So what do you guys plug your equipment into? Powerstrips?

I had been using a Panamax 1000 MOV based surge protector for 7 years and it did a perferct job of protecting my Audio and Video equipment, but I decided to look for a replacement due to the advancing age of the MOV's that it has been using.

I did a lot of research and I decided to try the Brick Wall Series Surge Filter Model PW2RAUD ($235) on their 30 day money back guarantee.

As soon as I plugged my Audio and Video equipment into the Brick Wall Surge Filter I noticed an improvenment of about the same magnitude as when I originally upgraded from Hospital Grade AC Plugs to Furutech FI-11G Audio Grade AC Plugs. Not only did my Audio equipment sound incredibly better as compared to when I was using the Panamax, but the picture on my TV has never looked this good before.

~Maxx~

 

Jeff, I'll go there!

I use a simple Wiremold eight-socket strip. No "conditioning", "surge protection" or other apparati of dubious provenance or utility. Cost me about two or three cafe lattes.

I unplug it if thunderstorms approach.

 

The Brick Wall PW2RAUD Series Surge Protector


~Maxx~

 

I use a surge protector. Don't ask me why I now use it.

 

I did an experiment a few weeks ago with my Conrad-Johnson MV-52 Tube Power Amp which had been running on Surge Protected Line Conditioning ever since I got it and plugged it directly into the wall outlet with no Surge Protection for the very first time.

It ran fine for 10 days and then it got zapped by a transient surge which blew the fuse on the right channel of the Amp!

The Power Amp has been running without incident on Surge Protection ever since.

Some people may have access to perfect AC Power and have absolutely no need for either Surge Protection or Line Conditioning. Unfortunately that is not the case with the AC Power that I have access to on my block.

~Maxx~

 

Up until the fuse blew, how did it sound compared to when it was conditioned?

 

Power strip surge protector

I just went to Lowes and got the 'Prime Surge Protector-strip', metal case, for about $30 or $35 and it works fine for me. As a matter of fact, I really like it a lot! I plug this protector into another surge protector, a small one, for plugging into the wall. A lot of lightning strikes where I live. When I'm finished playing music, I unplug everything. Heard to many stories of fried equipment in Florida!

 

The Power Amp has always used a dedicated 15 amp programmable Line Conditioner whether or not it was using Surge Protection.

Compared to running straight off of the wall using its Line Conditioning and using the Panamax Surge Protector and its dedicated Line Conditioning the Tube Power Amp sounded better running straight off of the wall without the Panamax.

Using the Brick Wall Surge Filter is a completely different story though because it makes the Tube Power Amp sound startlingly better than when it was running off of the wall with its dedicated programmable Line Conditioner as a constant.

The Brick Wall Surge Filter also brought the same amazing increase in sound quality to all of the rest of the equipment in my Audio system both Digital and Analog as compared to when I experimented with running them straight off of the wall.

~Maxx~

 

Amp to wall (says so in the manual) and the rest to panamax and monster cable power strip..all to 50 amp breaker to transformer (mine) on the street.

 

Yes, and especially when it storns and the electricity goes out and then comes back on. That's a perfect recipe for fried electronics.

 

I use two power strips as multi-outlet extension cords.

The greatest surge protection they afford is during the spring storm season,
when all I have to unplug from the wall is two connectors.

Much as I would like a power conditioning rig with surge protection, this does protect my gear at a price I can afford.

 

I use a Panamax M4300-EX. I have a feeling I lost some "punch" to the music one I started using it. I will have to try something different and see how it sounds.

Pat

 

I use an Isobar Noise Filter & Surge Suppressor, and that has worked well during the various power outages, etc., that have come around.

 

You're getting warmer....

 

This is the same reason that I quit using my Panamax and started using a 20 amp non-limiting Surge Filter. Now my whole Audio System sounds much better for it.

It would be nice if I didn't have to use Surge Protection at all, but the electrical grid that I live on zaps my equipment with impunity if I don't.

I don't have any regrets though because my equipment sounds much better with the Surge Filter I am using than when using the hazardous and seriously flawed electricity that is supplied directly off of the local grid.

~Maxx~

 

I have a Monster Power Center AV700 hooked up to my Home Theater System. Maybe I will try that on my Audio setup. I also have a Power Distribution Center by National Lighting that I took out of a busted Entertainment Center. Comes with a $15,000 warranty against damage to equipment hooked up to it.

Pat

 

Ditto on the Brickwall. Some argue that it degrades the sound, but I don't notice a difference either way. Going without a surge protector is not an option where I live now in western Colorado. (must change my profile) The suggestion to unplug the equipment when not in use is a non-starter given my absent mindedness.

 

Monster on theatre, Brickwall on 2-channel.

Really?

 

The wall.

 

You can do a search on the audio asylum tweaks forum and find posts critical of the Brickwall. For example:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tweaks/messages/145054.html

You can also find posts saying it helped the sound. In my system it seems nuetral and I would not do without its protection capabilities. I've seen recommendations suggesting the amps should not be run through the Brickwall but everything else can be. But I personally don't see the benefit of protecting other components if the amps are going to take a surge.

 

I posted of my use of a Brickwall but I should have specified; my ATC SIA2-150 amp was in a "non-current limiting" PS Audio product until I tried the wall socket and heard the improvement, and now keep the amp and my DAC1 connected to the naked wall. TV, Squeezebox, etc are into the Brickwall.
I realize, in hindsight, that mine is a glaring omission and for that I apologize. Justice served would have me do a pain staking comparison of components with and without but I'm just so very, very tired of that stuff lately.

 

I had a receiver zapped by lightning one time, so now I use some Belkins. I am not sure if they really work, but due to the amount of power outages and the sorta shaky electrical system in our house, I don't feel like i can live without some kind of protection. I have a cheapo strip for our microwave and convection oven, it pops from time to time, but so far, both appliances still work!

 

I have a little Monster Cable power strip that supposedly conditions the line. However, theres still about the same amount of noise as without it. Mainly it comes from the rheostats (sp?) on a lot of switches in the house...buzzing sound. At night when I turn them all off, the noise is gone. Is there any cheap device that gets rid of this noise, specifically from rheostats?

 

I hear you

 

I just recently got Cablepro's Noisetrapper NANA:

http://www.thecablepro.com/cableDetail.php?cID=115&cgID=1