APC H15 Power Conditioner - review - Page 2

I talked with them today. They have 70 orders to fill and expected 200 more units on Friday. I ordered one. Pretty excited but not about the silver. Any one have a silver? Does it stand out with a black component set up?

Thanks, 55sss! I'm a little confused, though--according to the Belkin website, the AVU1500 is supposed to provide voltage regulation without using the battery (unless there is no power to the unit). Am I wrong about this?

Hello everyone:

Thanks for this thread. I'm considering purchasing an APC H15, and I was wondering if one of you could do an experiment for me. Basically, I want to know what happens when the H15 looses power for a brief amount of time (such as when the line voltage drops out, then comes back on almost immediately). Such a power dip/failure usually is one of the worst kind for electronics equipment.

So I am wondering this: does the H15 turn back on automatically when the proper line voltage is restored, or does it require a manual turn-on? I prefer the manual. In that way, if there is a series of off/on/off/on surges, everything stays off until I manually turn it back on.

If someone could simulate this by turning off the circuit breaker to their home theater circuit (or unplugging the APC power cord), and then turning it back on, this should be a sufficient test.



Thanks in advance for your help,

Does anyone know what the power consumption is on this thing?

Thx.

I just spoke with a really helpful fellow named Jay over at APC AV Tech Support. He got in contact with one of the engineers at APC while I was on the phone with him. That engineer contacted another engineer, and then responded back and said that the power draw "was no more than 50 watts". That seems about what I would expect.

FYI: Earlier today (after my first reply to this thread), I called APC and spoke with a tech by the name of Mike. He took some time to look up the answer to my question about the way that the H15 handles power failures. He said that the unit would go off and stay off in the event of a power failure. But I would still appreciate it if someone here could test it on their unit.

Kudos to anyone that reads this who works for APC. Their tech support in both cases really went the extra mile to get me information, and I haven't even bought one of these units yet. Both techs did not just tell me what they "thought" was the right answer, but did some research.

Yardman,

Awesome info, thx.

Hello 55sss:

Thanks so much for performing that test. The result does add some confusion now, doesn't it?

Can you tell me this: is the "On/Off" a true dual-throw switch, with "in" being "on", and "out" being "off"?

Or does it seem to be either a mechanical or electronic state "toggle" type, where one push turns it on, and the next turns it off? Sort of like the On/Off buttons on most remote controls, where there is no real "on" or "off" command, but simply a state toggle command.

If it is the latter, then maybe the power up state is firmware assignable, and later (or earlier) versions were set up differently?

I'll have to call them again to see what they say.

Thanks again,

Thanks

Ok, I just called APC again after my last reply.

I spoke with a "Justin" this time. I told him about the first information that I was given, and then about 55sss' "real world" test. So he asked me if I could wait about 5 minutes, while he went to a lab to check one.

When he came back, he said that he had performed two tests. For the first, he unplugged the unit, then after 15 seconds he plugged it back in. About 2 seconds after plugging it back in, he said that he heard a "click" and that the unit powered back up. He then repeated the experiment, but this time leaving it unplugged for over a minute. The result was the same, with the unit powering back up about 2 seconds after line voltage was restored.

So I guess that the behavior 55sss reported is normal.

Although I'd rather that it just stay off until manually turned on, I guess that the demonstrated behavior is ok, as long the unit doesn't actually try to power up the outlets until it has a somewhat stable line voltage to work with.

Maybe I'm just being overly cautious.

***************************

Another interesting data point: more than 6 months ago I was looking at this same unit. At that point I didn't have any room in my media cabinet for it, so I did not purchase one. But also at that time I called APC, and asked them the same question. I forget the name of the tech that I spoke with at the time. But he told me that he had one at his desk, and he tried the unplugging/plugging experiment. At that time he told me that the unit stayed "off" when plugged back in!

So my conclusion is that either that original information was erroneous, or the firmware has changed at some point, resulting in a different behavior.

Other vendors' units that I've looked at will turn back on when the power is stable. So maybe APC changed the firmware in this model at some point in time to be compatible with customers' expectations? It would be interesting to hear from someone here on the forum who has had one for 1 year or more.

I do not know if anybody has had this issue or not but after connecting the H-15 to my Comcast HD box, I have problems with any channel that is HD. It seems to clip the signal so the picture locks up at times. I tried both outputs on the box and they have the same results. Non high def channels comes thru fine but the high def is useless.
Any thoughts? I am calling APC today since it seems everyone has had great experiences using them. I will let you know.

Hello other1:

Thanks sharing that information. Please update us with your results.

I have Insight Cable, and currently run the incoming cable line in my basement through both a signal booster (since it goes to several locations) and a standard surge suppressor power strip that has provisions for cable. I have not had any problem with high def channels with this arrangement.

Possibly the noise filters on the H15 are not tuned for digital transmissions?

I was wondering about the h15 - specifically the coax lines. Does anyone know what the Attenuation level is? Some places suggest you only need to go up to 1GHz for HD cable, but my entire set up is based around a 2.2GHz drop amp. I don't want to pick up the h15 if it can't handle the duties of HD.

Anyone?

Thanks
Mark

I actually just found the answer to my question - re: Attenuation. So I'll post the answer here.

The Attenuation range of the Coax inputs is: EMI/RFI Attenuation 40-100dB at 100KHz-30MHz. This means that depending on the range of the signal coming in - one could run into problems with an HD signal. Not a definite, but a possibility.

Mark

That's the range for the Sat signal. The other set of inputs is much less and therefore can't handle the signal range of HDTV - as I understand it.

Mark

I do have verizon fios wth an HD box. I have to recycle the box 2 times now in 2 weeks. I wasn't get any signal. I am not sure if this is fios or the apc since I got the fios the same time as the apc.

Tnt

When the verizon was out to install the fios, I did ask about the power surge setup. He told me not to route the coaxial thru the power surge.

The HD box in the bedroom is fine without the power surge protector


Tnt

I bought this unit on a whim not expecting much beyond surge protection. I've always believed in plugging audio gear esp. amps directly into the outlet. Most higher end gear have robust and fairly sophisticated power supplies. I use to be in the camp that believes power conditioners starve amps causing them to under perform.

I just got my H15 this week and am using it in my budget office system which comprises of a Rotel RA971mk2 amp, RCD1071 CDP and MF A3.5CDP, and B&W603S2 speakers. All I can say is WOW. This product has really improved the sound of my budget audio gear. I think most of the improvements can be attributed to having a more stable source. The Voltage Regulation really does perform as stated stablizing the output voltage to within +/-5%. I live in a home over 60 years old with some questionable wiring. Some of which is original I'm sure. The H15 has significantly improved the performance of my budget gear; its effects were immediately obvious. My system has new vitality. No hype... Transients have more vigor producing a higher sense of realism. Frequency response in both extremes extended. The overall noise floor is much quieter; everything just sounds more transparent. I honestly didn't expect this at all. The product has definitely exceeded my expectations. I am a convert as far as the effectiveness of conditioners and VR devices in use with mass market consumer electronics. I still subscribe to the theory that these type of devices may hinder the performance of high end gear. For curiousity, I'm gonna try using the H15 in my Bryston system to see if it has any benefits.

I have no doubt of the H15's effectiveness with conventional mass market components. An eye opener for sure. I am proactively recommending the H15to my friends and family.

You my friend can write for the an AV magazine .

tnt

Nope, I don't work for APC but I use to work in Aerospace and the Tech industry for a famous chip maker. I'm just a big kid who loves music and hi-fi gear. I own a lot of equipment most of which sit in closets to please a significant other.

55sss, you're lucky to have stable power. I think the biggest contributor to maximizing performance from any gear is having stable power. This is especially true for power amplifiers which integrally rely much more on its powersupply to function optimally. If you research professional AV equipment, you'll find better power conditioners advertise power factor. These types of power conditioners are specifically designed to store and supply instantaneous current. i.e. Furman P-1800PF and not just filter and regulate source voltages. The PF in its name denotes Power Factor. In short, its able to supply large amounts of instantaneous current to gear such as large amps that can appear as non-linear loads. I'm not sure what gear you have but I think most multi channel AV receivers don't demand much current relatively esp. compared to say a Krell or Bryston power amp capable of driving 1ohm loads. Maybe in your case, a power conditioner/VR may not have as much benefits.

As mentioned, I am new to using power conditioners myself. I thought I would give the H15 a try because of its low price and also the house we moved into last year is over 60 years old. The power in our house is rather unstable. It hadn't damaged any of my gear but I had my suspicions that things weren't kosher. Our previous house was newly built and so power was a non-issue. I guess, I didn't realize the effects of power that moved around even though it was still within acceptable limits of the equipment. In my case, the VR feature in the H15 is the help and not so much the noise suppresion. That's just my unqualified opinion.

I'll post any new findings regarding my experiences with the H15.

Thanks for the praise )

The H15 is Snake Oil. Buck and Boost will not get you anything. Buy a powerstrip with protection and it will work as good as an H-15 for alot less. Unless you want a Brick with ights. Now, If you have a power problem buy a Double Conversion UPS that will Isolate the AC and give you pure sine wave.

Hello again 55sss and everyone else:

I was reading the H15 review by Tom Andry at Audioholics, as well as posts on their forum regarding the H15. After reading these, I had a couple of questions occur to me:

1) Has anyone here had a problem with fuses blowing on their sub amps as Tom reported with his system?

I have a powered sub, an Outlaw LFM-1 Compact. As I have not yet purchased the H15, I can't report back as to my experiences with regards to this.

Here's the link to Tom's review:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/p...ioners/apc-h15

2) a user (Trikoid) reported that he was getting a buzzing noise through his speakers (tweeters) that seemed to actually get worse when using the H15. He mentioned that the buzzing was most likely due to dimmers on his lights, but he was concerned that the H15 seemed to make it worse, whereas a Monster unit did not. (Possibly he had some grounding issues or poorly shielded signal cables, etc) Has anyone experienced a similar issue with the H15?

I have quite a few dimmed lights in my HT room. I don't notice any buzzing at all on my system (Onkyo SR705 AV) without a power conditioner, so I don't expect that it would get worse with the H15.

Here's the link to tha Audioholics forum posts:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...ad.php?t=40912

Thanks for any feedback.

I agree that at the MSRP - the H15 is way too expensive for what I would have paid.

However for ~$150.00, getting surge protection, trigger/delayed power switching, and a front panel indicator of Vin, Vout, and current output >> I feel it is a good value.

Does anyone know if this unit will pass a powerline network signal? My DISHDvr 722 has built in powerline and I want to add it to my home network.

Thanks

Mitch

Geez, that is what the H15 should protect you from! Again, It is snake oil Keep on selling them Audioholics with your $100.00 HDMI cables