power conditioning and power protection for B&W speakers and other components

[wildmda]

could someone give some thoughts on the best way to protect the B&W speakers from a power prespective? I currently have a monster 2550 power center. Is this sufficient or should I step up to a bigger, badder model and and a power conditioner like the avs2000 monster?

Thank you for your replies..

[marky mark]

from my personal experience, i had a monster power center, i had a surge and the monster power center got fried and so did my receiver ( lucky the receiver was under warranty), talk to a few people and they said the the monster power surge protector are not that great and had issues. you may want to check out rotel (or APC (they make it for rotel) for power conditioner. the price is not bad. Shunyata (Hydra) is not bad also, you can pick up a good Hydra on audiogon

[crytklmass]

the last power condition i bought was supposed to cover all my equipment. forgot the model number. it was a rotel. after plugging in my cd player,dvd player, rsp 1068, 1090,1095. the system couldnt handle the load. The dealer said it was too much power.I spent around $800 for the power conditioner. my sales rep stated the amps were drawing too much power, unplug them and just plug in my $150 cd player and $100 dvd player. awwwww, right. an $800 unit to protect to used pieces probably only worth $100.00 I guess I just don't understand these power conditioners. im getting ready to purchase 2 mcintosh 501 monoblocks a mc205 and mx136. and Denon3800bdi, what kind of conditioner am I supposed to use? that doesnt even include my B&W802d's,htm2d, SCM1's and ASW855.

[newguy987]

I have a APC h15 for my set up and it works great. It only costs around $400-$500. Stay away from Monster, it is way over priced, and can actually degrade the sound of your system. Another option if you want to spend more is "Richard Grey" They make some of the best gear but it's pricey.

[marky mark]

got no problem with the rotel power conditioner, there's a few people on the rotel and b&W forum that owns the rotel or APC. the Shunyata Hydra, is another excellent choice. if you do decide to get either one, see if you can test it out with all your gears attach to see if it makes a different in sound and video quality.

[htsteve]

the last power condition i bought was supposed to cover all my equipment. forgot the model number. it was a rotel. after plugging in my cd player,dvd player, rsp 1068, 1090,1095. the system couldnt handle the load. The dealer said it was too much power.I spent around $800 for the power conditioner. my sales rep stated the amps were drawing too much power, unplug them and just plug in my $150 cd player and $100 dvd player. awwwww, right. an $800 unit to protect to used pieces probably only worth $100.00 I guess I just don't understand these power conditioners. im getting ready to purchase 2 mcintosh 501 monoblocks a mc205 and mx136. and Denon3800bdi, what kind of conditioner am I supposed to use? that doesnt even include my B&W802d's,htm2d, SCM1's and ASW855.

crytklmass,

Both McIntosh and my rep both said to plug Mac power amps into the wall. You're getting A LOT of amp power. There would not be very many single unit surge units that could handle all of these. A Rotel, APC or even used Transparent for your electronics should work quite well.


Hope this helps.

[Opus007]

I also use the the APC H15. As stated APC makes the units for Rotel. Exact same unit just a rotel face plate.I have never had a problem with the APC and when it needs to pull that extra juice for the amp it is up to the job.I would recommend using a 20 amp dedicated outlet.

[scanido]

I'm using a Richard Gray 600S with great results.

[Nolan B]

I also use the the APC H15. As stated APC makes the units for Rotel. Exact same unit just a rotel face plate.I have never had a problem with the APC and when it needs to pull that extra juice for the amp it is up to the job.I would recommend using a 20 amp dedicated outlet.

you plug your amp directly into it? I always read that you shouldnt. Did you compare your amp plugged in vs direct to the wall?

[BWLover]

ya plug it in the wall. thats what i was told by my rep. most amps have big enough transformers in them that they can handle voltage changes and line noise that a conditioner isn't going to make any difference in the sound. but receivers cd players processors pre amps and all that jazz definitely benefit from conditioning.

[Nolan B]

i have been too lazy to test my Classe 5100 in my rotel 1040 vs plugging into the wall. i do know that the conditioner wont make the amp better so why bother if there is a chance it could make it worse.

[PewterTA]

I have the APC S15BLK (Same as the Rotel 1080). I tried all combos with my pre & amp connected to it and not connected. Even with one connected and the other not. I noticed a decent improvement in sound with both the amp and pre running through the APC unit.

High end was one of the most noticeable changes I heard. It also gave a "blacker" or "darker" sound stage...just more quiet really. Which initially I had to turn up the sound a little bit more (about a 1 or 2dB difference on the sound meter). After I adjusted for that, I was easily able to tell a definite difference with it. Highly recommend it to anyone!

[Nolan B]

I have the APC S15BLK (Same as the Rotel 1080). I tried all combos with my pre & amp connected to it and not connected. Even with one connected and the other not. I noticed a decent improvement in sound with both the amp and pre running through the APC unit.

High end was one of the most noticeable changes I heard. It also gave a "blacker" or "darker" sound stage...just more quiet really. Which initially I had to turn up the sound a little bit more (about a 1 or 2dB difference on the sound meter). After I adjusted for that, I was easily able to tell a definite difference with it. Highly recommend it to anyone!

Interesting. This goes against what even the manufacture recommends. I wonder if technically the "high current" input on the APC/Rotel units can restrict power to the point it could make a negative impact.

WHy on earth would there be a different in the dB level plugging it into the APC vs directly into the wall?!

[style]

Europa:

All what is pre, cd, dvd, tv,... with a digital bar,
the powr ampli must really direct to the outlet... (no lossing....) :T

Europa with 230v. dont have all the problem from USA.!!

with a ps-audio, RGC, .. for the power ampli you go have a different sound!
(dynamic)

style

[Glen B]

ya plug it in the wall. thats what i was told by my rep. most amps have big enough transformers in them that they can handle voltage changes and line noise that a conditioner isn't going to make any difference in the sound.

Have you verified this from experience or are you just repeating what you've been told by your rep ? I have been using power conditioning products with amps in the 200 -300+ watt range for more than 25 years now and always realized some kind of improvement.

For the past 4 of those years, I have been operating my Classé amp, with its big 1.8kVA power transformer on balanced power. The benefits I have realized include further reduction of an already very low noise floor, increased low-level detail and transparency, and greater low frequency weight and extension. Others who use balanced power, and the big Equi=Tech isolation transformers like what I use in particular, have also reported similar improvements.

[Opus007]

Yes my amp is plugged directly into the APC unit.I notice no lack of power when the Amp needs that extra voltage.I do notice a cleaner more detailed sound.My personal experience and your results may differ.

[WI Rotel]

I use 2 Belkin Pure AV conditioners. One for the TV/Blue ray and one for everything else. They offer the performance of the big expensive ones for a small price. However they are not UPS since they dont have batteries, they are filters and isolators.

[joetama]

I've really never noticed a loss using a power conditioner, but I have seen dramatic improvements. Mostly in general noise reduction and more thick black inky space between short well placed notes.

I always plug my amplifiers into the high current outlets of the conditioner. Currently I'm running a Monster AVS2000 and a APC H15. All of my amplifiers are plugged directly into the AVS2000 everything else is plugged into the APC H15. I've noticed the greatest improvement with this configuration.

[planitismetal]

Europa:

All what is pre, cd, dvd, tv,... with a digital bar,
the powr ampli must really direct to the outlet... (no lossing....) :T

Europa with 230v. dont have all the problem from USA.!!

with a ps-audio, RGC, .. for the power ampli you go have a different sound!
(dynamic)

style

Hi style

I made a test for this you are talking about, and the results (for my ear) were that with PSaudio I had more clean sound (same time I was using my washing machine...) Also, when the power from the socket went to 207V(!!!!!!) everything was shut down by the PPP...!!! So, I'm glad that I have purchased this solution!!!

[PewterTA]

My amps are the Rotel RB-1090 & RMB-1095. Never had a problem with them in the APC. The units are made to allow for the temp. demand of higher power. Even still... I have the units set so they don't both power on at the same time, though I have and it still handled without tripping

[Isaac]

wildmda,

Unless you have tons of power issues or noise on your power lines, I believe what you already have will do the job fine (Monster Power products was recommended by TAS editors choice awards in 2007). Only thing better in my opinion, would be a PS audio Power Plant Premier (Won 2008 TAS awards)

[style]

I will go with a "simply" bar with input in direkt for the powerampli,
digital for the cd, dvd, plasma, analog for phono....
a bar with a surcharge protection, clean at 50hz, noting more.

and a good power cord for the pre and the sources.

for my this ist he best solution (in europa)

style