be determined by ambient noise in the room and noisy electronics. A power conditioner will usually not do much to lower the noise floor.

What are your thoughts?

-Tom

[SonicSeeker]

Protection, longevity, sound quality

[RockOn4Klipsch]

APC.

Good product actually has certifications that fuhrman and monster dont have, and not nearly as expensive.

[willland]

Steal of a deal if you don't mind silver brushed aluminum. Good joule rating and battery backup.

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/753163336/apc-s15?s_c=site_search

Bill

[clermontcop]

Belkin offer's lifetime replacement. Great unit and a great price with free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001541R5W/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=4240319151&ref=pd_sl_717d7pj74x_b

[clermontcop]

And the Belkin PF-60 Joules rating is 7114, which is pretty good. 13 outlets with a handy outlet located in the front of the unit. Looks good also.

[WMcD]

It is always fun to tweek and buy equipment which gives you peace of mind.

OTOH, I always say that you can't make things better by solving a problem which does not exist.

As far as sound quality, I really doubt there can be be any improvement. There is no real problem.

For example, your computers work okay, your big screen TV works okay, your cable modem works okay, the game box works okay. Yet somehow people think that their audio system is not up to snuff and can be improved by a power conditioner.

I can't see the any rational reason for a power conditioner unless you have some identifiable problem.. Of course, maybe you do, but let us know about it.

WMcD

[clermontcop]

I will agree with you as far as the sound quality goes. I have had my Belking PF-60 for sometime now and I never really notice a difference in sound quality coming from my system however IMHO the power condition/surge protector is a very important and vital piece or equipment for any home theater system. Alot of home theater enthusiats do not realize that when the wife or girlfriend or whoever it may be turns on the vaccuum, blow dryer, blender, well you get my drift and that split second drop in voltage occurs it does damage to your lcd or plasma tv, of coarse we are not talking severe damage but in time it can definetly blow out some pixels. Having the power conditioner at least to my understanding prevents things like this from happening.

[WMcD]

I'll consider any data, CC.

Nonetheless. It seems that you are saying that a successive series of volatge sags will blow out a given pixel or more on a monitor.

That is contrary to my experience, and prehaps others here. For example. from time to time my laptop is powered off because of a low battery or Microsoft wanting to install an update. The same can be said of our cell phones with small monitors built in.

There are often ungraceful failures of power.

Yet we do not see pixel failure. At least to my knowledge.

It seems to me that if a pixel got burned out every time an LCD monitor go powered off from a voltage sag or a crash, we'd have a lot of junked monitors.

WMcD

[Malcolm]

...that split second drop in voltage occurs it does damage to your lcd or plasma tv, of coarse we are not talking severe damage but in time it can definetly blow out some pixels

To quote PWK: "Bullshit!"

[clermontcop]

And to quote you both "BULLSHIT". The problem with some of you members here is that you are still living in the prehistoric times, sit down read a CURRENT book and keep your degrading comments to yourself.

Line noise can result from a number of issues including random fluctuations in the AC current, inferior or damaged wiring, interference from other machines or appliances, overhead fluorescent lighting or even bad weather. "Dirty power" impedes signal clarity by causing disruption of signal integrity. In the example of a television set, static translates to a visually degraded picture or "snow." Audio signals suffer distortion. A dial-up modem might get frequent disconnects, while static on a DSL or cable modem will negatively impact data transfer speeds.

A good quality power conditioner is designed with internal filter banks to isolate the individual power outlets or receptacles on the power conditioner. This eliminates interference or "cross-talk" between components. If the application will be a home theater system, the noise suppression rating listed in the technical specifications of the power conditioner will be very important. This rating is expressed in decibels (db).

The higher the db rating, the better the noise suppression. Good units start at a rating of about 40-60db for noise filtering. If a device does not state the db rating in its specs it may be better to move on to a different model or manufacturer.

For surge suppression, be sure the unit has an adequate "maximum watt" capacity for your needs. Plasma HDTVs, for example, use more electricity than LCDs. One popular 50-inch plasma HDTV is rated at 555 watts. With a multi-channel receiver and other components, wattage can add up in a home theater system.

The power conditioner will also have a "joule" rating. A joule is a measurement of power or heat required to sustain one watt for one second, known as a watt-second. Since electrical surges are momentary spikes, the joule rating indicates how much watt-energy the suppressor can absorb at once before becoming damaged itself. The higher the joule rating, the greater the protection.

Today's computer and home theater systems represent substantial investments. For this reason some high grade power conditioners come with monetary guarantees against damage to connected equipment due to electrical surge -- in some cases up to US$500,000. These particular power conditioners also come with lifetime guarantees. Considering their cost, they are a worthwhile investment to protect equipment and provide clean power for the best possible audio/visual experience.

A fine grade power conditioner with all of the features mentioned above and a noise suppression rating of 60db might have a list price of well over one hundred US dollars, but can usually be found for US$69-$99 with some diligent shopping. Units with list prices in the two-hundred dollar range normally have extended LED indicator lights and are "flashier." They might also have higher wattage and db ratings, but this is not necessarily true, so check specifications.

[clermontcop]

While going through the basic rhetoric of DC and AC current, some discussion should be included of the 'effective power' delivered by a specific AC voltage as related to the same as DC voltage.

In other words, what is the effective power of 120 V AC when compared to the power delivered to the load by 120 V DC. Oh wait a minute this might be a question that most of you CANNOT answer.

[clermontcop]

And for those of you that do not have a clue. Here's a piece of info.

Electricity is created through the flow of electrical current through a system, called a circuit, which includes some form of conductor and a source of the current. The current consists of a stream of negatively charged electrons through the system, and in a direct current these electrons flow through the circuit in a single direction. Electrical charges flow from one charge to the other, “opposites attract” as they say, and so the negatively charged electrons naturally flow toward a positively charged area.

A direct current flows through a circuit using a conductor, which is a material, often metallic, that naturally provides a condition in which electrons can easily move. Conductive materials often work to transfer energy of any type, be it heat or electricity, so a metal surface will typically become hot faster than a nonconductive surface, and will also conduct electricity. This type of circuit is created by joining a negative and positive part of a power source, such as a battery, to either end of the circuit.

Direct current flows from the negative end, through the circuit, and ultimately reaches the positive end. By placing something that can utilize the charge, such as a light bulb, or automobile engine, on the circuit, the charge is transferred to the item as it passes toward the positive end. Many circuit diagrams show charge flowing from the positive end toward the negative end; however, this is not accurate and is often done as part of an old convention still used despite its inaccuracy.

[clermontcop]

And of coarse I am open to discussion on this topic by all means however the one's that have the smart *** comment's and nothing good to say just keep on going.

[Panacea Engineering]

Sorry for hijacking the original posters thread any further

I think it's funny that our resident expert gets all of his info form http://www.wisegeek.com/ the name truly fits. For everyone's reading pleasure, the "Expert" is great at cutting and pasting: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-power-conditioner.htm

Perhaps our expert should get away from the computer and spend some time in the real world and educate himdelf a bit more on Electrical Theory....! His sad atempt to blast our members with his so called knowledge on a subject that he clearly does not understand is rather amusing. If your total education on this subject was obtained by surfing Wise Geek, you totally have missed the boat. You were somewhat OK until you mentioned the $500,000.00 warranty...................Can you say..."Snake Oil"..?

Before you decide to educate the members of this board again, I would suggest you spend some time educating yourself, on the subject at hand. Also, it would be better if you used your own words rather than someone elses. At least give credit when you copy someone elses work.....! You may find that a few members of this board are "Smarter that the average bear"....!

BullShit is right.....!

[clermontcop]

CAN YOU SAY GO **** YOURSELF *******.

[Guest " "]

"Electricity is created through the flow of electrical current through a system, "

wrong. there is no flow in electricity. electricity is a result of atoms vibrating. the atoms remain in the same place. they do not flow.

[gnatnoop]

Panamax