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To Plug Power Amps Direct in to Wall or Not ??

Hello .
I own a number of different power amps. PASS, THRESHOLD and MACs. I have dedicted rooms for each system. And no appliances are tied into the circuits I am using for my equipment.

BIG Questions??

Should you plug power amps directly into the wall or use some type of surge protection ?

Is it safe without protection on power amps even though they are pretty hardy and not sensitive like digital gear ?

I do notice better performance on the power amps plugged directly into the wall. But I am scared of the common surge , brown out or electric goes out may fry my amps.

Or am I being too much of a worry wart.

Thank you to all.
BOB
lawyerman
lvw
4 posts
 
I use the PS ultimate outlets with my SET monoblocks, and find a clear improvement in sound quality with them. Similar to sirspeedy's friend, I've tried other products, but all the others degraded the sound. Oh, and I do have dedicated lines to the amps...
phd
1,327 posts
 
I have noticed a very slight reduction in dynamics using a power conditioner (could be psychological) but sound quality in itself was noticebly better & smoother. I don't think that power conditioning and a surge protector can be equated. Surge protection in itself is not recommended by anyone including dealerships that know what a negative impact this has on a amp's performance. However as long as the surge protector meets or exceeds the amps amperage this effect can be minimized but not eliminated.
55dok
162 posts
 
I plug my amp directly into a cryo treated P&S outlet. Everything else(preamp,cdp,dac,ultrajitterbug)is plugged into a powervar. It sounds more open that way in my system.
bpwalsh
1,207 posts
 
If my budget allowed I might likely have each amp plugged into a pair of Isoclean isolation transformers instead of directly into the wall, based upon what they do for the front end. Otherwise I advise against anything else, as soundstage and dynamics suffer.
spearfish25
1 posts
 
Ancient thread, but for anyone that reads this...

It's not reasonable to think any surge protector will prevent damage from a lightning strike.  A nearby lightning strike puts enough EMF in the air that you'll get current into your equipment even without the strike actually flowing through your electrical system.  Thus, you're fried regardless of your surge strip, unit, etc. 

If you do want to plug into the wall and still have some form of surge protection, install a whole house surge protector.  You should really do this anyway and it's easy.  
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