My 950 along with most of my home theater were destroyed by a direct lightning strike. A local shop indicates that the 950 is totaled.

Would it make sense to have the Outlaws check it out to see if it is reparable?

I had a lightning strike fry my systen a few years ago. Called the insurance company. Filed a claim. Bought my first Outlaw component. It was for me, a happy ending, or in some ways, the start of an expensive addiction

I would contact Outlaw support directly either through the new support center or by phone. They are usually most helpful...

Ouch Tim,

Sorry to hear, I hope you have good renters or HO's insurance. I would give Outlaw a call, they will help you if they can.

Firm believer in surge prot. in my eratic neighborhood its a required appliance. Nothing helps on a direct strike like yours (except a plug ...not in the socket).

I just lost half the outlets on my Cyber Power box through which my home office gear is all shunted. Time to shop again.
3 slots are now non-funtioning after several surges in my neighborhood last week. Goes to prove MOV's do wear out.

Best of luck sorting your HT out!

Comndolences.

It may be too late but ... always have full replacement cost home (or dwelling contents) insurance. My apartment mate learned that lesson 25 years ago in university when our apartment was robbed dry. My hi-end (for the day) stereo system was replaced with new state-of-the-art components because of a $50 ryder that I paid for on my parents' home insurance. He was uninsured and got nothing.

I would not even consider the "repair it" route since I've seen too many cases where the repair leaves residual gremlins that come back to haunt you long after the repair warranty / insurance claim time limit has expired.

If you are fully insured consider it a great opportunity for a gear replacement / upgrade. Even thunder clouds can have silver linings.

Jeff Mackwood

Sorry to read of your tragedy. I hope all turns out well. Please take the time to look over the audiophile line at: www.Brickwall.com
These products are very popular in storm-prone areas of Florida because they are virtually lightning proof and never wear out. Of course, you can pay Richard Gray a LOT more for his products but you won't gain any additional protection.(IMHO) The Brick wall site is very comprehensive in it's presentation of the science involved in surge suppression and the limitations of MOV's. Factor in that their audiophile line is VERY reasonably priced (about $200) and you have a "must own" for anyone with gear worth protecting. I use one to protect my line conditioner, A Tice Power Block 3C, (I know, it has built in surge suppression but it relies on MOV's for that) and I never worry about my gear getting fried when I'm away from home. I hope my $.02's worth proves helpful. Best Wishes,

Michael.

Thanks to all who replied.

The insurance will pay all but 20% of the replacement cost of the unit.

I have just ordered another one. The repair route would mean that I would have to wait longer to rebuild the home theater.

If the Outlaws want to study the effects of a major surge of power on a 950 then they are welcome to it.

If you are just going to toss the unit I am willing to take it off your hands. Contact me at the following e-mail address and we can discuss the details:

nelsonmarkl@hotmail.com



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Tekdredger

The Brickwall units are a no brainer, no matter where you are. They will never fail, period. I got rid of all devices that used MOV's in my system. Now I have total peace of mind with the brickwalls

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Play it LoUd!!

Am I correct in assuming something like the Monster brand surge protectors that feature the equipment coverage around 100K, would cover this kind of damage? Seems like stuff like that would be well worth the investment.

Rayban,

The only problem with coverage like that is, they can deny you if *every* device connected to the burned equipment is not connected to the Monster protector. That includes other components, cable/antenna wires, phone lines, etc, etc.

IOW, if you have your french-fried prepro and PlayStation2 connected to the surge protector, and your PlayStation2 is connected to a phone line, and connected to the prepro thru RCAs, they will say, sorry, the PlayStation's phone line connection caused the problem and you're not covered.

There was some discussion on this in another forum, HTF I believe.

-Joe

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Remember the Intellivision?
http://www.gotmaille.com/nostalgia/

I would recommend the "Brickwall" purchase after some research in my past. I’ve ignored my own advice and do not own them yet since I had a protect in a hurry situation going on here, when first gathering a new HT system and stopped when I got some basic coverage. The home office surge protection failing just rattled my cage and a quick rough out with my calculator without the odds and ends, shows I have over 16K in my main HT alone, and a combined 12K in gifts to our parents. I read the fine print insur. policies bundled with Surge Protection and determined that there was a little too much wiggle room for the manufacture to deny a claim to engender confidence that I would be covered. You have to ship the fried products in for evaluation and since I once had Cannon deny a lens coverage warranty with a note that they had determined that the operator had ‘dropped the unit on a hard surface at time of failure” for an (internal clog to the units focus ring had fractured). Which was incorrect…I argued I DID not drop it, they argued back I had. I was sitting quietly in a chair photographing hummingbirds when I heard the ‘CLINK” and the part broke. We opened the lens after coverage was denied to see what part HAD gone wrong cheapest plastic and it had just cracked cleanly in half.
I could see having a toasted prepro shipped back to me, with an official determination that they had decided the electronics in question must not have been plugged into their product at the time of failure or some similar malarkey.

There are inexpensive ways to do protection. A whole home main electrical panel protector can be added by an electrician for a minimal amount. (then your toasters safe ) Yet when I researched this I wanted [Series] type protection at the main P and could not find that on a product for whole house application. When in a hurry and just starting out I purchased a Panamax for my HT, which I have been happy with. The convenience factor of a one box solution with coaxial line coverage and weeks of storms were the motivating factor at that time. Last time I checked the Brickwall site although seriously courting audiophiles had yet to come up with one unit including phone/cable line protection.

When I grabbed a Panamax I was not sure (all by my lonesome) how to integrate separate products to cover the coaxial so went for the P5300?

Now I need to cover my Mom’s setup which has 3 coaxial (2 for cable, 1 for satelite) and revamp my Home Office Protection since I have worn the MOV’s out there as indicated in my first post.

Maybe time to see if Brickwall will offer a discount to me on a purchase of 4 units. Two for me, one each for the parents.

How do group buys get done? Is this legal, permissible? Any here at Outlaw interested in vamping up a bulk order with “Brickwall” and trying to acquire a steal of a deal?!