Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What power conditioners do you guys use?

I knew that would get a rise out of Rick.

Yeah, I haven't updated the website in some time. Many of those pics are old, I'll see what I can do..

APC S15 (allows trigger control) and APC S20 (no trigger but RS232 control) have received good reviews. These are UPS/power conditioners. No improvement in audio or video, in general, but there are some who report improved black levels on displays, deeper bass, and blacker audio background. Would take comments regarding improvement with a grain of salt. One negative I heard with the APC units is that some have heard a clicking noise whenever incoming power is unacceptable or deviates from a sine wave, and unit goes into battery back up.

Tripp Lite's SmartOnLine SU2200XL is a double conversion UPS that has a large capacity with 2200 VA / 1600 watts. It continuously converts incoming AC to DC, then back to perfect sine wave AC output at 120V AC (+/-2%). Some have used this product in home theaters with good results. I think Dave (dllewel) in this forum has this one.

I have the Belkin PF60 and have been relatively pleased with its operability. It is not a UPS and I neither expected nor received any improvement, audio or video wise. Belkin AP30800-10 is a nice UPS but does not offer the same filtration as PF60 and some have complained that it hums. Belkin advises against plugging the PF60 into the AP30800-10. The way out is their AVU1500, which basically gives the functionality of both units in one unit. This is in contrast to Panamax, which indicates that one can plug their power conditioners into one of their UPSs.

I think connecting a power amp to UPS/conditioners is not thought to be a good idea even if some claim to have inductorless outlets for high current amps. I think Alan had a post about this somewhere and, interestingly, the manual for the A1400-8 explicitly states this. If you heed this advice and plug the amp to the wall and the rest of the equipment to a UPS/conditioner, then getting surge protection for the whole house may be in order since the amp may pass along a surge to the rest of the equipment to which it's connected.

John

Han, I also prefer to use the power conditioning which the engineers who designed my electronic components built into their power supply sections. I've never considered it to be worthwhile to spend money on an extra "power conditioner" when that money can be better spent where it's actually needed.

In a bigger amp

Excellent post.

John

Yeah, the whole "power conditioner" topic reminds me of why I didnt buy Monster A/V or audio cables.

I just use some kind of Belkin pure a/v glorified HT power bar, with a bunch of capacitors in it. The capacitors should basically even out any fluctuations in draw from the same circuit. I notice when I power up my amp and TV, the lights in the living room flicker.....maybe I should put a line conditioner on those to protect them from my HT gear..

i have the belkin pf60. its not installed yet as my theater is just getting drywalled. the price was right and it will at least look cool in nothing else . later.

I got a TrippLite Omni1000 UPS at Costco for $99. I just wanted a UPS for the TV bulb, HTPC and HD-DVR. No problems yet. It seemed like a good value. And those blue LED's are b!tchin'.

This is correct, and it works well. It protects the main gear, and is supplying the outlets in the room for the projector and subs too. And yes, I agree that it is probably overkill- but it was a fun project.

I got mine as a display unit from BB. A Monster HTS 3600 MK II. $250, normally $500.