Power protection/conditioning for home theater?

[psteng19]

Anyone have any recommendations on good power protection for home theater equipment?

I imagine anything good enough for a PC is good enough for a home theater, no?

 

[George P Burdell]

I guess a basic UPS can protect against surges and brown-outs.

 

[psteng19]

Is it common practice to use UPS for home theaters?

It makes sense but seems overkill considering you don't really need the backup power to save work and shut down properly.

 

[Hyperlite]

meh. i just use a power strip, never had any issues.

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: psteng19
Anyone have any recommendations on good power protection for home theater equipment?

I imagine anything good enough for a PC is good enough for a home theater, no?

Absolutely NOT. Avoid PC type UPS systems (at least the low-end ones), because they don't put out a true sine wave. Home theater products aren't built with the same switching power supplies that are able to accept stepped or approximated sine wave output.

In terms of a surge protector, a whole house system may be the best choice if you want protection.

Unless you have lots of power issues (brownouts, blackouts, etc), don't bother with anything expensive.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: psteng19
Is it common practice to use UPS for home theaters?

It makes sense but seems overkill considering you don't really need the backup power to save work and shut down properly.

if you are using a projector with a bulb and the power goes out, you are out $$ for a bulb. I put them on UPS.

 

[tasmanian]

Originally posted by: Apex

Originally posted by: psteng19
Anyone have any recommendations on good power protection for home theater equipment?

I imagine anything good enough for a PC is good enough for a home theater, no?

Absolutely NOT. Avoid PC type UPS systems (at least the low-end ones), because they don't put out a true sine wave. Home theater products aren't built with the same switching power supplies that are able to accept stepped or approximated sine wave output.

In terms of a surge protector, a whole house system may be the best choice if you want protection.

Unless you have lots of power issues (brownouts, blackouts, etc), don't bother with anything expensive.

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: tasmanian

Originally posted by: Apex

Originally posted by: psteng19
Anyone have any recommendations on good power protection for home theater equipment?

I imagine anything good enough for a PC is good enough for a home theater, no?

Absolutely NOT. Avoid PC type UPS systems (at least the low-end ones), because they don't put out a true sine wave. Home theater products aren't built with the same switching power supplies that are able to accept stepped or approximated sine wave output.

In terms of a surge protector, a whole house system may be the best choice if you want protection.

Unless you have lots of power issues (brownouts, blackouts, etc), don't bother with anything expensive.

A brownout is a drop in voltage, usually referring to one that's longer than momentary.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: tasmanian

Originally posted by: Apex

Originally posted by: psteng19
Anyone have any recommendations on good power protection for home theater equipment?

I imagine anything good enough for a PC is good enough for a home theater, no?

Absolutely NOT. Avoid PC type UPS systems (at least the low-end ones), because they don't put out a true sine wave. Home theater products aren't built with the same switching power supplies that are able to accept stepped or approximated sine wave output.

In terms of a surge protector, a whole house system may be the best choice if you want protection.

Unless you have lots of power issues (brownouts, blackouts, etc), don't bother with anything expensive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout

Never heard of a brownout before? It's when the power dips but doesn't turn off completely. This can do a lot of damage to many computer/electrical components.

 

[psteng19]

OK, so any recommendations?
Linked for the lazy?

 

[psteng19]

No one?
Where's the home theater gurus?

 

[sdifox]

You have to define what is in your HT first.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: psteng19
Where's the home theater gurus?

AVSforum

 

[spidey07]

I just use a heavy duty power strip.

As already noted, avoid using a UPS.

 

[IGBT]

Originally posted by: George P Burdell
I guess a basic UPS can protect against surges and brown-outs.

..that's what I have my 40" Bravia pluged into.

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: sdifox
You have to define what is in your HT first.

As of now, just a 50" plasma.
Planning to get a 5.1 receiver/speakers, whatever box the cable/sat/TV provider gives me, waiting for the HD-DVD and BD wars to settle but a HD player is definitely in the works.

What difference does it make? Protection is protection right?
Unless you are suggesting a high output UPS for more power hungry components?

Originally posted by: spidey07
I just use a heavy duty power strip.

As already noted, avoid using a UPS.

Really? I thought he was suggesting that I do use a UPS.

 

[dartworth]

http://avsforum.com/

 

[psteng19]

How's this bad boy?

Text

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: psteng19
How's this bad boy?

Text

How much did you spend on your HT?

I'd have a hard time spending $700 on a power conditioner unless I knew I had sh!tty wiring that was causing problems.

EDIT: looks like some places have it for well below MSRP ~$250?

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: psteng19
How's this bad boy?

Text

That should work fine. I have a couple of those, and they're not bad.

I wouldn't plug a high powered amp into it, but receivers, tv, etc should be ok.

 

[Rubycon]

This kills power bugs dead. Plenty of hold for the transfer switch for the diesels. Never be without power again. (or a second mortgage hehe)

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: psteng19
How's this bad boy?

Text

How much did you spend on your HT?

I'd have a hard time spending $700 on a power conditioner unless I knew I had sh!tty wiring that was causing problems.

EDIT: looks like some places have it for well below MSRP ~$250?

Plasma ran me $1450.

I can get this unit for $150 at ecost.com

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
This kills power bugs dead. Plenty of hold for the transfer switch for the diesels. Never be without power again. (or a second mortgage hehe)

We have one of these at work. Just slightly overkill for my needs

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: psteng19

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: psteng19
How's this bad boy?

Text

How much did you spend on your HT?

I'd have a hard time spending $700 on a power conditioner unless I knew I had sh!tty wiring that was causing problems.

EDIT: looks like some places have it for well below MSRP ~$250?

Plasma ran me $1450.

I can get this unit for $150 at ecost.com

I've had decent luck with ecost, but you might want to check them out on reseller ratings now, they've taken a nose dive lately.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: psteng19

Originally posted by: Rubycon
This kills power bugs dead. Plenty of hold for the transfer switch for the diesels. Never be without power again. (or a second mortgage hehe)

We have one of these at work. Just slightly overkill for my needs

Don't you hate it when this happens?