 Power protection to the rescue! |
So, you're putting together a rockin' A/V system — full-on home theater, audiophile-grade sound, the works! Let's see:
High-powered home theater receiver?
Check.
Progressive-scan DVD player with SACD playback?
Check.
Sweet-sounding 5.1 speaker system?
Check.
High-definition television?
Check.
Fat cables to link the system together?
Check.
Ok, dim the lights, sink back in your favorite recliner, and get ready for action, right?
Not so fast. Time and time again we see folks trying to build the perfect A/V system, while forgetting a vitally important part of the equation — power protection. Sure, everyone knows that their precious pyramid of home entertainment electronics is only a well-placed lightning bolt away from smoldering ruin, but what are the chances of it happening to me?
I'm not trying to be an alarmist — you could very well live to be 100, groovin' the whole time to gear plugged directly into a wall socket, and not experience so much as an electrical blip. You could also dance on your roof during the storm of the century wearing a tinfoil hat and climb down afterwards unscathed...but why take the chance? Basic, effective surge protection is affordable and easy to add to your system.
Not surprisingly, there are a lot of serious audiophiles roaming the halls of Crutchfield. All I had to do was ask around the building to hear stories about how a simple power-strip surge protector willingly gave its life so that a system might live, and how a lack of adequate protection led to A/V ruin and heartbreak.
Power protection is not just about preventing the wholesale frying of your system. Smaller anomalies in the current as well as line noise and interference can wreak havoc with the performance of your A/V gear and ultimately shorten the lifespan of your individual components. If you've shelled out a fair sum of money for a cool system, you'd be remiss (read: insane) not to team it up with solid power protection for top-notch performance, long life, and peace of mind.
Lightning strikes & power spikes
Let's take the case of former Crutchfield employee Herb Kutto — after years of playing electrical Russian Roulette with the power supply of his audio system, Herb decided to pick up a basic Monster Power surge protector one day after work. He plugged his system into the protector and promptly forgot about it...but not for long. Within 24 hours (I know it sounds incredible, but it's true), that small investment paid enormous dividends. A late afternoon thunderstorm rolled through town and dropped a lightning bolt that shook the foundation of his house. The force of the strike actually blew the power strip's plug out of the wall and completely fried the unit...but his A/V gear was left untouched. No doubt, without that simple surge protector, Herb would have been looking at spending a tidy sum to replace some (or all!) of his system.
According to the National Lightning Safety Institute, upwards of 20 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occur in the United States alone every year. And to get an idea of the real-world impact, power-related catastrophes such as spikes and surges cost the U.S. economy an estimated $4-$5 billion dollars annually.
Maybe you've spent a few hundred or a few thousand dollars on your home entertainment system. Most brand-name power protection units come with a "connected-equipment guarantee." That means, if your gear is properly connected to the surge protector, and it fails to safeguard your equipment, the company that made the protector will replace your damaged goods up to a pre-stated amount...sometimes in the millions of dollars (depending on the model and the company). What could be better — it's automatic insurance for your gear!
Other protection issues
Apart from sudden power spikes, your electrical current experiences sags and surges in voltage, sometimes subtle, sometimes extreme. While these power fluctuations rarely cause an immediate system meltdown, they do impart serious stress on delicate electronic equipment, often severely reducing the efficiency and life span of your gear. Not all power protection devices address temporary over- and under-voltage issues (many strip-style protectors just deal with severe and sudden power spikes). But if you're hoping for a healthy, happy, long-lasting system (and who isn't?), a relatively constant 120V stream of power is vital. So, for total peace of mind, look for power protection that safeguards against power spikes as well as over- and under-voltage.
Special consideration must be given regarding your television set. As with any other electrical component, AC power protection is a must. But antenna, cable, and digital satellite (DBS) connections also carry jolts and spikes that can fry your TV set (as well as your entire system), or, at the very least, degrade your picture. Fortunately, many strip-style surge protectors and component models have cable/antenna and DBS coax protection that prevent anomalies from reaching your television set via the video hookup. It's important to note that although cable/antenna and DBS connections look the same, they carry very different voltages. It's vital that you run the video lines through the proper coaxial connections on your power protection unit. They're almost always labeled on the unit itself, so a quick glance should ensure a healthy hookup.
Electrical spikes can also enter your system through a simple telephone connection. If you have a DBS system or TiVo, chances are they're plugged into a phone line. We've heard countless stories of people who had wisely taken the precaution to safeguard their A/V system's power but forgot about the phone line...with disastrous results. The lesson here is that killer volts can enter your system through a variety of portholes — be sure to protect them all!
Let's take the case of former Crutchfield employee Herb Kutto — after years of playing electrical Russian Roulette with the power supply of his audio system, Herb decided to pick up a basic Monster Power surge protector one day after work. He plugged his system into the protector and promptly forgot about it...but not for long. Within 24 hours (I know it sounds incredible, but it's true), that small investment paid enormous dividends. A late afternoon thunderstorm rolled through town and dropped a lightning bolt that shook the foundation of his house. The force of the strike actually blew the power strip's plug out of the wall and completely fried the unit...but his A/V gear was left untouched. No doubt, without that simple surge protector, Herb would have been looking at spending a tidy sum to replace some (or all!) of his system.
According to the National Lightning Safety Institute, upwards of 20 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occur in the United States alone every year. And to get an idea of the real-world impact, power-related catastrophes such as spikes and surges cost the U.S. economy an estimated $4-$5 billion dollars annually.
Maybe you've spent a few hundred or a few thousand dollars on your home entertainment system. Most brand-name power protection units come with a "connected-equipment guarantee." That means, if your gear is properly connected to the surge protector, and it fails to safeguard your equipment, the company that made the protector will replace your damaged goods up to a pre-stated amount...sometimes in the millions of dollars (depending on the model and the company). What could be better — it's automatic insurance for your gear!
 For complete protection, safeguard your A/C outlets, phone lines, and coaxial connections. |
Other protection issues
Apart from sudden power spikes, your electrical current experiences sags and surges in voltage, sometimes subtle, sometimes extreme. While these power fluctuations rarely cause an immediate system meltdown, they do impart serious stress on delicate electronic equipment, often severely reducing the efficiency and life span of your gear. Not all power protection devices address temporary over- and under-voltage issues (many strip-style protectors just deal with severe and sudden power spikes). But if you're hoping for a healthy, happy, long-lasting system (and who isn't?), a relatively constant 120V stream of power is vital. So, for total peace of mind, look for power protection that safeguards against power spikes as well as over- and under-voltage.
Special consideration must be given regarding your television set. As with any other electrical component, AC power protection is a must. But antenna, cable, and digital satellite (DBS) connections also carry jolts and spikes that can fry your TV set (as well as your entire system), or, at the very least, degrade your picture. Fortunately, many strip-style surge protectors and component models have cable/antenna and DBS coax protection that prevent anomalies from reaching your television set via the video hookup. It's important to note that although cable/antenna and DBS connections look the same, they carry very different voltages. It's vital that you run the video lines through the proper coaxial connections on your power protection unit. They're almost always labeled on the unit itself, so a quick glance should ensure a healthy hookup.
Electrical spikes can also enter your system through a simple telephone connection. If you have a DBS system or TiVo, chances are they're plugged into a phone line. We've heard countless stories of people who had wisely taken the precaution to safeguard their A/V system's power but forgot about the phone line...with disastrous results. The lesson here is that killer volts can enter your system through a variety of portholes — be sure to protect them all!
Cleaning up dirty power
Another issue has to do with the quality of the electrical current that's powering your system. Line noise — more specifically, Electromagnetic (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) — can seriously affect the performance of your gear, especially the delicate circuitry found in high-end A/V components. For a demonstration of how noise filtering can noticeably improve your system's audio and video, we turn to one of Crutchfield's most dedicated audiophiles — Dave Bar. Dave recently added a top-of-the-line Panamax component power protection unit to his killer A/V system and was astounded by the results.
Another issue has to do with the quality of the electrical current that's powering your system. Line noise — more specifically, Electromagnetic (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) — can seriously affect the performance of your gear, especially the delicate circuitry found in high-end A/V components. For a demonstration of how noise filtering can noticeably improve your system's audio and video, we turn to one of Crutchfield's most dedicated audiophiles — Dave Bar. Dave recently added a top-of-the-line Panamax component power protection unit to his killer A/V system and was astounded by the results.
 Audiophile-grade power protection can transform your system! |
- In his own words, here are a few of Dave's observations after hooking up the Panamax unit:
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"The first and most immediately noticeable change was in the low frequency output; primarily my subwoofer. The deepest bass response jumped right off the scale (I should say that the bottom dropped out) and the output level increased so much that I have actually had to back the gain control down a bit to bring it back to rational levels. My wife even came in from another room on the other end of the house to see if I had fallen down or was smacking the walls with a sofa cushion. The mid-bass region is also more prominent now, not over the top but far more articulate, tighter and well controlled."
"As for the top end, the high frequencies are far more natural-sounding now and much of the grainy texture and dryness has been replaced by a smoother and more liquid sound."
"The sound stage has increased in width, height and depth; sounds are now clearly coming from far beyond the outside edges of the speakers and there is a much greater sense of space front to back."
"One of the problems I have always had with my system was that no matter how I adjusted my speakers, the sound always seemed to pull a little to the left. I had always attributed this to the acoustics of my room and the position of my system inside of it. As soon as I plugged in the Panamax unit, everything snapped right to attention directly in the middle of the speakers without pulling to one side at all!!! (weird, huh?)"
"As for video performance, I find the differences a little bit subtler. I can only say at this point that I have noticed slightly better color saturation and...the black level seems a bit, well, blacker. I am continuing to evaluate the video performance and am trying to concentrate on any perceptible changes."