Panamax Power Conditioner: Keep or Upgrade

PI Audio's Uberbuss is a great power conditioner for a reasonable price.

I think it's half the price of the Puritan but has no surge protection. I got a Seimens FS140 whole house surge suppressor by the breaker box.

I had the 1500 panamax for years and when i sold it for $50 on offer up I got myself a Furman 20 , 20A is a little better has better filtering , its a rock solid piece I picked it up used on eBay for 400 , The Furman 20 has a capacitor bank inside Power factor is what they call it it also gives you a work light on the front so you can mount it high in your rack and beam light down. Ive spoke to the tech department at Furman/panamax Same company Furman is better and whatever you do stay away from the Panamax 5400 the tech department advised me it has a voltage regulator its there flagship model and all voltage regulators induce noise so stay away unless you need it it what they told me , pay a little more and get a Furman. None of these things are going to blow your skirt up but the panamax 1500 had a fixed power cord and the firman you can change out the cord so if your a tweaker and want to change the cord out there you go. My panamax took hits over the years and always did it's job , every time you have a power outage there is a surge of some kind when the power is restored , its a must have . 

I have a Panamax M5100 myself - have had it for 18 years now. It supports a 9.2 channel 3-zone Network AV Receiver based system. No noise, no problems. Don't remember original cost. Got a Panamax MR4300 about 2 years ago for a second system that is strictly 2-channel audio. Got it for something like $225 on line. It supports a flat panel TV, CD Transport, CD Player, Power Amp, and 3 Integrated Amps, with still two A/C outlets available. Also has a front face USB for smart phone charging.  No noise, no problems. Panamaxes are easily lowest cost pieces in my systems.  See no reason to spend more. Happy listening.

I worked at a store near the NE coastline when our buyers brought in Panamax, and later, Monster Power, with incentives (carrots and sticks) to “attach” these profitable items to our sales, and to serve the best interests of our customers. Anecdotally, over years of observation I saw little change in the frequency of customers coming in with damaged gear after T-storms, Panamax or not.  Where I work now we offer SurgeX, Audioquest, and Transparent. I think there is a real difference between the MOV based products and these and other brands that are “non-sacrificial”.  

Anyone who thinks anything will handle a direct lightning strike is dreaming..

If you can, Unplug when a thunderstorm is close and getting closer.

IMO, sources and preamps can be filtered, power amps should not. If sources & pre's have 3 pin power cords, this can cause loop issues. Balanced gear may solve loop issues as will 2 in power devices.