[wordsworth]

Not sure if any one else uses one but I bought a Belkin SurgeMaster today as we occasionally get power surges during storms. Well i pluged it in an immediately noticed the sound was different with my HD580's from before I bought it. At first I was not sure about the new sound (and to a certain extent still not) but the sound is definetly more forward (less laid back) and more aggressive. It seems the bass is more punchier but the treble seems to have lost some of its smoothness.

When I looked on the back it says "...SurgeMaster offers the most complete protection from power surges and AC contamination..."

At the bottom it lists one of the features as "EMI/RFI Filtration: Noise 150KHz ~100MHz. Attentuation < 50db" IT says that these reduce audio interference. Is that correct.

Bassically is the Surgemaster doing good or harm? At the moment I kinda miss the more smoother sound that I got from direct connection, but that could be because I am use to it. But the drum and bass definetly seem less muddy from the surgemaster.

Wordsworth

 

[khollister]

I did extensive experiments with different power conditioning devices several years ago and rapidly came to the conclusion that the type of surge protectors you are referring to always made the sound worse. At the time I was convinced the main culprits are the MOV's (metal oxide varistors) used. While there are audiophile friendly solutions to power conditioning, I never found a surge protection solution that didn't screww up the sound. The only alternative I know is to unplug.

 

[Thump]

I originally assumed power conditioning and fancy power cords were bogus. Yesterday however I attended an audio club meeting where the PS Audio Power I and II were auditioned, along with one by David Gray. The homeowner already had put in a special circuit, plugs, etc (going so far as to twist the power lines every 18 inches to avoid RF interference, running the power lines at least 18 inches away from every other line, adding a special ground to his circuit box, etc) and the difference to me was immediate and noticeably improved.

These babies cost like $1300 each, though, so none in the immediate future for me.

Another user commented to me privately that he felt Triplite (sp) UPS's were nearly as good, but I have no experience on this.

 

[blr]

Quote:

Originally posted by khollister I did extensive experiments with different power conditioning devices several years ago and rapidly came to the conclusion that the type of surge protectors you are referring to always made the sound worse. At the time I was convinced the main culprits are the MOV's (metal oxide varistors) used. While there are audiophile friendly solutions to power conditioning, I never found a surge protection solution that didn't screww up the sound. The only alternative I know is to unplug.

I've used similar things and to me it depends on the electrical environment (read the electrical instalation of the house etc.) At some locations it made a small difference in others I coudn't find any.

 

[markl]

A good inexpensive power conditioner/surge suppressor is the Monster PB1100. I wouldn't dip below this model in their line, nor am I fully convinced of the benefits of going higher up unless you get one of their power regenerators. There's probably a trade-off between adding more and more stages of filtration, cleaning up the power but reducing the overall listenability of any system. PB1100 strikes a nice balance-- parts quality high enough to prevent degradation, filtration minimal enough to prevent restriction of dynamics and "veiling". Does not harm the signal and provides quality surge suppression.

Personally, I wouldn't consider plugging in my audio system straight to the wall, in the end, a good audio grade surge suppressor like the Monster can be a very cheap insurance policy on your treasured gear.

 

[Hirsch]

Once you've had a good electrical blast knock out some very expensive electronics, you use protection. Even if there's minor sonic issues, a couple of thousand dollars worth of electronics scrap is no fun, even if insured. I found this out the hard way

The Monster HTS-2000 can sometimes still be found at very reasonable prices, and works well, IMO.

 

[SuperGiraffe]

Like Hirsch, I use the Monster HTS-2000, and it seems pretty good -- it supposedly has three separate specialized filters for video, audio, and "high-power" components. It also, of course, is supposedly a pretty good surge protector. With my system, I thought it maybe cleaned up the highs to make them a bit crisper with a little bit better attach and decay. However, I chose to plug my power amp directly into the wall (rather than one of the two "high-power"-specific outlets), as I felt that the sound became a little thin with the amp running from the HTS-2000. I plug the REL into the high-power outlet instead, and it seems to do fine, although I haven't spent any time auditioning back and forth.

 

[screwdriver]

me and my friend started building home theater the same time .
we are neighbors .
i invested in a panamax DB500 surge supressor and line conditioner .
he did not .

in the end during a storm when both of us were out . he did have damaged equipment .

and now - he is using one too.

 

[wordsworth]

Thanks for the comments guys. Not sure about the overall change in sound (which is uite noticable) but it will ensure my equipement doesn't frazzel. Might look into getting a Monster conditioner later.

Wordsworth

 

[RussKon]

any surge protector based upon mov's provides minimal surge protection at best!!!

i strongly suggest a series mode protector....

this technology is available from the following companies..

www.surgex.com
www.zerosurge.com
www.brickwall.com

check out the links on the above sites... very informative reading...

these units are all rated to protect against surges up to 6000 volts at 3000 amps... (any larger voltages or amperages will cross at your service mains)....these units will literally protect you against a direct lightning hit on your house....

i have two surge-x units protecting my 2 audio systems as well as my computer system...

the best protection available....period!

Russ

 

[SumB]

I second the Powerbar 1100 recommendation. The difference it made in my system was clear and immediate, and for the better.

 

[wordsworth]

Quote:

these units are all rated to protect against surges up to 6000 volts at 3000 amps... (any larger voltages or amperages will cross at your service mains)....these units will literally protect you against a direct lightning hit on your house....

As for actually surge protection the Belkin is pretty good. It offers "Maximum Spike Amperage (39,000 Amps)", "1544 Joule energy rating provides maximum protection" + "£ 40,000 Connected Equipment Warranty".

The only surprise is how very different the sound is with the HD580. Maybe I had very dirty power

Wordsworth

 

[Kali]

Wordsworth.. i had the exact same model a while back, you're quite correct there is a noticeable change in sound quality from standard mains with it, I've since purchased a pretty decent UPS and have noticed very little difference since that upgrade... and for 20 quid you cant go wrong compared to bog-standard power blocks (i still have the belkin connected to my dvd and tv).

 

[RussKon]

"As for actually surge protection the Belkin is pretty good. It offers "Maximum Spike Amperage (39,000 Amps)", "1544 Joule energy rating provides maximum protection" + "£ 40,000 Connected Equipment Warranty"."

the only problem with that "39,000 amps" is it is not stated at what voltage....

i saw a demonstration with a $45 surge protector (rated at 2300 joules) hooked up to a surge generator that would create 3000 amps at 6000 volts...

as the surge hit there was a loud noise....after taking the unit apart, we saw that all of the mov's had literally blown up!!!... this was a tripplite unit..one of their isobar units...

a Surge-X unit was plugged into the same generator and took over 50 hits during the day and the unit never faltered...nor did the apple laptop computer that was plugged into the Surge-X protector...

Surge-X offers a ten year unlimited warranty and has NEVER had a unit fail and NEVER had any connected equipment damaged by any surges!!!

 

[wordsworth]

Well Russ I can't argue with that. I really don't know much about surge protecton. But thankfully I have considerably less that £40,000 worth of equipment connected to the device so if it should go boom at least I get some cash out of them. Cheers for the recommendation though, if I do buy another surge protector I will certainly take the recommendations on borad.

Wordsworth