I can't seem to find many recommendations for surge protectors. Are there any decent for around $50 or do you need to spend more?

The <$100 ones also claim a "50,000 equipment guarentee" - but how do you prove that if a surge kills it?

Thanks.

Tripp-Lite makes some really good surge supressors for around 50$... the isobar's I think are around that much and give you some excelent filtering also....

I'm kinda confused, because some people say to avoid filtering. I hear a lot about MOV?

Most surge protectors use MOVs. MOVs, if used correctly, provide for no filtering of the AC. Just simple surge protection.

As far as $$ eqp warranties, usually they are really strict in that every piece of eqp in your system has to be connected through it, including cable TV and satellite lines. Maybe hooking everything up and then taking a picture of all the connections might help. I imagine that the details of getting that money are in the "fine print." Incidentally, despite marketing claims to the contrary, people who live in thunderstorm-prone areas are, for the most part, the only ones that need to worry about surge protection. But they are cheap "insurance" for every one.

I use TrippLite Isobar protectors in my system. Los Angeles isn't exactly a danger area for surges (now when I lived in Florida -- WHOO BOY! -- that was another story..), however, I also think the system sounds better -- smoother, more timbrally balanced -- when the components are plugged into the Isobar.

The reason to avoid filtering is for amps and such that need fairly large amounts of current quickly... and some filters limit the amount of transient current available... HOWEVER! There's a good chance I don't know what I'm talking about and it's also possible that to hit the limit to affect your equipment you'd have to be turning on and off a hairdryer or something plugged into the same power strip...

for my system I've got all my sources and the 950 plugged into an isobar-isoTel and the amps are plugged into their own 15amp line with only a 2plug "iso-block" (good surge supression and limited filtering) and a non-filtering outlet strip just so I have room for the sub, 2-200's, and the 755....

..I need to pay more attention to what I type

[This message has been edited by Unferth (edited April 08, 2003).]

duplicate

[This message has been edited by Unferth (edited April 08, 2003).]

I went in a different direction and have HT equipment running off of a UPS that was used in a server room. Protects against surges, does some line filtering and provides the ability to watch a movie when the power goes out. At least for 20 mins or so. It does not though protect any phone, ether or coax cable lines.

I can only pass this along: I heard once that UPS' give an AC waveform that looks more like a square wave rather than the sine wave that you get out of the wall. Because of that, there was some comment about how that might not be good for an electrical component's performance. But, I have also heard similarly, other's using UPS' for the same function as yourself. If it does work OK, I would make sure that the UPS is "powerful" enough or of large enough capacity that you aren't limiting the power to your system for the transients present in movies, music, etc.

Maybe just like surge suppressors, there are "good" ones and "bad" ones.

Maybe SH, BoB, Charlie, etc, can chime in...