Just bought a APC USP System.. was it a waste? (1 Viewer)

[RodNoble]

I went into a computer shop to get a nice APC surge protector.. but then I noticed the USP Systems and my thinking was that.. I get the quality protection from spikes but as well, power going into a house is in spikes and is never a constant power.. which seems like it could be damaging to my amp over time.. this way its always getting a solid flow of power that isn’t fluctuating.. and the battery is kind of nice, if im playing some videogames and the power goes out I can save.. it all worked in my head, but is that actually the case? is it something that makes a difference?

 

[RodNoble]

sorry thats was going to be APC UPS system.. I cant edit the title now

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

It depends. Can your UPS supply enough current to your amp? Is it supplying the right kind of current?

From APC's low end lines, only the SmartUPS of 700VA and above output a true sine wave, which you would want when connecting to home theater electronics. The BackUPS line and the smaller SmartUPS lines do not do this.

Unless you have a tiny amp, you're going to have a hard time supplying enough juice to it through a normal, low cost UPS.

I'm on a Compaq T2000 UPS which puts out 2000VA. It's still not big enough for a higher end receiver or mid powered amp. It's about to go back to computer duties.

 

[Chu Gai]

maybe it'll be useful for maintaining the video game with the TV, like you said or the memory for a VCR. generally speaking, typical voltage swings as one would experience in the course of a day aren't going to affect your equipment. take a look at the manuals to see the voltage tolerances for your equipment. now if you've got giant swings in voltage that occur in short periods of time you'll be seeing that in your lights and you ought to be speaking to your power company but i don't think that's what you're dealing with.
as far as even the ones that put out a sine wave, they may well do so, when the power cuts out, but my general understanding is that we're not talking about a great looking sine wave.
as far as surge or spike protection, given that it's typical use is going to be for computers, the power supplies of which are pretty robust, i'd suggest you look elsewhere. usually, we're not talking a lot of joules here and besides, if you're going to protect your HT investment, then everything, and that includes the cable lines, needs to be protected.
I know it looks like it's doing something, but for the money, it really isn't.