APC H15 Power Conditioner - review

I got my APC 15 installed yesterday and initial thoughts are:
This unit is nice looking; perhaps not as "tech" looking as the Monsters and perhaps not as 'elegant' as the Belkin pf60 but somewhere in between. It is very heavy and has the largest power cord I've seen except for appliances such as clothes dryer and stove. The APC H15 has 15 amp or 1.5KVA capacity therefore the large power cable is required. The plug, however, is angled and does not block the other outlet.

It has 12 outlets nicely arranged in 4 groups (6-digital , 2-video, 2-audio, and 2-high current). The high current outlets can be controlled via 12 volt trigger but can also be live without the 12 volt trigger after a desired delay. I had read that the unit has sequenced on/off but in reality the only 'sequenced' on/off outlets are the 2 high current outlets being activated by set delay without trigger or by trigger & set delay. I recently purchased the Pioneer vsx03 AVR and the trigger out of the Pioneer was not strong enough (only 50mA) to trigger an older device (which apparently requires 200mA) but the APC detected the 12v and the outlets responded as they should.

The lcd meter is very nice; you can select to see:
1) Volt in & Volt out
2) Volt out & Amp out
3) Power out & percent of power usage or
4) Volt in & Frequency in.

I think one of the primary differences between other popular power conditioners and this APC H15 is that the APC also has automatic voltage regulation. You can set the voltage range from narrow for stable incoming power which results in conditioned 120v +/- 5% or normal which results in +/- 10% or wide for really unstable incoming power which results in +/- 15%.
I live in an area that has pretty consistent power so I set it to narrow and during my first day of watching, the voltage varied only slightly (between 119 ~ 123) therefore the APC H15 didn't need to boost or trim the voltage. This would indicate that I and probably many other people wouldn't need the voltage regulation but it's nice to know that it is there just in case.

It also has two sets of coaxial inputs; one for SAT and one for Cable/Ant. The Cable/Ant also serves as a splitter since it has two outputs. However, when I connected my D*TV HD DVR, I only got one antenna signal through the unit. The SAT passed the signal fine but I couldn't get the other signal through the Cable/ant input. I'll call APC and see if there is a bandwidth design issue or if I have a faulty unit.

My equipment consists of plazma TV, medium priced AVR, BD, DVD, SAT box, and some other misc such as laptop, XBOX, wireless bridge, etc. but with all my equipment powered on, I only used between 28~33% of the capacity. In another post, someone mentioned that the APC H10 had plenty of capacity and with my setup, that would be true. I didn't really need the extra capacity of the H15 but I like the visual of the LCD monitoring meter which is not provided on the H10 and if I ever upgrade to a separate power amp, the extra capacity might be needed. Additionally, the price difference between the discontinued silver color H10 and H15 was only $30. If someone were buying the black model, the price difference is substantial and I would recommend the H10 unless large power amps are being used.

All in all, I'm very happy with the unit and with the discontinued price of $150, it is head & shoulders above many other units selling for twice as much. The unit has a 5 year warranty but this is built like a tank and would expect it to last much longer.

I just checked audioholics.com site and it doesn't state that they are sold out. However, at this price, I'm surprised they didn't sell out on the first day. I'm happy I am one of the lucky ones to get one for that price. The H10 is also a good deal but for $20 difference, the H15 seems to be a better deal and certainly will obtain more complements.


Actually, I emailed them. They are very responsive. Apparently, I have a defective coaxial/RF protector jack. They say they will replace the unit. It's not going to be fun unplugging everything and taking out of the cabinet but it's feels great to deal with a company that actually helps and does what is right.

I can't get a signal through one of the coaxial/RF protectors. Other than that, everything works great and I really like the look. I have it under my DTV HR10 DVR and the silver face and blue lights match the DTV unit.

Everything that I've read states that if you don't use the coaxial and telephone protection on equipment that is plugged into a surge protector that you're still at risk. The high voltage &/or current can come through the coaxial through the unit and then even to other units connected to the surge protector. I went ahead and plugged the telephone cord (for DTV usage) and one of the two coaxial downleads to the APC H15. Right now, I have one downlead going straight to the DTV DVR since the second coaxial jack doesn't seem to work. I haven't noticed any negative impact on the DTV signal. As long as that's the case, I'll leave it plugged into the APC.

Where did you get yours from? The one I got from Audioholics.com is not refurbished or at least no indication, appears to be factory sealed new.


The APC H15 came with two RG6 coaxial cables (even with gold plated connectors) but they are 6 foot long. I'm a little disappointed that only one of the RF jacks works with my DTV signal. I heard back from APC support today (they are very responsive) and they want me to try another RF input just to test.

Hope your experience is not a sign. I ordered from Audioholics and the RF coaxial protector is faulty (doesn't pass the signal) but everything else appears to be working. I've been in contact with APC and I believe they are going to replace it. One reason I went with this unit was the company and heard their stuff is high quality. From your experience, sounds like they may have a QC issue with this model.

Glad you like it. Even though I'm not a total believer in power conditioning, I'm glad I bought mine. Just couldn't pass up the great price.


I think there are two main reason to delay. One is to prevent all the demand from occurring at the same time and the other is to prevent "popping" in the speakers. Actually, neither of these is an issue with my setup since I don't have large amps with big demand nor do they cause a pop but on my setup, I have the triggered delay set to 4 seconds. If you experience a pop in the speakers, you might want to try an increase in the delay. Also, I haven't turned the unit off i.e., I leave it on all the time so again the delay is not a factor unless the unit turns itself off due to out of range voltage change.

The PureAV AVU1500 is an UPS device whereas the APC H15 is not an UPS device. The PureAV has a battery to provide power if the incoming power drops. The APC H15 has voltage regulation to keep the incoming voltage within 5, 10, or 15% depending upon the incoming voltage range but if the voltage drops below 92 volts, it will not provide power.