Power Conditioning

Posted by: Hammer

Power Conditioning - 01/15/08 05:58 PM

Anyone seen this yet? Wondering if it has any benefits over the usual suspects.

APC AV
Posted by: gonk

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/15/08 09:58 PM

APC has been in the computer market for a long time, and in addition to the consumer computer market we see them some on the commercial side (although we've never spec'd them for power or HVAC). I've not seen much about them for the home theater market, but my suspicion is that there reasonably good quality with the potential for a little price inflation (APC has never been a company that I think of as a price leader on the consumer side). I would expect a power conditioner with battery backup that is large enough to be of much use in a home theater to be somewhat pricey, and the prices I found in a brief search seem to agree with that (the S10 was $1300 and teh S15 was $1500).
Posted by: Hammer

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/16/08 01:35 AM

Based on that I'm thinking that $1400 would be better utilized going towards a 7700.
Posted by: Altec

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/16/08 03:13 AM

If you don't have any problems with buzzes or other noise in your system now, a power conditioner would be a waste of money. If there is no noise, there is nothing to "condition".

You should however always have a surge protector feeding your equipment. This can be nothing more than a simple outlet strip which uses a metal-oxide-varisitor (MOV) to protect against high line surges from electrical storms. They can be bought inexpensively anywhere like Home Depot.
Posted by: New Shooter

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/16/08 03:47 AM

I too was just in the market for a surge protector / power conditioner. I live in the desert where we have many monsoon storms in the summer. After a lot of research and many hours spent on the web , I decided to go with a Belkin PF60. Thanks to gonk and Liz king for there own hook ups. I found it from ecost.com for a little over 200$. I feel more protected , can monitor incoming voltage and total amps of all banks or separately and have delay settings. Now you can spend your savings on that 7700!!
Posted by: tmdlp

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/16/08 06:56 AM

New Shooter,
Check out Brick Wall for a nice alternative.

also, MOV don't last long in a high storm area.
Later...
Posted by: Altec

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/16/08 03:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tmdlp:
New Shooter,
Check out Brick Wall for a nice alternative.

also, MOV don't last long in a high storm area.
Later...
Almost all surge protectors, and the surge protection circuitry in many expensive conditioners use MOVs - that solution is very common. That's why I suggest buying an inexpensive unit and replacing it after a severe storm, if there is doubt about it taking a hit.
Posted by: gonk

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/16/08 06:23 PM

Brick Wall is the only surge protector I'm familiar with that doesn't use MOV's.

As for the original post, I noticed this S20 review at Secrets, posted earlier this month.
Posted by: Bill O

Re: Power Conditioning - 01/30/08 07:22 PM

I do have the APC J-15. Does it, or not , cleans up a dirty signal I have no idea. It does keep everything plugged into it powered up during power outages.
The best part of owning the APC J-15 is I can actualy hear it doing something ,durring outages...It beeps a signal, fan starts up and a beatiful amber light comes on amognst all the blue lights, telling me I made a wise investment, this time.
I fell for power conditioners before, I don't claim they don't work. All I can say is my power must have been very clean to begin with. Panamax and the Blue Circle B86 made no difference. The APC J-15 does exactly what I had intended it do. It keeps everything powered up when theres a power outage.The claim that it conditions the power,, Oh well, I could care less....

,
Posted by: Mike in Virginia

Re: Power Conditioning - 02/01/08 08:55 PM

I'm with Bill O on this. I have a dedicated, clean, circuit for the equipment. But some gadgets, like a DVR (with a hard disk), probably wouldn't like it much if the power just shut down on them. Having a UPS with 30 minutes capacity gives me the chance to gracefully shut things down during a power outage. That's all I seem to need.
Posted by: 97db

Re: Power Conditioning - 02/25/08 04:29 PM

I have two PS audio components.
Very high quality stuff!
Have the P300 and the UPC for video.
And most of my power cables are by them.
Posted by: Lizard King

Re: Power Conditioning - 07/23/08 03:24 AM

Furutech!