I figured I'd throw this on a new thread, as here's something that I'd never heard of before. Yesterday I was in a pub finishing off a simple sound system, and was working side by side with a satellite guy that was installing 4 HDTV Motorola cable boxes. I've known this satellite guy for years, we've done lots of jobs together and he is a very no BS kind of guy. Does good work, etc.

Anyways, he asked the electrician for another 4PLex of power outlets, and told me that the local cable company now tells everyone to avoid any power bar/power conditioning when using an HD box, that it should be plugged right into the wall. When I asked why a power bar couldn't be used, he said that the cable company had told him that some of the settop boxes will not communicate properly if plugged into power bars.

Now, I'm not quite sure why this is, there's maybe a 1-2 amp draw of a cable box, and as with most electronic equipment, they use a switching power supply to send power to the HD components, but according to the cable company, if you have problems with your HD box, plug it right into the wall.

Go figure.

There are several high end components companies that tell you not to use power conditioners and such with their equipment. I was just reading the instructional manual for a DCS player and they spend a coupe paragraphs explaining why and if you MUST, what you must verify before using one.

I personally think its a statement about the quality of the average power conditioner (cough! Richard Grey) and power bars. SOO many power bars are built with such inferior products and second rate breakers, that they do impact the power in a negative manor. I will go out on a limb and say that 99% of the power bars that they encounter in the field are of the Wal-Mart variety and not Furutech, or something of that caliber.

Perhaps what the satellite company was referring to were those devices that also have a place where the incoming satellite feed goes through first. IOW, it's not the connection to the wall that's the problem but possible bandwidth and/or bidirectionality within the cable connector.

Perhaps what the satellite company was referring to were those devices that also have a place where the incoming satellite feed goes through first. IOW, it's not the connection to the wall that's the problem but possible bandwidth and/or bidirectionality within the cable connector.
Chu Gai,

I think you are right on here!!! The only concern could be with those power boxes that
also provide some filtering / isolation for the SIGNAL line in addition to the power line.

If the box has a high frequency cutoff for the signal line - then it may not have the
bandwidth necessary for the HD signal. There should be ZERO problem with the
POWER connection with one of these boxes.

Now some companies - those that manufacture very power amps like Krell and
Mark Levinsion, and others - will tell you not to put a power filitering device in the
power line ahead of their amps. They are concerned that the device might limit
the power to the amp; as well as contending that their AC input is already filtered inside
the amp.

I know that in my Menlo Park system I plugged my amps directly into the wall. Probably heresy among some here but I just didn't see the need.

I know that in my Menlo Park system I plugged my amps directly into the wall. Probably heresy among some here but I just didn't see the need.

One of the advantages of using a good power conditioner is for higher clamping voltage. If a power conditioner doesn't have a large transformer (30lbs+), we don't bother with them. I am not certain about Texas, but in Florida we have way too many outages/surges due to the weather, and unskilled drivers. Other factors are how much output current is there per outlet. We also use 20amp breakers/lines for single phase conditioners (media rooms), and 240v/20-100a for larger installs.

And before someone mentions I have a RGPC; it is only used for the video device with a APC S20BLK battery backup. We don't use the RGPC for protection from the wall. The Torus does that.

Great... now Comcast will have an excuse why their HD picture quality looks like crap! It's the Power Conditioner...pay no attention to the excessive compression used behind the curtain.

I know that in my Menlo Park system I plugged my amps directly into the wall. Probably heresy among some here but I just didn't see the need.
My entire A/V set-up including pre/pro, amps, video processor, BD DVD, tuner, cable box, VUDU, and flat panel are plugged directly into the wall. :eek:

I can recall reading something from Theta on avoiding certain power re-generators that "float the ground" or something like that.

Well, I have more power problems here than I did in Menlo Park (California). In both places they were generally caused by storms, so they are predictable. Furthermore, there is far more lightning here in Texas. I really didn't have to worry about that in CA.

So in Menlo Park I was content flipping off the breakers when I was away on a long trip or when a storm was on top of me. Here, I think I'd want more proactive protection.

another pointless thread on the high end forum. mods--can you move this to the appropriate place?

cheers,

KeithR

if you have issues, then boxes can fix. and ensuring that the box does something, and can back it up is the key.

Power conditioner is a catch all phrase. knowing what the box does is key.