Do I need a surge protector

[griffinconst]

I am building a nice AV system and wonder if I really need a surge protector. What about a power conditioner? What is that anyway?
I had no problems with my old system in 25 years with no surge protector.
If I do need one, how many jules.
I have:
52" Sony LCD
Onkyo 805
Sony DVD
Sony cd jukebox
Cable box
Will be getting blueray

all plugged into the same power strip.
Appreciate any advice.
Thanks

 

[Adam]

My thoughts: you don't need a surge protector. It's a little insurance against something that might happen. I'm risk averse, so I have surge protectors on my equipment (computer and A/V).

 

[Missionman]

they reccoment that you run a surge protector with plazma, lcd and tft screens, but i have always run my screens without one, neva done any of mine harm. i think its a load of nonscence bout it all with them things

 

[deedubb]

I surge protect everything. I have my home hepa air exchanger surge protected. I just bought a massage chair worth $4K...surge protected. All my A/V equipment...surge protected. Why not? It's cheap insurance.

 

[GlocksRock]

I use them because they definitly can't hurt, and like the saying goes, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[robmlisanti]

I use them because they definitly can't hurt, and like the saying goes, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Ditto for me...I had a surge last summer and my Monster Surge Protector worked! otherwise I would have lost my 42" Samsung Plasma

 

[Pyrrho]

Whether you need one or not depends upon the power supplied to your home. If you decide to get one, I recommend looking at ones that are sold for use with computers. For some reason, the ones sold for computer use tend to be much more reasonably priced than the ones sold for use with audio/video equipment. I suspect that this is because many audiophiles will pay crazy amounts of money for all sorts of foolishness.

 

[skizzerflake]

I am building a nice AV system and wonder if I really need a surge protector. What about a power conditioner? What is that anyway?
I had no problems with my old system in 25 years with no surge protector.
If I do need one, how many jules.

I say YES. You may not have trouble for a hundred years, or the next lightning strike next month may be the end of your entire system. I say this from painful experience, having lost an entire HT system and several PC components. My main suggestion is to get one with monetary insurance. It will ease the pain if the unthinkable happens. If lightning hits, it won't matter much what the numbers are on the protector because equipment will be fried but if you can get some money back it will ease the pain. Insurance covered some of the cost, but they depreciated some vintage equipment to practically nothing.

 

[allargon]

Surge protectors? Yes! However, don't get a cheap one. Those are on shot deals. Get a good one ($30-50) from APC or Tripplite (not an overpriced one from Monster or Belkin) with a warranty and an indicator that it's working.

Power conditioners? Doubtful...

Noise cleaners/regulators/conditions? Pfffbt...

Voltage regulators? Doubtful...

Universal Power Supplys? honestly only if you have a lot of hard drives that you're constantly writing to or if your have a front/rear projection system as an unexpected power failure will decrease bulb life.