@kijanki. I understand with a direct hit from lightning all bets are off. I was only thinking about a power surge. Thank you very much for all your advice and links. It was and is very much appreciated. 👍
Surge protector
Hello all. Just need some advice on a surge protector for my amp and preamp. A few months ago we had a thunder and lightning storm. It blew out my ac condenser in my central ac conditioner. Now am worried about that happening to my ARC Ref 6 preamp and my Krell FPB 600 amp. Right now they are on a dedicated 20 amp line that both my amp and pre are using. I listen to my system practically everyday and leave my amp on stand by all the time. My amp and pre amp. I really do not want a surge protector with a power conditioner as I have read that the Krell FPB 600 sounds best the life expectancy lasts longer if plugged directly into electric receptacle. Would I loose any Sonics from a surge protector? Should I just unplug the amp and preamp when I see a storm brewing? But then what if I am not home to unplug? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks to all. Cheers.
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- 17 posts total
Whole house surge protectors are definitely worthwhile, but I still recommend high performance surge protection near any sensitive electronics. Here is an article on my current thinking on the matter: https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/power-management-for-frugal-audiophiles.html Best, Erik |
Eric, I went with Furman Elite 20PFI. One evening bulbs got brighter for a moment and Furman's circuit breaker tripped. It automatically switched back after few seconds. Furman also protects from under-voltage preventing operation outside of specified supply limits. Furman tripped before whole house protector reacted since its protection is not MOV based and is set lower. MOVs have wide tolerance making it impossible to set low accurate limit. Most of my gear is "universal voltage" allowing safe operation to about 265VAC. |
If you leave your system on all of the time, no matter what protection you have... lightning rods, panel protection and/or unit surge protection, you are taking a risk and therefore relying on insurance to cover your loss. Even if they are just on idle.... they can be damaged with the wrong type of surge. |
- 17 posts total