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Selecting Powercenters- Question


Sundevil

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Hi everyone-

I'm trying to decide on a Powercenter. I've looked at ACS, Panamax, and Monster options. I've even tried contacting a few of the customer service departments for help. So I figured I'd ask the experts here since I haven't gotten any substantial assistance after phone calls, forums searches, and googling.

How do you select what size/model to buy? I don't want to take shortcuts but I also don't want to overbuy and have WAY more than I need. I've really honed in on the Panamax products, as I've used them in the past and had no issues with them.

I'm looking to protect a 47 inch LCD, emotiva umc-1, emotiva upa-500, blu ray player, Xbox 360, directv hd dvr box, and then the rf82 pair and rc-62.

I've tried to add up my total max wattage and I think it's roughly 3000 watts.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sundevil

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How much are you trying to spend? This is a touchy subjects for lots of people. I have been looking at the monster hts 3600 mk II for 230. APC h15 for 260, and the belkin Pf60 for 200. Those prices stay about the same except the belkin goes on sale quite a bit. If I remember correctly and it's been a while but last time I was doing a ton of research I was gonna go with the APC because of their warranty program seemed to be the best.

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On my system I use a Rockefish power console. I have two amps, BD player, avr, cable box and a plasma TV on it. I have not had any problems and mainly use it for the easy everything on/off feature. You can spend a lot more for a power center. It all depends on wheather you have noticed problems in your house with the electricity. For me this might be a little overkill since we do not have power issues for the most part. The Panamex centers are nice looking.

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If you wanna go with Panamax that would be a win win for ya. I couldn't be happier with my 5400 pm.......call Panamax and ask for herber......tell him you wanna " upgrade" your power center and they will give you 50% off retail. If asked tell em you have a older unit and are looking for something new. You don't need to turn In the old one or anything , just a beautiful 50% off. no affiliation just trying to pass the info on to help someone out.

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<snip>I'm trying to decide on a Powercenter.<snip>

<snip>I've tried to add up my total max wattage and I think it's roughly 3000 watts.<snip>

There *may* be a problem here. One 20 Amp circuit at 120 Volts is 2400 Watts max, but the National Electrical code recommends running at 80% of max or 1920 Watts. I may be wrong about this. If there are any electrician forum members reading this, please correct me. 15 Amp circuits are 1800 Watts max, 80% is 1440 Watts. A power center that has one AC plug may not have sufficient capacity to control your entire system. I recommend *measuring* the actual current draw before buying anything.

"To measure is to know." --Lord Kelvin

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I have thought about this very thing, asked my electrician friend before adding a second b&k amp on the same circuit/ Panamax unit and he said it wasn't a good idea. I have ordered another Panamax unit to handle the second amp and it's on it own dedicated 20 amp circuit. Maybe overkill but to each his own, and rather be on the side of caution

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How much are you trying to spend? This is a touchy subjects for lots of people. I have been looking at the monster hts 3600 mk II for 230. APC h15 for 260, and the belkin Pf60 for 200. Those prices stay about the same except the belkin goes on sale quite a bit. If I remember correctly and it's been a while but last time I was doing a ton of research I was gonna go with the APC because of their warranty program seemed to be the best.

I went with the Monster product referenced above and have had zero issues in the last nine months. My HT system sees "feast or famine" usage, meaning that I'm either not using it at all or pushing it really hard for hours and hours during parties. Again, zero issues. I've heard good things on here about Panamax but as mentioned earlier it can be a touchy subject with some saying power centers are hogwash. For me, a couple hundred towards protecting a several thousand HT was a no brainer, hogwash or not.

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If you all want to know the truth about power centers, conditioners etc. contact President of Earthquake sound Joseph Seyhoun as he will tell you the truth. Look up his name on the internet you will see his credentials. I do not use any power conditioners as he says they will choke your amplifier. I had a hard time believing this till he explained it to me. Now that I dont run one I can hear the difference. My subwoofer {earthquake supernova 15} is louder and sounds better as does my amplifier {earthquake cinenova grande 5}. These companys are ripping u guys off with their high priced power conditioners. I am only an audiophile like most of you not an electronics fricken genius like Joseph and he can explain it much better than I. He is more than happy to talk to you. He almost got angry with me for running a high end power conditioner with his equipment and he definetely stands behind his product. I know everyone has their own opinion but if you heard it from him and for yourself I think you would be suprised.

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Emotiva suggests not using a power conditioner for their amps, and am guessing since subs have amps, those as well. However for everything else such as the TV, processor, xbox, etc..., I like having the peace of mind I am somewhat protected. Two years ago, lightning struck our house and all the TVs in the house were destroyed except for the one behind the power conditioner, so I think they are worth having. As far as the difference between my lower end model and a higher end model, not sure if there are any extra benefits to be had.

When I did have my XPA-5 hooked to the monster HDP1800, there was some kind of a power surge or brownout during the night. The HDP1800 was making a buzzing sound, and the outlet for the amp was no longer putting any power through to the amp. I freaked out and thought my amp was destroyed, but when I plugged it into the wall it was fine, and there it stayed. Then I pushed the reset button the HDP1800 on the amp outlet started working again, so it is nice to know that the power station is doing something.

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There are power centers out there that have Hugh current banks on them specifically for things like avr's and subs. Just knowing these things helps you do the research you need to do for yourself. I myself am gonna buy something like a 2 plug outlet for each corner a sub will be plugged in and then a power conditioner with a battery back up so my projector can cool the bulb in the event of an outage. And whatever that is plugged into will probably be plugged into a brick wall. I think that's what they are called. They are supposed to be the best in power protection just ugly and two plugs on the model I want. And it can be tucked behind my rack out of sight.

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I am not an electrician, but I never exceed 450 watt/ 3.5 amp running all my gear on the high side of things. I hope some more knowledgeable members chime in.

you are correct - when I got my Sunfire sub with a 1000 watt amp I was interested in how much power it really was pulling since I have my Plasma, receiver, PS3, DISH box and some lights in the living room all on the same 15 amp circuit...

anyway so I got a "kilz a watt" from home depot and pluged it into the sub and with the sub really hitting hard it max got up to about 250- 290 watts. now it could have been taking more for very brief times that the cheap meter couldnt read but you get the point. during normal listening it rarely got over 50 watts and usually 20 watts.

the TV ranged from 350 - 450 watts depending on how much white was displayed. the 4 year old 50inch plasma really sucks in the power...

the DISH box was 60-65 watts no matter what - recording or not

my receiver with all speakers crossed over at 80HZ playing very loud surround sound got up around 190 total and over 250 playing full range but less than 50 playing full surround at "normal" levels

so basically unless I am really playing it loud I am only taking about (350 for TV, 60 for DISH, 50 for receiver, 30ish for sub) so roughly 500 watts total and that is with the TV.

I would want to have plenty of power to my speakers if I had a real dedicated HT room just for the extra dynamics for the sound. But in reality it is not needed

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Completely agree with above comments on " running " draw........but my point was my b&k 7250 pulls 13 amps on a cold start. I tripped the breaker when I had the other b&k av1260 on the same circuit........house is only 5 years old. Running both amps on the same circuit would prob be fine, but the initial startup kept tripping it. Running my 5.1 to ear bleeding levels 63 plasma , bd, denon 3311' and b&k 7250 usually displays around 5 - 6 amps

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Anyone else agree with going directly to a wall outlet with amps, and that you are choking your system running amps through power conditioner.

I don't believe in the better picture or sound or any of that , I just like it for the protection from our crazy south Florida lightning storms. To me it seems like a big risk going right to the wall with sensitive electronics......hopefully the more knowledgable will chime in here.

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to determine if your amp is getting "choked" just get one of those meters I said earlier. 1st plug it into the outlet and the amp directly into it. run it through some tests and note the power draw and total power used after a set time. Then plug the conditioner into the outlet directly, plug the kilz a watt deal into the conditoner then amp into it. Run the same test and see

lightning strike to your house will blow everything no matter what conditioner you have unless you are very lucky. it is impossible to say exactly what will happen in that situation. small surges or fluctuations (if your area has major problems with it) the conditioner will smooth that out. but at the same time modern electronics are designed to run on slightly different voltage (not strictly 120 volts) and be just fine. and home electronics are not that sensitive for the most part.

go to a hospital and ask them how they have their equipment plugged in - you will see mostly they have a "hospital grade" surge protected outlet at least. you can buy these at HD for $30.

I can imagine some pros to these super expensive surge protectors but honestly like others have said it is just another way for companies to get $200 - $500+ of your money based on mostly marketing hype and something else pretty to put in your equipment rack.

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That's one moster of an amp. I am not surprised of the amp draw. That amp need a separate line/circuit. When I brought my Yamaha M 70's I noticed a higher power draw with one of the amps. I took it to the shop and had it refurbished. Now it uses a lot less power. They replaced some caps and other things to make it like new. I told the seller of the problem, so he refunded me most of the purchase money since I had to repair it. Final cost of the amp $50 plus $300 for the repair job. The point to get across, is that the power center was diagnostic in addition to it's regular functions.

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Anyone else agree with going directly to a wall outlet with amps, and that you are choking your system running amps through power conditioner.

I don't believe in the better picture or sound or any of that , I just like it for the protection from our crazy south Florida lightning storms. To me it seems like a big risk going right to the wall with sensitive electronics......hopefully the more knowledgable will chime in here.

A lot of amps have built in surge protectors, so they should be fine.

Going having electronics blown, has anyone had a pair of speakers blown due to power surges or lightning strike? Would they make a sound with that much power going through them? I might try and make a speaker with an RMS of 'lightning strike'.

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