Can someone honestly explain to me about these surge protectors that i am being told by sales reps give you a better picture and better sound? Are the A/V surge protectors really any better then the high end strip protectors made by panamax and monster? I am just confused as to which one to get and don't mind spending the money if it is really worth it but if a high end strip will work that is fine also. Can someone please let me know if should go with the Panamax M5100-PM, M4300-PM, or a High End strip. I have the following. Thanks for the help

Pioneer Elite
Yamaha Receiver RX-V863
PS3
Nintendo Wii
Digital Cable Box
Toshiba HD-DVD

In most instances, Your AV quality could be degraded if too much electrical noise is in the cable input line or power line. Its reduced by filter circuits near always part of a surge suppressor. How well these circuits filter varies from maker to maker. Filtering is the most basic method the surge protectors improve your AV but its strictly not necessary for AV needs.

If your AC power drops from normal, most devices power themselves off. If the AC is over normal, the surge suppressor takes the brunt of it, and could self destruct, protecting your gear. If the AC fluctuates from normal, the brief dips could affect the power output of many amps, without causing a major malfunction, and this can be fixed with a voltage regulator. If the voltage dips just above the threshold where your device shuts down, causing erratic behavior, Panamax's surge suppressor has a shut down circuit that turns devices off until the power is more regular.

"Line conditioners" are a mix of a voltage regulator, top line surge suppressor, added filters and AV focused versions add isolated AC jacks to reduce interference from noise generated by other power supplies plugged into the conditioner and prevents transmitting noise to other power supplies. Conditioners may also add even more noise filters.

Most US locations have good power, all one needs is a certified UL 1449 surge suppressor to protect your gear against rare power surges and transients, those range about $30 for the APC P11VNT3.

p r a c t i c e g u i d e NIST r ecommended (http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/practiceguides/surgesfnl.pdf&ei=ycx4SajvC5PHtgf1hPCsDg&usg=AFQjCNE9PzBjULhk8oO66KPFQjjwDZIkag)


If you suffer from under voltage issues, a Panamax style device with a power cut off will help, that runs about $80. If you are in the worse case scenario of power quality, only then does a line conditioner make sense, so its not something one buys right away.

Which one to get, a basic power strip surge protector, an AV surge protector, voltage regulator, line conditioner etc., depends on what problems you have. Start with the very basic, the surge protector as a protective device not so much as an AV improvement device. Chances are that will be all you need. They are not all made with the same quality, and while there are many well made, I only know APC and Panamax for certain as bang for buck.