power line conditioner

[tytan]

so I just found out about power line conditioner and surge protector crazy right. so my question is are they worth it, I am building a 12k ($) home theater and the only ones I found are from panamax. I have an old monster power bar that I bought for 150$ 10 years ago. any input is welcome thx !

[johnt]

1 hour ago, tytan said:

so I just found out about power line conditioner and surge protector crazy right. so my question is are they worth it, I am building a 12k ($) home theater and the only ones I found are from panamax. I have an old monster power bar that I bought for 150$ 10 years ago. any input is welcome thx !

$12k for a theater is an obscure number. The chairs, paint, carpet, and wall treatments are not going to benefit from a power conditioner

 

How much are you spending on electronic equipment only? The Panamax stuff is meant to look good on your rack/shelf. It doesn't really do much more than a $24.99 power strip that can filter, unless you plan on going with the voltage regulator. It also depends on where you live and how old your house is. Does your voltage fluctuate a lot? Is your equipment going to share a circuit with a major appliance? Do you have electric or gas stove, heater, and dryer? The most electric components you have in a house, the more a voltage regulator will be useful. 

 

I have over $12k just in my sound system. I want to protect my amp and pre/pro. But the Panamax gear just looked funny. And it was a serious rip off when purchased new. The used market had very inflated prices because people who buy them really think they are purchasing gold. I just bought an APC H10 from eBay. Works like a dream. My electric dryer triggers the voltage regulator all the time to fill in the sag. At $100 it doesn't even matter if it's really working. But at $600+ for the Panamax, and close to $1,000 for the fancy ones with useful features.............

 

The other thing you can consider is buying a UPS or battery back up. Especially if you plan on buying a projector. Most units also provide the EMI filtering. This is a better way to spend your money. 

[tytan]

12k is for the tv the receiver and the surround sound. the voltage does fluctuate it is an old house and every time the washer and or the fridge kicks in in can see the lights fluctuate. the home theater is on its own circuit for what its worth. so an apc is not like an ups.. well I just learned something. so I might be better off whit an ups.

[johnt]

12 minutes ago, tytan said:

12k is for the tv the receiver and the surround sound. the voltage does fluctuate it is an old house and every time the washer and or the fridge kicks in in can see the lights fluctuate. the home theater is on its own circuit for what its worth. so an apc is not like an ups.. well I just learned something. so I might be better off whit an ups.

Yeah a power conditioner doesn't do anything particularly fancy or special compared to other EMI filters. The Panamax gives you a few different measurements and lets you adjust brightness. Pretty steep price tag....

 

APC is a brand name unless you are using it to refer to something and I am just confused

 

That's a healthy budget for AV gear. With that much of a budget, just go for a projector. Yes TVs have better color, but they do not have the 100+ inch experience... something to think about. What kind of speakers are you going with?

[tytan]

yeah the projector was my first choice but the wifey wasn't so thrilled about me opening the roof and walls for the wires and all so a tv is a god compromise for me. yeah for the receiver I was thinking of the Marantz sr7011 whit some canton ergo speakers.

[johnt]

32 minutes ago, tytan said:

yeah the projector was my first choice but the wifey wasn't so thrilled about me opening the roof and walls for the wires and all so a tv is a god compromise for me. yeah for the receiver I was thinking of the Marantz sr7011 whit some canton ergo speakers.

That's some high end audio gear. Just make sure you really need all the features of the sr7011. They are dispossible toys compared to older ones. Tech changes so fast that you might want to buy a newer one in 2-3 years. HDMI 2.1 on the horizon, HDR isn't even standardized, etc. I ended up with a mid grade receiver and a great separate amplifier from Emotiva. Something else to think about 1-2 years into the theater. You will notice subtle differences with a dedicated amp or two. 

[tytan]

hooo I just read about hdmi 2.1 it might be a good thing to have a receiver whit a native 2.1. one question I am a bit confused when you say receiver and amplifier aren't those the same for example the Marantz sr7011 is 2 in 1 right ? or will a bee missing a component

[johnt]

6 hours ago, tytan said:

hooo I just read about hdmi 2.1 it might be a good thing to have a receiver whit a native 2.1. one question I am a bit confused when you say receiver and amplifier aren't those the same for example the Marantz sr7011 is 2 in 1 right ? or will a bee missing a component

Generally a receiver has a processor and amplifier in one unit. However, you can buy a processor and amplifier separately. Dedicated amplifiers tend to produce better/cleaner amplification because they only have one task: amplify sound, no signal processing. Some mid range and higher receivers have pre-out connectors. These can be used to feed the signal into a dedicated amplifier from the receiver. It bypasses the amplifier that is built in to the receiver. In this case, the receiver only processes the signal... basically acting as a processor. A dedicated processor is called a pre/pro... don't ask me it's a weird name. 

 

Most of the time the amplifier is the first item to cut in terms of quality. All those stickers and signal compatibility costs money too. So for manufacturers to keep prices consistent year over year, they add compatibility at the expense of amplification. The amplifier in my receiver maybe weighs 15 pounds for 8 channels. But my dedicated amp weighs 40 pounds. Just more quality. Some people say it isn't worth it. I can agree the differences are minor if you can't afford it, but if you can it's totally worth it. 

 

HDMI 2.1 isn't worth waiting for. But it's also not worth it to blow the budget on a $2,200 receiver either knowing HDMI 2.1 and other features will require a new receiver in 2-3 years. Do you have a Fry's nearby? They often have the Denon x4300 or x3300 on sale regularly for 50% off. The x4300 is worlds ahead of the Marantz in terms of features and room calibration. Frys usually sells it for $750. I would spend the rest of your $2,200 budget on one or two dedicated amps from Emotiva. Craigslist is your friend for used amps. They very rarely go bad. 

 

 

[Donut417]

On 2/5/2017 at 10:23 AM, tytan said:

so I just found out about power line conditioner and surge protector crazy right. so my question is are they worth it, I am building a 12k ($) home theater and the only ones I found are from panamax. I have an old monster power bar that I bought for 150$ 10 years ago. any input is welcome thx !

You might look at getting a UPS that conditions power. When mine detects a surge or I have power loss it kicks to battery. If I get a sag the battery picks up what is needed. 

 

Here is what I have:https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102133 

 

I bought it after a surge took out the Windows hard disk in my old gaming rig. I think the surge was caused when my window air conditioner's compressor kicked on. It has protected me from many surges.