Monster VS Richard Gray (1 Viewer)

[Percell]

Hello all!!!
My HT system contains:
- Samsung 46 DLP TV
- Denon 4802r receiver
- Yamaha DVD/SACD player
- B&W Speakers 603 series (surround)
- Klipsch sub

The system sounds great but here is the rub:

I have a Monster power center supply HTS 3600. I have heard that Richard Gray power supplies are better and offer a little (lot) more punch. I'm in my 40s and I am not holding any rock concerts in my house but I want my system to run at it fullest. Any comments???

Thanks

 

[Bob McElfresh]

The Richard Gray units do have a good reputation. But the issue is: how bad is your raw AC power?

If you live in the burbs/rual areas and use your system in the evening hours, chances are your AC power is fairly smooth/even. If this is the case you wont notice much difference between the Monster or Grey unit.

If you live in the city or have lots of light industrial nearby that is active in the evening hours, (like the local paper with printing presses) you have rough/bad AC power during your usage times. In this case you MAY notice a difference if your system is pushing the limits of the Monster unit.

Frankly, your television has 1 big use of power: a single light bulb. Other televisions like Plasma's or RPTV's have a lot more power consumption/issues than that Samsung.

(I am focusing on the Television because while you mentioned audio, your eyes are a lot more sensitive than your ears hence you are more sensitive to improvements with visual issues rather than audio.)

My advice: stick with the Monster unit unless you have a local dealer with a Richard Grey conditioner and can do your own A/B comparison as a test. (I'd love to hear your results if you do by the way).

 

[Ron Reda]

Great thread as I'm considering some of the same manufacturers. I'd love to go with something from PS Audio, but they just don't have an inexpensive line conditioner with multiple outlets (I already own two Ultimate Outlets and a Juice Bar).

 

[Chu Gai]

If I may, what is it that you're looking to do and which RG unit are you thinking about?

 

[Ron Reda]

Chu,

Currently I'm using a crappy old Monster AV700RP Power Center running off a PS Audio Power Port wall outlet to plug in some of my gear (CD player, SACD/DVD-A/V player, DVD player, pre/pro and HD receiver). The rest of the gear (6 amps, HDTV and one of my subs) is plugged into two PS Audio Ultimate Outlets and a PS Audio Juice Bar. I really like what the PS Audio stuff does, but the Ultimate Outlets only offer two outlets per unit and it's just not cost effective for me to replace the Monster with a few of those. So, without spending close to/more than $1,000 on a PS Audio Power Director or Richard Gray unit, I'm wondering what direction I should go to replace the Monster power center as well as (a) protect my gear and (b) provide some line conditioning at a relatively low cost (around $500).

Any suggestions???

 

[NickScott]

Hey, I have the monster HTS3500 mk2 and it does a great job. I thought about richard gray stuff, but they are really hard to get around here and cost much more than what I can get monster stuff for. I dont have any complaints about it and it has tons of inputs for all my current and future A/V gear.
I got my HTS from ebay new, and it was Really Cheap!!

Cha.

 

[Chu Gai]

a) the best protection for your gear as well as the most cost effective will come from a whole house surge protection that's installed either at the mains or at the meter. I've posted on this before so search the terms "whole house" and my name. You'll find additional information and why it's a superior means of protection. An electrician can do that.

b) sounds like your you're a bit short on outlets. If you go with a) above, then have the electrician run additional lines to your HT. You can utilize your existing PS outlets and for additional outlets you can have him put in outlets that contain modest surge protectors as well as EMI/RFI filtering. Therefore you'll have modest redundancy with regards to the surge protection (not that you really need it...but ) and each outlet will have it's own EMI/RFI filtration.

If this is of interest, you can also discuss with the electrician what he'd charge to do this work by running a subpanel with an isolation transformer in between. That'd give you a remarkably clean line (overkill IMHO) running to your HT. Ask him not to stab the wires but take the extra time to wrap them around the screws and screw 'em down tight.

You can always shop this around to a few electricians and see what they suggest for prices and equipment.

 

[Percell]

Hello again,

First off let me thank everyone who wrote into my thread. I'm sorry I could not read it until now as I am in the army and I am less than three weeks before I go off to Korea, which led me to write in the first place.

A couple of weeks ago, I came home and saw my DLP unit blinking (with the three lights) in front of the set. I tried to turn it on but had to unplug it from my monster to get it to turn on again. I called Samsung to tell them of the problem and suggested I had a local rep to look at it. He and another fellow came by and saw nothing wrong with the set. We came to a conculsion that maybe we had some type of power outage. Since I am leaving to go to Korea for a year and Samsung has noted the problem, I don't want my wife to push/pull anything to unplug/replug my set (if it happens again). I have called both monster and richard gray to hear thier 'pitch' as to why their units are better. I was under the assumption that my monster would protect against these things.

After talking with monster the second time, I was told it did not served as such. It cleans up my power off the line and it is a surge protect from any spike in power.

Whew! I have so much to learn!!!!

PS I live on the army post were we have live in a somewhat rural area.

 

[Ron Reda]

Chu,

Wow, that sounds pretty intense! I certainly appreciate all of your ideas, but seeing as I only plan to be in this house for another 2-4 years, I'm somewhat reluctant to put all of that time and money into the electrical work. I'm really looking for an inexpensive unit that I can take along with me when I eventually move.

 

[Robert Cowan]

i have two HTS5100's right now, and in about a month im making the move to a richard grey 1200. it is supposed to be a pretty big jump. ill let you know!

 

[Chu Gai]

Got any electrician friends over there Ron?

 

[Ron Reda]

I wish...I would have plenty for them to do, both HT and non-HT related!