New Power Center and Connections - NEED HELP!! (1 Viewer)

My old "Panamax 1000+" power center got toasted and now I am trying to determine the BEST power source to purchase (Monster??) and HOW to connect my equipment (switched, always on, delayed, etc). I live in New York, in an area with constant power fluctuations, disruptions, over and under voltages, etc. You name it, and I get it! ANY assistant will be GREATLY appreciated. Here is my HUMBLE equipment list:

#1 - Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 Digital Home Communications Terminal (Cable Box)

#2 - Sony SLHF-600 "Betamax" VCR (yeah, I know) . . .

#3 - Panasonic PV-9664 Omnivision VHS VCR

#4 - Nakamichi MB-2 CD Player

#5 - Pioneer DVL-919 DVD / Laserdisc player

#6 - Marantz SR-18U AV Surround Receiver

#7 - Bang & Olufsen RX turntable

#8 - NAD PP-1 Phono Preamp

#9 - Velodyne HGS10B6 subwoofer

Previously, my equipment was connected as follows:

#1 - Separate surge protected outlet (not part of the Panamax unit)

#2 - "Always On" Panamax outlet

#3 - Interconnected to an outlet on the rear of equipment item #6

#4 - "Switched By Master" Panamax outlet

#5 - "Switched By Master" Panamax outlet

#6 - "Always On" Panamax outlet

#7 - "Switched By Master" Panamax outlet

#8 - "Delayed Turn On" Panamax outlet

#9 - "Switched By Master" Panamax outlet

The Panamax unit itself was connected similarly to #1 (separate surge protected outlet) and the Panamax "master control" plug was connected similarly to #3 (an outlet on the rear of equipment item #6). Two (2) coaxial inputs / outputs for FM radio and cable TV service respectively were also utilized on the Panamax unit.

All of this feeds my Energy RVSS, AC-300 and A 5+2 speakers and Loewe ART 736 MB01 digital television. I was looking at some of the higher end "AVS" & "HTS" (reference and signature) Monster devices but, I know that there are people here that are far more knowledgeable than me, and can tell me the definitive way to proceed, so please do so! Thank you VERY much.

How bad are the over/undervoltages? Have you measured them? Are other people experiencing the same thing or is it just you?

Hi: Thanks for replying. I have not measured the fluctuations, however, the Panamax 1000+ that got toasted was "stuck" in the "overvoltage" mode which, according to the manual, is anything greater that 130 volts. My whole neighborhood and others I'm sure, experience these problems and although acknowledged by the power company (Consolidated Edison), they offer little in the way of assistance other than to point to the consumer as the one to be proactive in combating their inability to provide clean, uninterrupted power. It is symptomatic of the ever-burgeoning urban environment in which the power grid is constantly being expanded. In addition, I have OVERHEAD service so it is more prone to lightning strikes, rodents, etc. This is why I want to make the CORRECT choice for a power center that will protect me as much as possible from these events. I also have Panamax "whole house" surge protectors on the mains coming into the house, but, it didn't help in this recent incident where the Panamax 1000+ took a hit anyway. Any advice / suggestions you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

This really sounds like a fluke situation Allan with your Panamax. Assuming your whole house was correctly installed, then if you had a prolonged 130 volt overvoltage, your lights would have brightened to the point where you had to replace most of them. Although anything is possible in the Big Apple, I kind of doubt this happened. My guess is the unit (its several years old I think?) may've been used for some time prior to the installation of your whole house unit. If so, there may have been a cumulative degradation that went on. OTOH, sometimes things just die.

Probably the first thing I'd do is temporarily get a regular floor unit like the Stratitec over at Sams Club. Then I'd contact Panamax and explain my situation. This may have a life time warranty in which case for the cost of some s/h, they'll replace your unit with an equivalent one.

On an off note, I assume you've also got your incoming cable and phones 'whole-house' protected to? If not, that's a definite backdoor for problems.

As far as your voltages, all the equipment in your home is designed to tolerate a nominal amount of over and undervoltage and still work acceptably. One thing I did some time back being as I was curious, was purchase a VOM over at Radio Shack that had some rudimentary software allowing me to connect the probes to the wall outlet and a serial port went from the VOM to the PC. I then monitored the voltage over a few days. This is an option you can consider.

Hello Again!

Well, I don't have my cables going through a "whole house" protection system, that would be quite a task at this point, since the house is basically "sealed." I had a licensed electrician install the whole house surge protectors for the electrical side of things, however, as you point out, and as I've known, I'm still vulnerable from the cable and telephone wires coming into the house. I have local protection on devices using cable or telephone lines (Pananmax Coaxmax and MAX 2) protectors that fit right over the outlet behind the device (television, etc.), so, there is SOME protection, but not whole house.

I ended up going back to the place where I originally purchased my home theater system and found the original salesman (imagine?) and told him of my plight. I decided not to opt for Panamax' exchange policy for $ 25 - I wanted something a little more "current" (pardon the pun) and high-end, so, I purchased the Monster HTPS7000 'signature series' power source after seeing it in the showroom and discussing its merits with the salesman. It seems like it will do my system justice, in conjunction with the other safeguards I employ. Monster does make the AVS2000 voltage stabilizer which is a great unit and actually ENSURES a constant 120 volts to connected equipment. This unit works in conjunction with the unit I purchased, however, it would have cost me another $ 1700.00 which is a little much for me at this time, having paid $ 1500.00 plus tax for the HTPS7000. So, we'll see I guess. I'm picking the unit up this Friday and will install it over the weekend.

Do you have any information or experience with the item I purchased? If so, suggestions on properly connecting my equipment to it, etc. will be gladly accepted! Thanks again.