Simple power strips/conditioners?

[Mike Rubin]

We are converting part of our garage into a guest bedroom and den, so I have been assembling a small audio/video system.  I have four outlets on the wall where I am going to put the system, but that's not nearly enough to connect everything that needs power.  (I figure that I have to connect a tv, a cable box, a Blu-ray player, an integrated amp/DAC, and three, maybe four or five, switching and linear power supplies for ultraRendu, Logitech Harmony hub, FMC's, and small network switch, all contained in a small cabinet.)  

 

Something like a PS Audio Dectet would seem to provide connectivity without much sound degradation, but it costs $500 and I don't want to spend that much if there are cheaper non-destructive alternatives available.  This, at $169, is at a more attractive price, but there's nothing in the audio press or forums about it:

 

https://www.amazon.com/AC-Power-Filter-Conditioner-Protector/dp/B00XWL2VVK/ref=sr_1_17?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Kavh-e95gIVEdRkCh3KeQ6KEAAYASAAEgJrevD_BwE&hvadid=214110138900&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031961&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=666541021370743666&hvtargid=kwd-337252635778&hydadcr=18913_9698567&keywords=audiophile+power+strip&qid=1576624276&sr=8-17

 

Anyone have experience with this or anything remotely like it?   

 

Other low-end alternatives are from Pangaea, Furman, Belkin, and Audioquest, but not all of them are intended specifically for audio-video.  Some also include power conditioning, but, candidly, I am skeptical of the quality of conditioning in this price range and might just prefer a multi-outlet device that doesn't add its own noise.  (The power from the wall is from rooftop solar most of the year and is over new wiring, so it should be pretty clean to start.)

 

What are you folks using?  

 

 

[Mike Rubin]

10 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

Tripp-Lite - many options for power conditioning (not saying you need it or don't*) get a Topaz or go Balanced

 

* but I will point out that the DC>AC convertors used in PV are notorious for putting hash on the line...

 

you likely do most listening at night, so the PV will be off at that time

 

do you have an automated switch that connects to utility power when the PV is off?

Thank you, Ralf.  I will look at the Tripp stuff.  I didn’t realize that it’s a consumer application product line.  Thought it primarily is for office IT use.  
 

Hmmm. We have two massive, industrial-grade inverters alongside the house.  Hadn’t heard they are noisy, but, if they are, that suggests that this bedroom system deserves power conditioning like my main one has.

 

 I am retired, so probably will listen as much or more in the daytime.  
 

We get power from the grid when the PV isn’t producing everything we use.  (No PV storage batteries in this system.)

[Mike Rubin]

5 minutes ago, Racerxnet said:

If your building the room (your first part of the sentence) why not install several 2 gang boxes with Hubbell-Wiring HBL8300I receptacles. Looks like your making it harder than need be. If the power is clean, what is the concern from the inverter?

 

MAK

Good call.  I should have asked for more receptacles, but the electrician long ago came and went, and my contractor has sealed and painted the walls.
 

I did have enough foresight to add a recessed receptacle high enough on the wall that is ideal if I mount the TV rather than just use it on a stand.  Thinking about that now, I probably can use that receptacle for the TV even if it ends up being used on its stand.

[Mike Rubin]

Gentlemen, thanks for the suggestions.

 

Rich, I considered the AudioQuests, but there are a bunch of negative accounts of their effects on sound quality at various dealer sites, so I haven't jumped on them. I will look at them more closely.

 

Kimo, I hadn't hear of Wiremold products before.  I'll look into them. 

[Mike Rubin]

1 hour ago, Jud said:

Yes, I have ZeroSurge also and am very happy (no MOVs).

 

Ralf has two good suggestions, avoiding MOVs and avoiding home inverters such as are used with PV. Only the cleanest/most expensive of these are comparable in harmonic distortion to utility power that must have very good numbers there by regulation. Much more distortion comes from inside the home than outside anyway, so you’d likely want some sort of power conditioning regardless.

Jud, that’s the part they don’t tell you about solar.  
 

I am of two minds about MOV’s.  When the local utility turned off the power a few years ago to deal with some tree-powerline interaction, there was a massive surge when it came back online.  I had a cheapish conditioner with MOV’s sacrifice itself to save equipment in my upstairs bedroom TV cabinet, but my expensive non-MOV conditioner took a massive dump along with the expensive (by my standards) equipment it failed to protect.  Ironically, my integrated amp in that system was not connected to that conditioner and it came through without damage. 
 

The unit you recommended is at an appropriate price point for the system it will protect. I am ordering one.  Thanks for the recommendation. 

[Mike Rubin]

5 hours ago, Speedskater said:

In the USA, the SolarEdge residential solar panels are a big source of interference.

Our panels are branded LG.  I don’t know who OEMs what in solar, though, so mine may or may not be equally noisy.

[Mike Rubin]

1 hour ago, sandyk said:

https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/do-surge-protectors-merely-give-us-a-false-sense-of-security-566830/7/

This description of a Zero Surge  raises a lot more questions than answers for me.
How does it safely dissipate a sudden HUGE amount of energy like from a nearby lightning strike ?

I have seen even an underground phone cable vaporised, and stove elements damaged  (the stove wasn't in use at the time) by a lightning strike across the road at a public swimming pool.

 

 

That thread is terrifying.  There clearly is no orthodoxy on this topic.  Might as well do without any conditioning and surge protection after reading all that. 

 

Before I started this topic I never had heard about whole house protectors. Looking at the Home Depot site, almost none of them costs as much as the cable a lot of people use to connect an LPS to a component.  I am expecting an electrician out here in the next month or so.   A whole house protector might be a cheap enough solution for surges in a locale like mine, where most power surges come from the power coming back on after a failure rather than lightning. 

 

That leads me back to the original point of this post.  If I decide just not to worry about the surge protection, do I get enough power line cleansing and audible improvement from something like the small conditioners discussed in this thread to justify the prices or do I just need a decent power strip? 

[Mike Rubin]

Great tips.  Thank you.