Tom Adams Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 After researching this power conditioner/surge protector topic (which BTW, I want to extend a sincere thanks to all of you here who have provided opinions/suggestions/recommendations/comment/etc. about this subject over the past many months), I feel Im more confused than ever. Maybe Im over-thinking this. I dunno. But I really am not sure which way to go. I know the Monster Power route is a bit over-priced, but they offer coax cable hook-ups that the Furman and Tripp-Lite units dont. The Furman and Tripp-Lites appear to offer better surge protection and possibly better filtering. So what the hell am I to do? Have I over-looked units from Furman or Tripp-Lite that have coax connections or does it even make a crap? Is Monster Power not such a bad way to go? Am I frustrated? Hell yeah! Someone please - please come to my rescue!!!! Wait....that might not be possible. Seriously though, if you guys can steer me in the right direction Id appreciate it. I dont really want to spend $500+, but if thats what itll take, so be it. Thanks guys. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Hi Tom: The Tripp Lite under the Isobar name does make units that protect Cable, telephone along with Audio equipment. Thhere is also a guarantee. You have to look for the amount of the guarantee. I use Radio shack Surge Surpressors with filtering then Isobars plugged into them. I have not used the Monster, but at look, the Isobars are similar and less expensive. My Nephew swears by Furman. As he is teaching me Computer and I am teaching him Audio, I have learned to trust his judgement. What some people do not like about the Tripp-Lite Isobars is that they employ MOVs which over a period of time will degrade. But for the price I get them for, that is not an issue. I have my Sony Vega and all Living Room 2 Channel hooked the way I stated, also my Tubed McIntosh and sources hooked the same. I did get an Adcom ACE-515 for a song that will be employed for the Tubed set-up in addition to the rest. Are you looking for constant voltage? Protection from brown outs? My recommendations would be slightly different. Good Luck in your quest, dodger Win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew in the desert Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Tom, I was in the same situation as you. There has been a lot of debate over whether or not these units provide any noticeable increase in audio/video quality. Some claim that the have a seen a night and day difference, and others report no difference at all. I really didn't have any power problems or grounding issues so I was basically just looking for an over priced surge protector. So, it came down to a choice between the Monster and Furman units. Since I wanted something that would sit in my rack and look pretty, the Monster HTS3600 appealed to me, however the Furman was much cheaper. I ended up finding a great deal the Monster unit on Ebay, new in box for $250. I wouldn't have shelled out the MSRP of $500 for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Tom: I am glad my Tripp-Lite LCR-2400 does not have cable protection. That's because if my cable takes a lightening hit, I don't want it anywhere near my power connections for the rest of my compoents. I have my coax cable grounded to a 8 ft long copper clad spike driven in the ground just before it enters the house. For secondary protection I have installed a unit offered on the Klipsch site: The Mondial Magic Splitter in-line on my cable feed. To the ground terminal on the unit I have connected a 10 gauge ground wire and ran it to a nearby cold water pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Get a Tripplite conditioner on eBay for about $40 along with one of these for about $1: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=189-150 I see Tripplite protecting test equipment (in a lab where I work) that is much more sensative and costly than any audio gear. Don't waste your money on the over-hyped, over-priced stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meuge Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 I think the way to go would be to get 2 units (my plan anyway) -> a primary Furman filter/surge protector ($160) and a secondary Monster (HTS800 is cheap) for additional components and coax cable. That being said, if you can score a Monster box for under $200 on ebay or Audiogon, then by all means use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lipinski Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Interesting thread. I've been wondering about the same issues. Aren't these units almost entirely for providing clean power and protection. and not real recognizable audio quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lipinski Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Interesting thread. I've been wondering about the same issues. Aren't these units almost entirely for providing clean power and protection. and not real recognizable audio quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 ---------------- On 11/23/2004 3:17:02 PM lipinski wrote: Interesting thread. I've been wondering about the same issues. Aren't these units almost entirely for providing clean power and protection. and not real recognizable audio quality? ---------------- My wife sews. When she would use her machine while I was watching TV it would fuzz up the picture. While listening to stereo, I would hear a whine and static similar to an AM radio in car. I put the machine on one of the Radio Shack single outlet surge protector with RFI/EMI filtering. That eliminated both problems. So in some instances it will aid in Audio. dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Take a look at the PS Audio website. I use the PD-4.7 power director. Read up on it, they also have a Forum. You can also try it for 30 days, and it you don't think that you hear a difference you can send it back. I use one for the protection alone. It has inputs for cable and phone lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 lipinski: One of the main advantages of a Power Line Conditioner is, besides its filtering prowess as dodger so astutely explained, they also do voltage correction from brown-outs and over-voltage conditions. They can take a voltage (some as low as 84 VAC or as high as 140 VAC and correct it back to 110 VAC. Your equipment never knows the difference. If the unit cannot correct the voltage, it protects your system by shutting it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 ---------------- On 11/24/2004 9:32:47 AM picky wrote: lipinski: One of the main advantages of a Power Line Conditioner is, besides its filtering prowess as dodger so astutely explained, they also do voltage correction from brown-outs and over-voltage conditions. They can take a voltage (some as low as 84 VAC or as high as 140 VAC and correct it back to 110 VAC. Your equipment never knows the difference. If the unit cannot correct the voltage, it protects your system by shutting it down. ---------------- one thing to be aware of on all the units that are really considered "line conditioners" that regulate voltage..... when the voltage drops coming into the unit, it will keep the voltage at 120 (or 117) volts - but it does so at the expense of the amperage..... in other words - if the voltage coming into your house drops to 90 volts because of a brownout, a line conditioner will maintain a solid 117 volts, but it will only provide something like 9 or 10 amps unitl the voltage returns to normal..... then it will be back to the full 15 amps of the line..... if your equipment uses close to the total amperage of your line (close to 15 amps)..... i would definitely recommend installing a 20 amp dedicated line and then using a 20 amp line conditioner..... do some reading on the tripplite and furman sound websites..... they have some excellent technical information intermixed with their sales/product pages..... http://www.tripplite.com/products/conditioners/index.cfm http://www.furmansound.com/consumer/ref/ra1.htm http://www.furmansound.com/pro/reg/reg6.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 by the way..... if you decide to go with one of these "power conditioners".... i would definitely recommend considering the furman line - either the pro line or the consumer line of products..... a much better pricing structure for what you get compared to the monster line of products..... IMHO.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 minn_male42: Thanks for doing such a good job of filling in the details, pal. That is exactly why I bought the Tripp-Lite LCR-2400. I ran a 20-amp (12-gauge wire) home run circuit to it and the unit provides coverage for a 20-amp (2,400 Watt) load. Many other higher-priced units handle only 15-amps (1,800 Watts) (14-gauge wire). This gives my system some "headroom" amperage-wise during low-voltage conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 ---------------- On 11/24/2004 10:07:08 AM picky wrote: minn_male42: Thanks for doing such a good job of filling in the details, pal..... ---------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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