Alex Kuch

Line Conditioner

I was at electronics retail store and I was talked into buying a $150 monster line conditioner. They told me I would get better a/v performance along with suppling me with advanced surge protection constantly giving me clean power. I hav no problem spending the money but I just want to know if it is actually worth it.

ChristopherDAC

Honestly, unless you are running truly antiquated equipment, no. Modern electronics use closely-regulated DC power supplies, generally with a combination of passive filters and Zener diodes working on the output of a switching regulator. While a high-power surge can damage the AC [mains] side, normal line noise will have no detectable effect on the DC [equipment] side. In principle, such a "conditioner" can even cause your amplifier to clip by interpreting its high-output current draw as a line spike, though I don't know any circumstances under which that would actually occur.

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chris_everett

^^ Ditto.

Also, If you have known power issues of some sort, line conditioners and the like can help, but I would consider them a last resort, and nearly always not helpful at all.

--Chris Everett

LewB

Write down the surge protection rating of the power strip (in joules, I think). Return it to Best Buy (rash assumption on my part). Go to Home Depot or some other home improvement place, and buy another power strip with the same protection rating for around $100.

Lew
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Brian Osborne

Something else to consider is to get a surge suppressor in the form of a breaker. From what I've read, at the breaker box or before the breaker box a surge suppressor would be much more effective.
Siemens makes one for their boxes that offers whole house surge suppression. Costs about $65.00 at local electrical supply store. I haven't checked into others. If you think you want to pay an electrition to install one, might be worth the investment.