Power Conditioners

[msommers]

When I was down at London Drugs, I saw some Monster Power conditioners on for a sweet deal and it kind of got me thinking about it. I mean it was only a couple hundred bucks so it's not like choosing upgrading speakers or this thing. I tried to do a bit of research in store and there is only so much you can do on your phone.

Anyways, what's your guys' take on these? Bologne or something worthwhile?

[Mitsu3000gt]

Power conditioners do not improve picture quality or sound quality, so don't bother. Complete snake oil if those claims are being made.

Just get yourself a good surge protector, or APS if you want. Lots of the APC APS's even have built in power conditioning so you get both anyway.

[msommers]

Yeah that's kinda what I thought. I like that this is a protector, backup and deals with any voltage sages.

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=h15

I've ran into a couple posts mentioning this hospital grade surge protector haha

http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=70091760#tab=overview

[SJW]

They tried this crap on me when I bought my plasma TV in 2005. It`s still kicking just being plugged into the wall. Picture as good as when I bought it.

[wtf im nameless]

The lesser expensive ones will condition your power and prevent surges, the more expensive ones will offer voltage regulation or some type of UPS to prevent dips in the power which the lesser expensive ones won't do. Some of the upper end ones are also IP based and can do things like reboot your router/modem on its own if your internet goes down.

Most people who have upper end systems will have a line conditioner of some sort, check out the stuff Panamax makes, that's what I usually put in my systems.

Just like everything, they won't make as big of a difference as marketing makes it sound like they will, but they can make a minor difference. I mainly use them for surge protection and IP control.

[r3ccOs]

Originally posted by wtf im nameless
The lesser expensive ones will condition your power and prevent surges, the more expensive ones will offer voltage regulation or some type of UPS to prevent dips in the power which the lesser expensive ones won't do. Some of the upper end ones are also IP based and can do things like reboot your router/modem on its own if your internet goes down.

Most people who have upper end systems will have a line conditioner of some sort, check out the stuff Panamax makes, that's what I usually put in my systems.

Just like everything, they won't make as big of a difference as marketing makes it sound like they will, but they can make a minor difference. I mainly use them for surge protection and IP control.

I have a monster 2500 and the picture is amazing!

actually no, no difference, but I bought one out of necessity as they were on sale at visions in the summer for $140

I had in one week 3 bad surges/spikes that blew out a few breakers downstairs, blew a fuse in my tube amp (6amp), destroyed a playstation 3, and my 42" panasonic vierra...

so out of insurance, I decided to buy one

[codetrap]

.

[revelations]

OP to sum it up your options fall into the 3 basic categories:

- simple surge suppressor
- above plus power conditioning
- above plus battery backup for brownout/blackouts (UPS)

None of these will improve your present TV colour or appearance.
Audiophiles will use these to filter out transients in their equipment.

I would choose the #3 option myself. My office UPS goes on at least once a month due to under voltage and "noisy" power .

The cost difference between a conditioner and a UPS is small enough to pay the extra to get piece of mind. Brownouts can cause damage to equipment as well.

[ipeefreely]

Originally posted by codetrap
You probably would have been better off buying something like this...

APC Backup UPS Pro (http://www.costco.ca/APC%C2%AE-Back-UPS-Pro-1500-Battery-Backup.product.10353656.html)

+1

Staples usually has them on sale every once and a while for 30% to 50% off.

[WhippWhapp]

Costco has a decent one for $150.