do you unplug your system during thunderstorms?

I just power off my sound systems.

 

No. I'm 51 years old, and never in my life has any equipment I or my family owned been affected by lightning. Maybe I've just been lucky, but given the track record I don't worry about it overly much. Chances are pretty slim, I think, and I have household insurance. If one of my 20+ year old amps fries, I'd just as soon get a newer one anyway. I unplug everything when I'm on a vacation or business trip, though.

 

Yes, I unplug them during thunder storms. I also unplug them when we have high winds and the power is on the verge of going out (ie,am seeing flickering or dimming lights). I also unplug them when the power is out and don't plug them back in until it is back on and stabilized.

 

Always and when I'm away for sure...stereos, computers and big Sony!

 

Ooops, forgot ice storms when the trees start to lean over and "rolling brown-outs" during the summer heatwaves here in the Beantown area.

 

The big snow we had in CT back in 02 or 03 on Christmas eve took down powerlines and actually fried the television set at my brother-in-law's house after a big spark. I am not sure if the set was connected to some surge protector. So a downed powerline could do serious damage to your electronic equipments if they happened to be powered on and unprotected.

 

I always unplug if I'm awake and home. Tall trees everywhere - like a magnet for lightning. Around here, if the sky so much as sneezes on one of the taller trees it'll cause a power dip or outage. Or the power will be disconnected by the power co.because they have to do some work for another neighborhood. When they turn back on it's sometimes a surge. You can't win. So I unplug.

 

me too, even though the power line conditioner people tell me I don't have to, I do anyway, better safe than sorry!

 

Absolutely. I unplug the power cords from the back of the CDP and amp. Also do this when leaving town on trips, etc.

I've got $5,000 worth of Naim kit, hard-earned; it's essential to my existence!

 

I never have but it's probably something I should consider doing.

 

I don't unplug my audio equipment, however I do have a "whole house" surg suppressor. It wires into the main Breaker panel. Cost me $80, installed, while I was having some other electrical work done.

 

My amps stay on 24 hours a day and my other equipment stays on standby if not in use - unless I go away.

 

Definitely - after a lightning strike about 30 feet from our house that took out various appliances around the house - fortunately no A/V gear or computers that were all protected.
Regardless of insurance, I have no desire to go through all that claims hassle for a few minutes of inconvenience unplugging a few power strips. And, (and that's a big AND) if anyone's like me, I'd be jonesin' for my tunes within an hour of not having any.

 

Geoff, you didn't have any this last thursday? No hail?

 

I only unplug components I want to KEEP.

 

does the system sound better during a thunderstorm though? Does the grid run cleaner during a storm if the power is still on due to the way it affects the air?

 

You bet. Even in the middle of the night.

 

Thunder storm? Yes I pull the plug, I also pull the plug if I'm going to be away for more than day...

 

Always. I'll even unplug before going to work if we have thunderstorms in the weather forecast.

 

Nope only the outdoor fm antenna.

 

Electrical storm I definitely unplug.

 

No, but it's a good idea

 

Really bad ones, which are not that common in my neck of the woods, I do. I have a Purepower AC power regenerator for my main system. I number of years ago a lightning strike near the house fried the regenerator. It worked exactly as it was suppose to. It protected all the components from the surge but fried itself in the process. Purepower replaced the unit for free, which I thought was pretty impressive since it was long past warranty. To avoid the hassle of going through that again I just unplug the Purepower during a bad storm if I'm home.

 

yes

 

Me too. I have no desire to learn how much protection the Hydra 6 provides.