I run a Furman elite 15 for my 2 channel and a Panamax 5400 for my home theater and a Panamax 4000 for my office. There's pros and cons to all of it. If you have a noisy line, they will pull out the noise. The 5400 and Furman elite pull out almost all the noise from the line, the 4000 has about a 90% reduction. The cons to this is reduced dynamics. The Panamax units have a tendency to compress sound under heavy load. Not really that big of a deal in a home theater w/ efficient speakers as I'm not going for extreme detail. The Furman does a much better job at resisting compression, but it still does when you push it hard. Thankfully I'm just running a pair of MC275s in mono and it doesn't draw too much power, though it's very noticeable when running a larger 450w stereo amp. More expensive unites come with much larger capacitators so they can handle those dynamics, but you're looking at 3-4x the cost of the Elite 15.
Conditioner vs. Surge protector
Looking for a whole house surge protection.
Siemens seems to be the best company out there but its most recommended item (Siemens FS140 ) is out of stock everywhere.
Here ia an alternative:
Siemens FirstSurge Power 60 kA Surge Protector Bundle
What about this product? Looks like a circuit breaker with surge protection.
20 Amp 6.5 in. Whole House Surge Protected-Circuit Breaker
which product makes more sense? Circuit breaker has some MOVs. I understand this can potentially limit current.
Do any of the above limit current to my amp?
What about a power conditioner that has built in surge protection?
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@jundaku Thanks for the great review. " The cons to this is reduced dynamics. The Panamax units have a tendency to compress sound under heavy load. " I know you’re talking about your AV system. In my 2 channel system especially, but also in my AV system, I would not accept this. As much money as I, and many people here, throw at this hobby, I can’t accept even tiny degradation. My amps are always plugged directly into the wall and if it is damaged, I’ll buy another one. (I do live in a lightning free area). Everybody has their own personal priorities. YMMV. Jerry |
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