In reply to:
would adding a Panamax 5100 surge protector/line conditioner be a worthwhile investment for a home theater set up
First, what do you want it for? Surge protection is a good idea if you're in an area with bad power or prone to lightning strikes. If you're looking for AC boost/buck, it would probably help there too - but I couldn't find any info on the model you asked about on their website (MSRP, and technical specs). I was concerned by one thing they mentioned in a few pieces of their product lit - something about "adjusting line voltage without batteries"... umm, how do they boost then? huge capacitors?
I take my cues from the pro world. Our backup system is a gasoline gennie with battery operated UPSes on my DDR and Chyron (both PC-based) they're there to pull out the split-second sag when the power is shunted - all the other equipment hums happily along on generator power. Again, if it's good enough for a pair of $30K VTRs, it should be good for a $1K home theatre receiver.
In short, if you want it, buy it... but look past the hype, a UPS will do the same thing for you for probably a lot less money (except for the line conditioning aspect which is usually sketchy at best on consumer electronics, it's line conditioning, not power conditioning most times)
Bren R.
