power conditioners

[hamitup]

do these things work, are they a necessity to protect equipment. or will a simple surge protector work just fine,

 

[broberts]

In general, power conditioning is not required. Electronics are designed to deal with less than perfect power to a limit. Surge protection on the other hand is a must. They are cheap insurance for your equipment and well worth having. If you have a very large amplifier, make sure that you find a surge protector that does not restrict power from the wall too much.

 

[Johnd]

A surge protector protects against surges, assorted filters eliminate/minimize interference (rfi/emi) while a regenerator provides constant clean power.

A surge protector is a bare minimum requirement for audio equipment imho. You purchase filters and regenerators if you need them. Hope that answers your questions.

And welcome to Audioholics hamitup!

 

[MikeSp]

Once you start looking at surge protectors, then you will discover that there are major differences in capabilities--how fast they react and what is the maximum surge that they can stop and that some of them do have filters that will clean up the voltage within limits.

The less expensive surge protectors are based upon MOV's which degrade with each successive surge. Then there are surge protectors that do not use MOV's, and that do not degrade with each successive surge, but are SUBSTANTIALLY more expensive. There are those that feel strongly about not using MOV-based surge protectors due to the fact that each successive surge degrades their capability, but I used TripoLite Isobars on a few hundred computer systems for years (before I retired) and NEVER lost a single system to surges and we had regular power surges. I use TrippLite Isobars on each of my powered speakers and most of my electronics, although I am guilty of using a Monster brand power center and suspect that I am not getting any more surge protection from it than the muc less expensive Isobars (but I get a pretty red display of voltage and current on the Monster Power Center )

My personal preference is the TrippLite Isobar as mentioned above: (they can be found at tigerdirect and other online suppliers at reasonable prices)
http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=99

Many people use Brickwalls, products from PS Audio, ZeroSurge, etc. since they are not based on MOV's, but are SUBSTANTIALLY more expensive and I do not question their quality, though.
http://www.brickwall.com/
http://www.psaudio.com/
http://www.zerosurge.com/

Good luck,

MikeSp

 

[sjdgpt]

The few people that acutally NEED a power conditioner are few and far between, and the need is due to the extremely poor power supply at their location, and as such, even the power conditioner may not be sufficient to really solve their problems.


Just remember, everybody needs a surge protector.

For most of us, the basic $35-$70 models are quite adaquate and will do all of the tasks required. I am partial to Belkin, the brand is readily available at many home improvement and office supply outlets, and the prices are lower than many of the 'net or audio speciality brands.

 

[hamitup]

thank you for the knowledge

appreciate the feedback. i feel i am safe owning a pm8 (panamax 8) is this ok thanks, look forward to learning more from everyone