I recently bought a 950/755 and have a question I hope someone can help me with. I am trying to find a surge protector for my 755 alone (I plan to connect the rest of my A/V stuff to another power strip). I know the 755 is rated at 1800 watts max. Surge protectors are rated in joules. I know that watts are joules/sec. Most single/dual outlet surge protectors are rated less than 1800J (Tripp-lite Ultrablock 600J, Monster 1100J). Can anyone comment on whether these surge protectors will be sufficient? It seems to me that the surge protector would have to trip in less than 0.5sec to work.

Another question. Several people seem to have surge protectors and noise filters all in one (Panamax 5100/5300, Monster powercenter/bar, etc) from the threads I have read on the whole surge protector/power conditioner topic. For those who own one of these, do you have the amplifier connected with the rest of your equipment?

I use a Panamax 5100 with the majority of my system connected to it -- including my Model 750 and a small two-channel Parasound amp. I have two dedicated circuits for the home theater, with the Panamax alone on one of them. Aside from the amps and my TV, the rest of the equipment represents a pretty small electrical load (Model 950, DVD player, CD changer, cable box, VCR). If my memory serves me correctly at the moment, my sub is connected to the other circuit.

A few links that I chased down that might help:

Outlet Strip Voltage Surge Suppressors article - discusses TVSS equipment, some insight into the relationship between watts and joules in surge protection.
Electricity and Power Supplies ( Google HTML view ) - includes some suggestions on selection surge protection for PC's, including a recommendation of looking for a joule rating of 1.25x the VA or watt rating and some guidance on how to determine the VA load.
Power Protection Definitions - brief definitions of terms, including joules, watts, and VA.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Thanks for the reply.

After I placed the post and went back and re-read information on the 5300/5100 and they specifically have outlets for high current devices.

I read the links, which I appreciate. However they did not address the issue I am worried about. I guess the question I have is how quick do the surge protectors respond to a surge. The answer may lie in the plethora of stats on the various surge protectors' websites but I can't tell.

I have the 5300. I believe Gonks (and mine) are identical with the 5300 adding a voltmeter. I normally never take the time to observe the voltmeter and it adds to the light pollution of power button indicators (does include a dimmer with an off setting) so if you are interested in either model I would take the savings and purchase the 5100. When I purchased my unit the 5100 was out of stock. Otherwise same unit I believe and rated 7090 on joule.

My powered SW and 770 are both plugged into the panamax via the two delayed-on outlets for high-current components

The 5500 is at 2025j but almost double cost of 5300. There are cheaper ways to achieve a higher rating for surge. Clamping speed is something you should pay attention to and If memory serves I noticed it was faster on the Series Mode based protectors. Another reason I became interested in them, while I was checking it all out. There really are cheaper ways to do it than via the Monster Pwer/Panamax route. When I was pulling up surge protectors for my main panel on the web, I believe some ran 29.00???

Where the Panamax pleases me the most is during delayed startup if it senses under/over voltage, Its not perfect but I have heard the whole house going off in chirps and beeps when the power company is trying to re-initiate the line. The power might hit the house 3 times (on/off) in rapid succession till it stabilizes and finally remains on.
During this time often (not always) the panamax (I guess depending on the level it senses) will remain off.
Which spares my AV this rapid on/off sequencing.

Edit: I typed same time as but check the series mode, I believe they are faster reaction. (And those are hard spec to run into but if you dig on the web I know I’ve seen some info on that topic. A “Brickwall” link is posted under 950 forum no sound after power outage. That was one unit I “would” have purchased over my Panamax at the time but back then Brickwall did not have all-inclusive unit which covered the coxial lines….I needed a quick fix for all at that time.

I believe that you'll want to check out the specs on each surge suppressor. Based on what I read in my brief search this morning, the joule rating has to do with how long a surge at a certain load it can withstand (so a 600J power strip with a connected load of 1200W would withstand a half-second surge). As an example of the response time, the specs page for the MAX5100 that I use includes the following:

Response Time <1ns

Also, something to keep in mind is the difference between max rated load and real-world load. 1800W is the maximum that can be provided by a single 15A residential receptacle circuit, if I remember correctly, so if the 755 ran at a constant 1800W it would require its own dedicated circuit just to keep from tripping the breaker. In reality, the load will be significantly lower than that.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

you're right. I just didn't look close enough at the specs. thanks