Unable to find a thread about this so I posted here. Some outlaws (and others) use "power conditioners" like, for example:

MONSTER HTS 2500MKII

Darn it. I hit the wrong key. Continuing: I understand that it's a good idea for protection. I understand the different ratings for overall load/draw. My confusion is in what they call STAGE 3 or STAGE 4. I surmise that perhaps this means that a stage 4 has more levels of filtering or protection. Y/N (?)

Considering a capacity of 1800 watts, which the outlaw 7 x 200 and 5 x 200 are max rated, I guess one would want something like the 3500 which has a higher rating. With the other stuff plugged in I guess you would want it.

I'd sure like to hear from someone with some info in this stuff. Thanks in advance
nfaguys----(the newbie)

1800W equates to a 15A circuit - that's all you can get from the circuit. Something larger isn't any use unless you are putting it on a 20A circuit.

I use a Panamax MAX5100 for my surge protection. As a bonus, it provides some EMI/RFI filtration. A lot of folks use Monster's units and are happy with them, but Monster's array of overpriced interconnects made me wary of their stuff and I found the 5100 for a little over $200.

I'm with gonk on Panamax, and as he says, be sure to distribute your power consumption on circuits, not outlets or power conditioners. Unless you've got unused 20 amp circuits, the 3500 and models like it are no better than others.

I have been using panamax to protect my equipment for over 10 years now. When my Max1000+ unit sacrificed itself (saved everything!) a few years back, Panamax bought out its lifetime warranty with as many new units as I wanted at cost . I discussed my setup with one of their reps and this is what worked:

#1: Use a relatively full-featured unit on one outlet (I use a Max 5300) for all of your source units and pre/pros. The better units usually have pass-thru 12v triggers; output your 12v from the pre/pro to turn it on, and use the Power Conditioner's 12v output to trigger power on unit #2.
#2: This is the unit (I use a Max 4310) that the main unit turns on; use this to run your amplifiers only, and it's best to have them on the "delay" outlets to avoid the thump. IMPORTANT - plug this unit in an outlet on a separate circuit to ensure proper power availability. If you can dedicate one circuit to your amp/s, you're ahead of most of us.

This has worked wonders for me, never so much as a hiccup.

It's also worth noting that my MAX5100 kept everything safe during a shaky power outage almost two years ago - a storm-induced outage that screwed up several stereo components (killed a VCR, messed up some boards in a Sony TV, blew a fuse in a Spectral pre-amp) at a co-worker's house.

Thanks fellas.
Appreciated.

Hey guys,

Maybe I should have investigated more thoroughly before buying, but I'm basically just using a big UPS with automatic line regulation to protect my home theater. I don't have any problems with gound loops or unwanted noise in the system, just grotesquely unreliable power.

We get brown outs ALL the time, especially during summer for some reason. They'd always cause the PC to reset and the home theater to pop and the TIVO to reset. A UPS fixed the PC so I figured a bigger one would do fine for the home theater. I've got everything but the TV running through it because it's a pretty big load, relatively speaking (and it's a good excuse to upgrade if it goes ).

Anyway, I was just wondering if I'm doing the right thing or if I should be getting something like the 5100. Since I've installed it, I haven't had any problems but I just want to make sure I'm not just tempting fate.

I read through the link gonk provided above, but I didn't see anything about protection from short duration undervoltage conditions.

Most of the UPS units that can handle large electrical loads do a good job of regulating power, which is the big reason for having such protection in the first place. The main advantage to the specialized units is the overvoltage protection offered not only over power lines, but coax cable and phone (and sometimes ethernet) as well. If your UPS has this, you're in pretty good shape. The feature UPS units generally don't have is outlets w/delayed turn on and off, which of course helps protect amps and speakers.

Panamax offers a separate unit for battery backup that can be combined with exisitng units such as the 5100 here .

APC (the big UPS company) has also forayed into HT with a unit combining both battery backup and power conditioning here (for those of us with fussy front projection units that don't like quick shutdowns).

Sort of a PSA here, but considering the issues raised in this thread, I truly believe anyone with a paycheck or two invested in HT should make sure their gear is connected to a good UPS or Power Conditioner. Unchecked undervoltages, which won't trigger most power strips, can kill a power supply after only a year or two - sort of a silent killer in the HT world. HT gear is a terrible thing to waste.

To give an idea, I've never had a single component fail in all the time I've been protected, even 10+ years after the warranty runs out.

The best part is, good protection can be gotten for about $100 now from companies like Panamax and Monster Cable with their smaller models and capable "power-strip" style units.

Just $.02, for what it's worth.

Having had the dubious distinction of having had a Model 950 power pack get thoroughly "cooked" probably for the reasons mentioned by Sluggo above, I am very leery of companies offering surge protection/line conditioning units with go-zillion dollar equipment replacement guarantees.
To make a long story short and keep it to 2 cents worth, a company that might be worth taking a look at www.pricewheeler.com
They offer "medical grade" fault-tolerant protection/conditioning at reasonable cost.

If nothing else, they give a good presentation on how it all works plus their home page has a catchy headline:

"If P.T Barnham were alive today he'd be selling surge protection". UL-Technician


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