Given my investment in the A/V equipment, I guess I need one, right? Any good brand out there that you recommend?

As often, there are high-end and low-end products in every consumer product market. Other than protection against surge, does a nice power conditioner really helps with a/v signal clarity?

Thanks

Actually, unless you live in area with very a poor power supply, a power condiitoner isn't needed, as all equipment has some power condiitoning/surge supression(minor) built in. I haven't seen nor heard any benefit to mine, a Belkin PF60. Panamax makes some very good ones which have better cleaning capabilities according to their specs, but they have less suppression of spikes.

Also in the A1400-8 manual, they recommend not using one for that at least. Something about the possible overage possibly being damaging.

I wish I had an A1400 to have that "worry"

Save the $300 you'd spend on a conditioner and you're that much closer to the A1400!

I raised the same questions you did when considering the decision and ran into a lot of people like Jakewash saying they'd bought it and seen no huge results so I just ended up getting a good surge protector for about $50 from Costco. (though don't get me wrong, a good strong debate usually ensues whenever this question is asked!)

I am considering a power backup for my projector so that it has time to run the fan to cool it down in the event of a power failure, but outside of that I don't plan to spend any more money on power conditioners/surge protectors/etc.

I actually bought mine just for the fun of it. I like to see what the voltage is at any time during the day, there are some interesting results.

I bought the Tripplite at Costco for $99 just to protect the bulb in my TV and the disk in my PVR.

I don't claim to be an audiophile so I guess I can't tell the difference having a nice power conditioner or not.

The area that I live in seldom has power failures but it did happen once that my router got zapped during one severe thunder storm. I guess I will just buy a surge protector to protect my Plasma and receiver.

Thanks for the help.

Sure thing. If you are a member of CostCo, do check there... they have great deals on good surge protectors as well as power backups.

Im new to the audio side of things so I cannot comment on sound quality, but as a person who works with electricity for a living the power conditioning devices are not a good investment as the electronics are built to convert AC into filtered DC therefore eliminating "unclean power". Power supplies have voltage regulators to give you constant power output.

The only way that I would purchase one of these devices would be if I live on a farm with a long single overhead line that only feeds a few customers as these lines are at high risk of Lightning strikes. Even then I would much prefer to put my money into a good UPS(uninteruptible power supply) that are used commonly for PCs. But if lightning strikes close to your house nothing will really protect your gear. Your looking at voltages upwards of ~15 kV minimum.

What utility do you work for?

Hydro One, Ontario, Canada

Mr.B, you're absolutely right. As some of us have repeatedly pointed out, all competently designed components that input power from the wall outlet have power supply sections that supply clean DC to the amplifying section. The actions of the transformer, rectifier and capacitors supply all the "conditioning" necessary.

Actually, if Mr. B. is a substation engineer or technician, he's probably familiar with H1's home-grown A-28M oscillatory transient standard.

It goes through the parasitic winding capacitance of power supply transformers rather nicely and if it doesn't blow up down-stream electronics, it makes them lose their mind. The only way around it is for manufacturers to install ferrite chokes, transorbs and capacitors at the front end of their equipment and be very cognizant of how the circuit board is laid out in order to stop it or at least limit it to harmless levels. You guys have caused me great pain Mr. B .

Hopefully, we won't get any of those nasties in our homes .

The high voltage power system is constantly exposed to these transients which are created by high voltage switching and lightning strikes.

However, if you purchase a high quality power supply which most high end audio equipment incorporate in their system they have been engineered to accomodate this as you have said. If we had cheap power supplies all of our PCs, TVs and other electronics would cease to function everyday.

You engineers sure talk funny sometimes

I bought a Belkin PF60 about a year ago from eCost.com. They had them on their 'clearance countdown' for about $130. I was looking for a new surge protector at the time, which was going to be $50 or $60 anyway. So I went ahead and bought the PF60. Would I spend $600 on this thing (MSRP, think), uh, no. But for $130, I think it's worth it.

I really like it. I'm not going to claim that it brought anything to the table visually or sonically with my system. But it has done several important things for my system overall.

1) Cable organization. Makes it simple to plug everything in to one place. Greatly decreased 'rats-nest' effect behind the AV rack now.

2) Power monitoring. I'm not an electical engineer, so I really can't say what over or undervoltage does for equipment. But I can say that the PF60 is reporting the power in my home varies from 121 to 131 volts, and usually is around 125v. An electrician friend says it's normal for our power company. Does an extra 1-11 volts matter to the equipment? I don't know, but modulating that down to 120v seems beneficial. YPMV (your power may vary). It's also interesting to monitor how many amps my system is pulling.

3) Power 'cleanup'. I'm not going to say that my speakers sound better or the TV is clearer. But I can definitely say that on my prior 'normal' surge protector, I would hear a click or snap from the speakers when my wife fired up the clothes dryer or a microwave, or even if our neighbor's A/C kicked in (we share a transformer connection at the utility pole). I don't get any of that anymore. Dead silence.

4) Switched outlets. I don't need them now, but should I ever get a projector and need a motoroized screen, or some other amplifier that doesn't have a remote turn on, the PF60 has switched & delayed power outlet settings that could be very handy.

5) Asthetics. I think it just looks cool. Totally my opinion, but I like the way it compliments my system.

If I bought one, it would be for #5. For $130 I'd consider it too, MSRPs are for chumps.

I did buy mine for reason #5.

If you think about it, we usually do tons of research on items we want to buy, and after all is said and done #5 is still one of the top reasons for the purchase.

Yeah thats fair.. Aesthetics is always important

I am one of those individuals who live far up North and have many power failures and power spikes .
I have recently installed a surge protector for the entire house .
I have lost brand new refrigerators , televisions , countless cordless phones , dishwashers and microwaves .
99 % of my newly installed receptacles are http://toolmonger.com/2009/05/18/in-outlet-surge-protection/

My audio equipment upstairs and downstairs are both protected by a panamax http://asktheadvisors.com/panamax/

I already have two dead circuits in the Panamax .
Multiple calls to Hydro One . They say their power is clean .
I have seen voltages as high as 140 during a thunder storm .
We are a small town about 60 homes all suffering from serious voltage spikes

Wow...revival of an 8 year-old thread!

I guess old threads never die! I still have my Monster power conditioner from 2003. I don't notice any audio improvement and didn't expect it to. I bought it to make connecting everything on my audio rack easier to connect to the power conditioner since I had only one outlet on that wall. Also the cool factor that it looks like another component on my rack and can see the voltage.