Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Power requirements

I'm looking into getting a UPS for my system. Anyone have any advice as to how large? I've got an H/K 525 (which says it takes 1060 watts max, or something ridiculous like that) that's only driving 2 speakers at the moment (will be 5 at some point, maybe 7), a 5 disc CD changer, a DVD player, a TiVo, a 27" TV, a VCR, and an Atari 2600. I'm thinking something on the order of 1000W, but is that just too much? (it would also cost a fortune.) I probably would not put the sub on it, as that's across the room.

Thanks!
Ken

Why do you need a UPS for your AV system???

Incidentally, I did get a small UPS for my front projector, just to get the peace of mind in the event of sudden power loss in the middle of operation -- normally, the fan keeps running for about 5 minutes after the lamp is switched off to cool it down.

Bingo. I don't like the idea of brownouts taking out my receiver. Besides, I don't hold any tuck with those "A/V Power Companies" claims... "Get better sound by cleaning your power with this here $10000 overgrown power strip!"

Ken, that still leaves open the question of why an interruption of power to your AV equipment would be critical. How could it result in "taking out" your receiver?

Power spikes are more of a concern for me. I come from a computer background, so I suppose that I'm more oriented towards trusting UPSes than surge protectors. But hey, if y'all think I'm insane, that's fine. :-) What do you think I should be looking at?

I use and recommend the Tripp Lite Isobar surge suppressors, which cost approximately $60.

Audioholics also recommends them: http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/interconnects/bulletproofing.php

I agree with the other posts that a UPS system is not needed. In fact, I have read (but certainly not tested) that some UPS systems may actually degrade performance because of voltage fluctuations.

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In fact, I have read (but certainly not tested) that some UPS systems may actually degrade performance because of voltage fluctuations.

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Yeah, thinking of it... The majority of reasonably priced online UPS's actually generate a "simulated" sine wave. This means that the UPS output is much "noisier" (full of high-order harmonics) than typical residential AC mains. This would be a non-issue for computers and most other digital gears. However, it could adversely affect the sound quality, depending on how good your amp's analog circuits are in rejecting the high-frequency noise contaminating the AC power line.

OK. Thanks for the advice! I'll look at those surge supressors.

This is what I use and I highly recommend it specially if your system is power hungry.

http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=211

I did find UPSes that had both sine wave and simulated sine wave outputs on them. Does it really matter? Also, I do want backup power on my TiVo, so that, at least, is a little UPS. Just being a pitbull on this, I'm afraid.

Nice looking thing, though. I will think about it. Thanks for the tip!

Wow, you still have an Atari 2600? I had one of those too. But that was like 15 or 20 years ago. Man that thing was great.

I bought it off of Ebay about 3 months ago. It's great. I just have to make myself haul it out to play on it!

Saturn and others,

What does this type of "transformer-based" line conditioners do and how? I am just curious...

http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=211

Based on my research this line conditioner has the same protection as most surge arrests and protects against EMI/RFI noise. What is EMI/RFI? I dunno. It performs like Monster Power but costs less. But what it has that Monster does not have is maintaning full level power to all devices connected to it. This is good for devices that are power hungry and have variable drains such as a projector. The projector can vary depending how much light the projector bulb presents. During those bright scenes the projector is draining high levels of power. The LCR 2400 will provide the projector as much power as it is needed via the power supply. This is also the case for Power amps that need the extra power during peaks. The LCR also regulates the power to each device so that when the power supply needs 250W, it gets 250w. In some condos or really old houses power fluctuation can happen which creates havok to power supplies and cause it stress too much due to lack of power or has too much power that it maybe overpowering the power supply.(Don't quote me on that. An EE could better explain this better than me) Try the AVIA test with the video power line test to see if you get the bending of the lines when the brightness is cranked all the way up. If the power resource is lacking it will make the line bend. When using the LCR2400 it would continously supply the power needed to project the bulb in scary brightness that even the lines do not bend.
On top of that the line conditioner has insurance protection against "transient power from surges" ie electrical storm, power feedback from blown transformer - which are all rare in the first place.
It is highly used the the computer and telecom world. I trust it well enough. I do not think it creates the sine waves created by the UPS power sources. If you plan to buy this do not buy it from audio or video sources. Go to your computer contacts and buy it from them. You would get it much cheaper.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1780125&highlight=lcr2400#post1780125



Saturn

I recently received a letter from my power company informing me that they are now offering surge protection at the line....before it reaches the outlet. Actually, the surge protector is in the meter box. The service is available for $5.95 a month and can be cancelled at no cost. Installation is also free.

In case anybody is curious...I provided a link below.

http://www.kcpl.com/residential/meter_pro.html

Anybody know how well this service works? Is it superior to an in-home approach? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

In my experience, this isn't true; the output of my UPS systems is cleaner than what's coming from the wall outlet. Ocassionally this is really irritating to me; they tend to eliminate X-10 signals I use for home automation.

I'm not buying the el-cheapos (the most inexpensive one I own is a Powerware 5115), but I don't have anything over 2000VA. I have 6 UPS systems in my home, all 1400VA to 200VA. None of my home theater gear is connected to any of them, but it's not due to any concerns about noise (I just need the backup power elsewhere).

For the whole enchilada, I like the Powerware 9xxx series (the black ones if it's going into living space). Not cheap, but I'd definitely buy a pair of Powerware 9125 1500VA UPS systems before I spent $1500 on Monster's top-of-the-line line conditioner. :-)

Geez! Those things are $3000! Do you find these to be superior to APS units?

I rather like the sound of that one. Hmm, maybe I'll get that + a small UPS for the TiVo.

I haven't used any APS units, so I can't compare. Other than Powerware, I have a couple of old Best Fortress 1425VA units (one not in use) and a Best Axxium 1500VA. They're all similar; Best was bought by Invensys (Powerware) a while ago. Monitoring software works fine for me, runtime has been as stated. I was a fan of the Best Axxium units for space reasons (first 2U 1500VA, I believe) and now the Powerware ones for the same reason (the 5115's are very nice for a 1U solution). The last thing I need is a hulking box full of batteries in my basement. Ever try to move a 20kVA or bigger UPS? :-)

As for price... the 9125 1250VA is like $600 street price (ecost.com, which is where I usually buy UPS systems). I forget exactly what I paid for my 1500VA units, but it was under $700.

I don't really need them in the family room, but now that I think about it, I wouldn't want the fan noise. It's not tremendous, but I'm one of those people prone to going insane from background noise. :-) I just replaced the P4 1.8GHz PC in the family room with an EPIA M9000 based machine (no fans at all), in the interest of eliminating noise. Now the only thing left with annoying fan noise is the ReplayTV box. The day I tear that apart to do something about it probably isn't far away. I think it's actually louder than my 2U UPS fans. Go figure.

The other issue would be cosmetics. The best looking decent UPS is darn ugly compared to the Monster line conditioners. I have the same issue with the TrippLite stuff suggested here. Just a cosmetic icky to me, that's all. If it's in a rack behind glass doors, there's no issue. I don't have that luxury in the family room, we have a pair of Bell'O ATC-2052MC's for audio gear and they hide nothing but wires. In my office the UPS's are in Middle Atlantic MDV-R12's with rackmount drawers and ethernet switch, which works out well (the MDV-R12's are deep enough so that the UPS's don't stick out the back). The audio system in my office is off of the Axxium 1500VA UPS, and my S/N hasn't suffered from it (PC connected to Behringer DSP8024 to ART SLA-1 amp driving Axiom M22ti's with an EP350 subwoofer).

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In my experience, this isn't true; the output of my UPS systems is cleaner than what's coming from the wall outlet.

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Well, the keyword in my statement earlier was "reasonably priced" -- which meant "el-cheapo" in your term. Of course, there are many UPS'es that generate true, clean sine wave when you look at more expensive and larger ones. But I thought that spending lots of $$$ was not the intention of the first poster.

actually, as long as the price of the UPS is less than the price of replacing my system, it's all good. The APC UPSes that I was looking at are true sine wave generators (ie, not the Back-UPS, but the Smart-UPS). I was just wondering what the rated power of the UPS should be.