Hi guys, I'm new to the avs forums, after buying a sony xbr 970 from recommendations provided through here. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if these Monster surge protector's "clean power" feature is worth spending the extra money for.

I currently am using a rather cheap surge protector from walmart, and was wondering if it is really worth the extra 120-150, notely because of this "clean power" feature the monster power centers have. I'm rather new to home theater scene and would appreciate any insight or information about these things.

the two surge protectors I was looking into specifically were the MPHTS950/ MPHTS1000



I live in a household where we have multiple computers, refrigerators, hair dryers etc that are in frequent use (dunno if that helps anyone just thought I would add it in there =P)

Thanks guys!!

I always use the power centers as an insurance issue. I dont expect it to improve the audio or video. Although in some situations it can improve the quality, and some it can lessen the quality. It all depends on what your budget is. I prefer panamax, but monster will do the same things. I did have good luck adding a higher quality power center to totally eliminate hum coming from the cable box a few weeks ago.

I would strongly suggest upgrading your walmart version to a name brand. APC, Monster, Panamax, Furman, and on the low end side even a Belkin Pure AV version.

Make sure you run you run your rg6's, tele, and data through these too.

Good luck with it.

I forgot one thing.

If your area has a lot of new home contruction I would suggest upgrading. If you have brownouts any time of the year I would also suggest upgrading.

First, I recommend installation of a whole house surge suppression unit at the main incoming panel. Then installation of a secondary unit such as those listed here will take care of any let through from the main panel.

here is a thought

surge suppressors deal with over-voltage, some better than others. Is lightning a problem where you are? Do high tension lines fall on your 120 service? Anyway they don't cost much.

Some devices provide relief from ground loops. sometimes this helps and sometimes it only duplicates the function of the grounding block that should be at the cable entrance.

under-voltgage is a real problem for AC motors- bad for your washing machine and saw. If it is really bad the picture on your CRT shrinks. Other than that so what? Low voltage will not damage your display or AVR or speakers or DVD player because of the kind of motor it has.

Power line cleaners are 21st century snake oil.

UPS systems are good if you live in Darfur.

I have this one- Monster Power PowerCenter HTS 2000 MKII (geez). It's the one with the amp and voltage meter on it, and plenty of outlets.

I've seen them selling for 200 or so, which seemed high, but found mine somewhere online for 130.

It's been in the stereo / TV system for over two years now, and I really like it. Surge supression is good to have, I needed more outlets, and it's fun to watch the volt and amp meters.

As for the Stage 2 clean power noise filtering stuff, maybe some of it is vodoo, but I like how they filter differently for different types of gear (amp vs cd player / audio vs video, etc).

here is a thought

surge suppressors deal with over-voltage, some better than others. Is lightning a problem where you are? Do high tension lines fall on your 120 service? Anyway they don't cost much.



Surge suppressors, if built well and installed at strategic locations, will also provide some EMI/RFI filtering due to the nature of the circuit topology. It is also the 'best' practice to install it at the main panel, where you want to stop the surge from entering the house. Additionally, you don't want to use a $200-300 piece of equipment as the main surge suppressor. They are supposed to be sacrificial :confused:

Surge suppressors, if built well and installed at strategic locations, will also provide some EMI/RFI filtering due to the nature of the circuit topology. It is also the 'best' practice to install it at the main panel, where you want to stop the surge from entering the house. Additionally, you don't want to use a $200-300 piece of equipment as the main surge suppressor. They are supposed to be sacrificial :confused:

If you want to go for maximum protection you are right on the money--surge suppression at the panel is the start. Better to sacrifice some metal oxide devices than your receiver or plasma display. However, to cover it all you should also have point of use suppression. Belt and suspenders to protect against lightning caused surges within the house and in some systems, the possibility of higher voltage (including high voltage lighting) circuits shorting to 120v circuits.

But the RFI filtering of the power line is mostly a waste of money. If RFI was a common problem wouldn't this forum be filled with objective and measured information about the impact. Filter makers would have audio files, oscilloscope and TV screen captures and FAT graphs on their web site showing the improvement. Hardware makers would very quickly include them in their designs. Instead we have clever claims of vaporish improvements that will be realized with the product, but damned little data about seeable or hearable problems detected in double blind listening or viewing. In what part of the spectrum do power lines make good antennas?

I managed an inventory of personal computers, network devices, servers, video display hardware that was located from St Paul to Anchorage. Some in computer rooms behind very large UPS systems on dedicated circuits, some operated in off-site locations using whatever power was available. In 10 years we had one PC that was damaged by over voltage of 240V (after the surpresser rapidly failed). Of course there may have been many others that were quietly saved by surpressors. That's why I don't say don't buy them--they are very cheap insurance.

However there are millions of devices operating across the U.S. that are not behind single or double layers of protection. Hard data about surge damage is hard to come by--most of what is published is speculative.

Savannah Georgia has the distinction of having one of the highest number of thunderstorm days in the U.S. and if I lived in an area like Savannah I might install three layer protection.

Trekguy,

You are absolutely correct in recommending a second (or even third ) layer of protection. If you look at some of my other responses to threads of this nature, that is exactly what I recommend.

Unfortunately, most people will not take this sort of advice. So the next best thing is to at the very least-protect the AV equipment

Just to add...

There are, of course, surge suppresors that address under-voltage conditions like trekguy mentioned.
I, myself, went with a 2-layered approach with protection at the panel and at the equipment. For the secondary protection I chose Panamax strip protectors for 3 reasons:

1. They were VERY cheap from AUTHORIZED online dealers.
2. They protect all the incoming lines (Yes, I protect them again even though they're protected at the panel...I don't notice any signal loss issues at all especially since the coax is a digital signal from D*).
3. They protect against under-voltages and utilize a "protect or disconnect" feature.

Trust me, surge damage is VERY REAL! I've witnessed it many times, especially at my parents old house which was a magnet for surges, over power lines and BURRIED phone lines.

I was having an issue with scrolling lines on my HDTV when my PC was plugged into it via VGA. After doing some research I determined that it was a ground differential issue even though they were both plugged into the same 1500VA UPS. I ended up buying a Monster Power HTS 2600 MKII and it solved the issue.

Mez

Hi all.

Makes sense so far, but my (cheap) amplifier actually cuts out when other devices, such as the stove and some lights, come on. What can be done about that?

J

Upgrade your electrical service. Older home?

wrong thread

Upgrade your electrical service. Older home?

Only 1978. It is a cheap amplifier; but...hmm. It just cuts out; is this really, really weird?

J

Well, you could always borrow an amp or receiver and see if the same thing happens.

Back to the original question, I've already had two Monster 7000s and one 2000 go bad on me. Maybe I just live in a bad area which kills surge protectors. But since each of those units was over $1,200 I just expected a little more life. I don't remember how long they lasted though. Hard to keep track of purchase dates.

Other than those, I've lost a Tripplite. And none of my Brickwall or PS Audio stuff has failed yet. But then again, neither have my other, cheaper Monster line conditioners.

I don't know if in some weird way it can be a good sign when these units are seen to be sacrificing themselves. Is it possible that other units survive because they let the surges passes through? I mean not the big ones obviously. Just the little ones which eat away at the MOV. It doesn't make sense with what I remember about MOVs.

Back to the original question, I've already had two Monster 7000s and one 2000 go bad on me. Maybe I just live in a bad area which kills surge protectors. But since each of those units was over $1,200 I just expected a little more life. I don't remember how long they lasted though. Hard to keep track of purchase dates.
Under warranty I hope! There've been some reports of Monster amps being a bit flaky. But reports don't equal failure rates and you'll never know what's really going on. I kind of suspect the problem with the amps isn't because of surges.

Other than those, I've lost a Tripplite. And none of my Brickwall or PS Audio stuff has failed yet. But then again, neither have my other, cheaper Monster line conditioners.
Impossible to draw any conclusions from this. A surge wants to one thing and only one thing - find the most direct path to ground. How that happens is completely unpredictable. For about $4 at Home Depot, you can buy an outlet tester to ensure your outlets are wired correctly and you have a valid ground.

I don't know if in some weird way it can be a good sign when these units are seen to be sacrificing themselves.
Well, you've only lost one unit, the TrippLite and you don't know why it died. Might've been a surge, might've been undersized, might not have been a good ground, might've been something else.

Is it possible that other units survive because they let the surges passes through?
No. Just because a surge enters into your home, it doesn't mean that each and every outlet also gets the brunt of the surge.

I mean not the big ones obviously. Just the little ones which eat away at the MOV. It doesn't make sense with what I remember about MOVs.
It's the big ones you've got to address. Minor glitches, voltage swells, and spikes are not surges. If you've been reading this thread, then understand that the proper way to deal with surges is to shunt (divert) them to ground before they enter your house. That's the purpose of a whole house unit. Whatever gets past that is pretty inconsequential and easily dealt with by your plug in devices.

The problems with the Monster HTPS7000s is apparently not unusual. When I started to described the symptoms to a salesman/friend before I exhanged it, he kind of finished my sentence. The symptom is a constant, low buzzing sound. And no AC output. Maybe these units have more problems becuase they try to integrate balanced power. I think it's a pair of 230w center tapped transformers. 460 w over 2 duplexes. It's easy to exceed 230 w, but that's not what happened to mine. It had been running fine for a long time. I didn't just switch an amplifier onto the duplex.

I'm not saying anything is wrong with the 7000s. It's like Smith said in Matrix. The purpose of life is to end.