amplifier power consumption

"The largest your budget allows. Even though the watts may be sufficient to run your amp, dynamics can still suffer."

I agree with Face. Amp that consumes peak 600W, like mentioned Cambridge, does not take 5A sinewave current but short narrow pulses of very high current (repeated 120Hz).

Strangely, a very good service technician whom i know suggested using even the CHEAPEST one by a company called APC (the unit that puts out 200w).

That is probably this model, at $49.99.

I believe that when ac power is present all it does is to pass the incoming ac to the devices that are plugged into it, with some degree of surge suppression applied to the ac. One of the documents indicates a total current capability for all of its outlets of 8 amps, when ac is present.

When ac power drops out, or drops to too low a level, the battery backup kicks in after a delay of a few milliseconds. That provides a stepped approximation to a sine wave, which will keep a 200W load powered for about a minute.

So for several reasons (lack of true sine wave in backup mode; lack of power regeneration; completely inadequate power rating in backup mode; and noise filtering which is probably either ineffective or not provided at all) you don't want to let that get anywhere near your audio system. :)

APC's much more expensive products that are intended for audio and video systems, which I understand to be generally highly regarded, are linked to here. And here (on the lower half of the page) are some comments by Kal Rubinson on their model S15.

Regards,
-- Al

thanks a ton, guys! i really appreciate this help.

Perhaps i was confused with what my techie suggested (although i doubt it).

I may just try one of the cheaper units from APC for now (since i can always return it) and report back here as to how it worked out for me.

One point to note is that i'm getting a bit of a buzzing coming out of my woofers, which the technician says is non-existent in his tests... apparently, my amp runs cleanly and well above spec. This is part of what led me to believe i need a UPS.

Further, I used to own two Blue Circle Power Line Pillows and every time i plugged one into an outlet, the breaker would trip. I'm not certain what that means about the power here, but i'm sure it's not good.

Any thoughts from anyone on that?

I may just try one of the cheaper units from APC for now (since i can always return it) and report back here as to how it worked out for me.

You may just damage your audio equipment......

Before you hook the cheapo UPS battery back up unit to your audio equipment I suggest you take it to your technician and have him do a bench test with a scope hooked up to the load side of it. Use a 150 watt light bulb for the load.

After everything is set up and the light is lit unplug the UPS from the wall AC power..... More than likely you will see the light flicker and get brighter for a split second. Then take a look at the sine wave on the scope..... That square wave could damage the power supply/s in your audio equipment.

I don't see the justification for needing a UPS. Do you experience frequent power outages or brownouts? For buzzing woofers, maybe you should look into line conditioning instead.