i currently own a monster 3500 powercenter but after talking with my friends they say that a line conditioner for audio as well as video components is not really necessary because components have their own built in and they say line conditioners really do not not help audio or video quality. is that right? i though that a line conditioner helps especially with a plasma tv. please explain.

While it may or may not help audio or video quality, it does act as a surge protector. That should be the first use. I also have line conditioners for two systems - Belkin and Monster. I did not notice any improvement in sound/video quality but there have been some major improvements in house wiring (4 year old house). Given that we spend a fair amount of money on our hobby, I would hate to have the components destroyed because of a surge. But then again, I could have been taken by all the marketing. They do look cool though.

I would tend to disagree with the statement that most components have "line conditioners" built into them. Most have some sort of fusing, but that's not enough to provide complete protection from power fluctuations. Depending on the electrical service in question, line conditions may or may not offer any audio/video performance benefit. My Panamax MAX5100 helped some with sound quality in our old house (which had some iffy wiring), but I haven't noticed any difference in sound or picture quality when I swapped it out for a Belkin PF60 earlier this year and don't know what difference the Panamax might have made in this house (never ran the system without it present). As nomoneybutgoodsound points out, though, surge protection is a significant reason to have something decent between the wall and your gear.

So...what is the difference between say a Panamax Line Conditioner, and say a regular Belkin surge protector that supposedly does the same thing? I'm wondering whether or not I should buy a line conditioner, or just stick with my surge protector. I have a house built within the last two years.

Also...I was recommended to get a Venom power cable made by Shunyata...only $99 bucks...so I'm thinking of doing it. Supposedly it provides better shielding against "noise".

A simple surge protector just tries to stop spikes that could damage equipment. A line conditioner generally tries to also address issues with the AC sine wave - essentially "cleaning up" the power being provided to your equipment. How much improvement can be had from that conditioning depends on the electrical service in your area.

I'd be leery of spending $100 on a power cable unless you can return it if you don't hear a benefit. The electricity has traveled across dozens (probably hundreds) of miles of various copper and aluminum conductors, so the practical benefits of tinkering with the last half-dozen feet are rather heavily debated.

Auto_pilot,
I switched from a Tripp Lite HT10DBS surge protector to a Brick Wall surge protector. It did clean up some small amount of hum coming thru the system when a particular light was on.

But the real reason was for surge protection. I'm in the Texas area and we can get some good lighting storms. I wanted protection from the possible power surges.
I would not set up a system w/ out one.

As far as deciding between a line conditioner and a simple surge protector, there is also some added features. For example:ecost.com has the Belkin PF 60. I paid $260.00 CDN delivered to the door. A and B sound has it for $600+tax, Diamond has it for 900+taxes. (We are taxed fairly heavily here in BC 14 % on almost everything, additional duties if shipped from US.) The Belkin also has the ability to switch components on such as additional amps, drop down screens. You also get 13 plugs that are labelled. There is also 12 v. triggers for those recievers without. Lastly, it is very cool looking. I imagine that it is substantially cheaper for the fellows in the US to purchase something from Ecost. For me, it was cheap, so cheap that when I told the guys at work, they ordered them too. Lastly, it was this forum that lead me to Ecost.

I paid $160 or so for my PF60 from Ecost. The switching is very convenient and there is a bit of cool factor in there as well. Brick Wall was my other candidate to replace the Panamax, but it cost a bit more.

I'm new to all of this so I appreciate the advice...Cool factor aside with the line conditioners, I was just wondering about the tangible benefits of the Line Conditioners. I want to separate fact from fiction before I spend money, cause I'm also considering a new DVD player as well (I have a Sony upconverting unit) and possibly buying an Oppo DVD...seems like its the best for the money and I can leap into SACD and DVD Audio.

Here is the conditioner I was considering:

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-HTS-2600-M...3465094-4563053