I am about to invest in the 50" Kuro plasma display. I will eventually invest in a nice stereo amplifier and speakers, but not now. With the money I am about to put out, I would like to protect my stuff with a good surge protector/line conditioner. I'm just not sure what to get.

Best Buy had the Monster units for $500, $400, and $300, but that seems a bit much. I like the idea of a unit that sits with the rest of my components, it looks cool, but if I can save some money with a unit behind the cabinet, that's fine.

What about the UPSes for computers? I don't really care about the battery keeping stuff on if the power goes out, but don't most of those have line conditioners and surge protectors? Would this be a good, cheap solution?

I will be running the 50" Kuro, a PS3, a DVR, and a small stereo. I would like something that protects the incoming tv cable as well.

I don't mind buying used if I can get a nice rack unit, but would rather buy new. I would like to keep my budget at around $200, but might spend a little more if it is worth it.

Thanks for any help.

Quite frankly, my position on surge protection is it's a waste of money. The power supply circuits employed in even basic electronic equipment today does an excellent job.
I recently had a neighborhood blackout that involved a power shutoff, quick spike on, then off again that lasted 30 minutes. I have a Samsung plasma and it powered up just fine as did all my other components. My Sammy is hooked directly to the wall outlet.

If you you insist on getting something, I would lean towards a UPS. Anything elses adds essentially nothing! :cool:

I have been trying to do research on power conditioners for the past couple of weeks, and there is basically nothing out there. The top magazines don't even review that stuff. It makes me suspicious that they are worthless and the mags don't want to expose their big advertisers. Still, I know some people claim to see or hear big differences once they get an expensive power conditioner. It is really hard to tell if the difference is legit or in people's minds.

I have never had any electronics blow out in my life, but I would still be willing to get some protection if there was some benefit (either in safety or increased performance). Any other thoughts on this?

I've never had a problem with power surges, although we have an old surge protector with individual buttons for each plug on the back. I think it provides peace of mind more than anything. You can accomplish the same thing by unplugging everything once the power goes out and waiting for it to come back on.

What about lightening strikes?

I'm using a newpoint theater director which was pretty cheap. But if Lightning strikes your house NOTHING protect your electronics. Thats what a homeowners policy is for.

I got this one for $150 last month from Audioholics.

http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/apc_h15.htm

APC is a brand I trust when it comes to powering electronics. So I thought $150 for some piece of mind for my Kuro was well worth it. Plus I have a lot of equipment to power. The strips seem to have limitations when you plug a ton of crap into them. This thing also regulates your power too.

Never ever ever ever pay for Monster equipment.

TigerDirect is offering the same for $100 on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/APC-H15-Theater-1500VA-Conditioner/dp/B000AHVGA6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1237034573&sr=1-2).

TigerDirect is offering the same for $100 on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/APC-H15-Theater-1500VA-Conditioner/dp/B000AHVGA6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1237034573&sr=1-2).

Even better! Go get em people.

I'm using a newpoint theater director which was pretty cheap. But if Lightning strikes your house NOTHING protect your electronics. Thats what a homeowners policy is for.

Exactly and a proper earth ground.

if you want good surge protection. Use a Whole House Surge protector and for your electronics setup use a good series type surge protector like ZeroSurge or BrickWall.

If lightning strikes your house just hope your not home when it does.

Quite frankly, my position on surge protection is it's a waste of money. The power supply circuits employed in even basic electronic equipment today does an excellent job.
I recently had a neighborhood blackout that involved a power shutoff, quick spike on, then off again that lasted 30 minutes. I have a Samsung plasma and it powered up just fine as did all my other components. My Sammy is hooked directly to the wall outlet.

If you you insist on getting something, I would lean towards a UPS. Anything elses adds essentially nothing! :cool:

Please...:rolleyes:

You shorten the life of your electronics using no surge protection...Sure it came back on...this time...But one of these times it won't...I have lost high dollar servo subwoofers and high dollar AVR's without surge protection...Never lost anything with surge protection...Surge protection is not a myth...it is FACT...

To the OP I highly recommend the APC H15 from Amazon for $99.99...I have one and it really is amazing...I got mine not only for the surge protection but also the voltage regulation...While you equipment will continue to work with higher or lower than 120 volts...the voltage swings slowly kills your equipment also...You would be amazed at just how often your voltage level swings...The filtering is another fantastic feature...Nigh and day difference??? No...Noticeable difference??? Yes... Worth the investment for peace of mind??? Yes...'Disappears' in your system??? Absolutely...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/kZBVYssmZ7Ip6qYrNy

The hundred dollar unit looks like a good deal. I just wish it wasn't white, the black version is $400. I guess I could just stick it behind the center.

Could I paint it? Would that void the warranty?

Thanks, guys.

As someone who has been in the electrical power equipment industry for 20 years, I would point out the following:

1) Outboard surge suppression does help protect your equipment, but it may not be obvious. All consumer electronics have internal surge suppression, but they are self-sacrificing. Once the internal MOVs have absorbed as much as they can handle they fail - and your equipment goes with it. External surge suppressors reduce the number and severity of transients that the internal MOVs have to absorb.

2) Joule ratings are worthless. The only things you need to look at in evaluating surge suppression devices are Peak Surge Current, Clamping Time, and Let-through (Clamping) Voltage.

3) The closer to the transient source the surge supressor is, the better a job it will do.

4) The lower the impedance to a solid ground can be, the better a job the suppressor will do.

5) Lightning is only one source of transients. Other transients come from capacitor switching, motor starts, inductive kick-back, etc. These can be generated inside your house, as well as from the utility feed.

6) The best solution for surge suppression will ALWAYS be to use a whole-house unit wired directly to the service entrance and/or main panel. Secondary units placed at the point-of-use can be helpful in reducing the let-through Voltage even more, but the lower impedance at the panel radically increases the effectiveness of a surge suppressor. Corollary: A $150 surge suppressor connected at the main panel will do a better job than a $500 unit wired into your A/V rack.

wht about the cable tv input/output on these conditioners? Do they do anything to clean up the signal or weaken it?

They can clean up a noisy signal but don't expect alot...Cable is a closed system and most problems are generally plant related...If you have a ground related problem though these units can and do help...But really it is a bandaid more than a fix...There is also an insertion loss any time something is added inline...Usually no more than 3db though...

I'll also add that those who don't believe in at least basic surge protection are playing Russian Roulette with their gear. You don't need to be in a lightning prone area to be a victim of a huge surge spike. I can tell you from personal first hand experience that this is the case.

I suffered a huge power spike a few years ago. The long and the short of the cause was due to a work truck hitting a utility pole which crossed two lines feeding the circuit to my cul de sac. The spike was severe enough where two breakers were tripped in my panel. I got off easy compared to two other neighbors. I lost a Monster AV700 surge protector and Monster replace it free of charge. My neighbors lost thousands of dollars in gear. One neighbor had a spike so severe that he could smell his master bedroom's DirecTV receiver's fried electronics from the front door of his house. They all tried to claim damages against the work truck's company's insurance. Both their claims were denied by the insurance company despite the power company stating the wreck was the cause of the spike.

Shortly after this incident and realizing how lucky I was, I immediately installed a SquareD whole house surge protector. It wasn't bad to install as I did it myself. The unit I purchased is a modular unit where it has one module for power, one for phone, and two modules for cable/Sat. The power module is based on TVSS versus MOVs.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/wholehouse.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/wholehouse1.jpg

To not spend a couple hundred on at least a whole house surge protector is akin to the addage penny wise dollar foolish. Especially when I would say most people here have invested thousands in their gear.

wht about the cable tv input/output on these conditioners? Do they do anything to clean up the signal or weaken it?

from my experience with fios...

you cannot use these input/outputs... when i first tried it, i lost several hd channels completely... switched to the other pair, and while a few more got through, not all did... the filters in the unit will not pass stuff that lies in the really high frequency bands...

so i bypassed them entirely...

i still like the unit for everything else though, and the tiger direct deal was an absolute steal...

Shortly after this incident and realizing how lucky I was, I immediately installed a SquareD whole house surge protector. It wasn't bad to install as I did it myself. The unit I purchased is a modular unit where it has one module for power, one for phone, and two modules for cable/Sat. The power module is based on TVSS versus MOVs.

Are you aware that almost all TVSS units at this voltage in the US market are MOV-based? What technology are you thinking that it uses?

I got surge protectors from 1000 jules to 3000 jules. To protect my stuff around the house. During Surges my stuff doesn't restart at ALL.

Are you aware that almost all TVSS units at this voltage in the US market are MOV-based? What technology are you thinking that it uses?

Yep. I mis-spoke about it as I was under the wrong impression about how it worked.

WonHung: "It wasn't bad to install as I did it myself. The unit I purchased is a modular unit where it has one module for power, one for phone, and two modules for cable/Sat."

Do you have a link to this and how to install?

WonHung: "It wasn't bad to install as I did it myself. The unit I purchased is a modular unit where it has one module for power, one for phone, and two modules for cable/Sat."

Do you have a link to this and how to install?

Here's the link to SquareD's installation manual:

http://ecatalog.squared.com/pubs/Electrical%20Distribution/Surge%20Protective%20Devices/External%20Surge%20Protective%20Devices/Residential%20Whole%20House/40272-135-02.pdf

Thank you WonHung for the link.

from my experience with fios...

you cannot use these input/outputs... when i first tried it, i lost several hd channels completely... switched to the other pair, and while a few more got through, not all did... the filters in the unit will not pass stuff that lies in the really high frequency bands...

so i bypassed them entirely...

i still like the unit for everything else though, and the tiger direct deal was an absolute steal...

From my own experience with a Panamax 5500-EX and Cablevision I get all channels - including HD - passed through the unit perfectly. I bought it after my boss had a surge through his coaxial and / or his power line from a lightning strike down the street which took out his flat-panel and cable box, among other items.

I have brickwall on some stuff but I think Panamax offers some nice reasonably priced items.

I had a surge that cooked a Panamax unit that was many years old. All the gear was fine and a quick call to the 800 number on the back was all it took to receive an updated unit in the mail in a couple days. Good stuff.

From my own experience with a Panamax 5500-EX and Cablevision I get all channels - including HD - passed through the unit perfectly. I bought it after my boss had a surge through his coaxial and / or his power line from a lightning strike down the street which took out his flat-panel and cable box, among other items.

might be worth trying a panamax one then sometime, should i find one cheap enough... my comment was directed at the apc h15 unit the person i quoted was referencing, if i wasn't clear...

the tripplite one that i use on the other set passes the fios signal just fine...

so i'm inclined to think that the filters in the units vary by manufacturer...

also keep in mind that different providers may not pass signals that high in the frequency band...

edit: fwiw, i also have whole house at the circuit breaker box... cheap... easy... best protection... what's to argue with there?

Have your fios/cable company come and fix your signal strength problem...If the APC H15 caused any loss of service it is because the signal level(s) weren't right to begin with...EVERY surge protector has added signal loss when inserted inline with anything...

odd that the tripplite one doesn't cause a problem though (and yes, i tried both units on both sets/lines)... that being said, i will give my "friends" at verizon a call...

i understand that every surge protector has added loss... that being said (again), not all filters/splitters/whatever are made equal...

fwiw, both displays are on their own run...

i'm not knocking the h15 unit... merely relaying my own personal experience...

All consumer electronics have internal surge suppression

Simply untrue. Most do not.

As someone who has been in the electrical power equipment industry for 20 years, I would point out the following:

1) Outboard surge suppression does help protect your equipment, but it may not be obvious. All consumer electronics have internal surge suppression, but they are self-sacrificing. Once the internal MOVs have absorbed as much as they can handle they fail - and your equipment goes with it. External surge suppressors reduce the number and severity of transients that the internal MOVs have to absorb.

2) Joule ratings are worthless. The only things you need to look at in evaluating surge suppression devices are Peak Surge Current, Clamping Time, and Let-through (Clamping) Voltage.

3) The closer to the transient source the surge supressor is, the better a job it will do.

4) The lower the impedance to a solid ground can be, the better a job the suppressor will do.

5) Lightning is only one source of transients. Other transients come from capacitor switching, motor starts, inductive kick-back, etc. These can be generated inside your house, as well as from the utility feed.

6) The best solution for surge suppression will ALWAYS be to use a whole-house unit wired directly to the service entrance and/or main panel. Secondary units placed at the point-of-use can be helpful in reducing the let-through Voltage even more, but the lower impedance at the panel radically increases the effectiveness of a surge suppressor. Corollary: A $150 surge suppressor connected at the main panel will do a better job than a $500 unit wired into your A/V rack.

Most of your points are very valid. I would qualify them by adding that the signal lines entering the home/system need to be protected and grounded properly to provide the most effective protection. The vast majority of damage that I fix is on systems that do not have signal line protection. I would prefer to have system level units that have protection for the signal lines than a whole house system that does not. In practice, very few whole house protection applications actually have signal lines protected.

Frankly, I can see little reason to spen $500 on a unit in your A/V rack. You can get perfectly adequate protection for well under $100.

With respect to problems with signals being attentuated, I have not seen any such problems on any decent quality units for several years. Most are designed to have very little loss and should not "filter" the signal significantly in the bandwidth that is used. Some of the poorer quality units may present problems, but most should not these days.