Panamax Max 5300? (1 Viewer)

[Steve Young]

I am thinking of getting this unit for a couple of reasons. The first is that I have a ground loop hum ever since I added 2 amps to my system (Carver AV705X and Samson S700). The hum is definitley comming from my 2 satellite systems, since if I disconnect the coax comming in from the dishes the hum is completely gone. So I am hoping this will get rid of the hum and I can get rid of the cheater plug.

The second reason is so I can have my amps switch on/off with the receiver using a 12v adapter plugged into my Yamaha receivers switched outlet and plugged into the Panamax unit. I am wondering if I have the 2 amps plugged into the High Current outputs if they come on at the same time if they will draw too much current? I have tested them currently by turning them on at the same time (they are on the same circuit) and it seems ok.

If any owners of the 5300 or anyone else can give me some more info on this I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Steve

 

[KeithH]

Steve, I will be following this thread too, as I am considering the purchase of the Panamax MAX 5300. If you decide to get one, check out Link Removed . They have great prices, and I've read good things about their service. I don't know if they ship to Canada, however.
Also, do a search on this board for Panamax because I asked questions about their products recently. I was looking for information about how Panamax's products compared to those from Monster. People provided some good information about the Panamax and Monster power conditioners, as well as those from other manufacturers. Best of luck.

 

[Bob Lee]

I recently considered the 5300 and received lots of help from Steve at Link Removed I ultimately purchased a Monster HTS5000 from him, not because of anything bad with the 5300 but because the Monster product was a bit more flexible in terms of being able to set each outlet to switched/unswitched, and also because it came with a cord which plugs into my receiver's switched outlet which automatically turns on the Monster's switched outlets. On the 5300 I would have had to purchase a separate 12v transformer in order to accomplish the same thing.
I also have a ground loop problem which I was hoping to get rid of by using the Monster. However, Steve thought that YMMV when it comes to fixing ground loop problems with these units (Monster or Panamax), and alas, the problem is still there even after the Monster install. However, Steve also mentioned that it is fine to continue using cheater plugs when plugged into these units, and doing so presents no additional risk than w/o using the plug.

 

[KeithH]

Bob, thanks for sharing this very helpful information. A salesman at a local high-end dealer also said that there is nothing wrong with using cheater plugs with these power conditioners. Some will say that a quality power conditioner will remove the hum, but I am not sure since I don't have firsthand experience with power conditioners. Anyway, thanks again.

By the way, are cheater plugs easy to obtain? Are they available at Sears and/or Home Depot? I've never looked for them. I use one with an SACD player, but it came with the player. Is there anything to look for in particular when choosing a cheater plug?

 

[Bob Lee]

I bought my cheater plugs from a local hardware store. They were incredibly cheap, maybe 50 cents a pop, so I bought a couple of extra in case I ever need one again. Don't know if there are different types of cheater plugs - what they do appears pretty straightforward so I doubt there'd be much of a difference if you found two different ones.

 

[KeithH]

Bob, thanks again. It's good to know that cheater plugs are easy to find and that they are cheap.

 

[John Sully]

You probably don't want to use cheater plugs if you can help it, if only for saftey reasons. What you need is a decoupler for your DBS coax. I believe that Meridian(????) makes one.

 

[Steve Young]

Bob, did you ever figure out what causes your hum? (sat, catv, component)? I would consider the Monster HTS5000, but it only has 1 coax for sat. tv, and I have 2 of them.

John, do you have any details on this Meridian?

I've never heard of it.

Thanks

Steve

 

[KeithH]

John, please elaborate on the safety issue. Many audio components use two-prong plugs, so is there really an issue with using a cheater plug? Also, please elaborate on the decoupler.

 

[Steve Young]

Keith, when a component has a ground prong on the plug, that ground is connected to the chassis of the component, so in the event that there was an internal short it would go directly to ground. That way if someone touched the cabinet they wouldn't get shocked, because electricity takes the least path of resistance and that would be to ground. If you are using a cheater plug and there was a short to ground, and you touched the cabinet you would become the least path of resistance and the electricity would flow through you to ground! Components with only 2 prongs (no ground) are specially insulated so this can't happen.
Steve

 

[KeithH]

Steve, that makes sense. I wasn't really thinking about it. So, now I wonder why some hi-fi component manufacturer use three-prong plugs instead of insulating the chassis. Three-prong plugs are especially common with higher-end components. Many higher-end components have detachable power cords, which gives the owner the option of easily upgrading the power cord. Couldn't the manufacturers insulate the chassis and provide a detachable two-prong cord? Anyway, I have been using the cheater plug with the '777ES since buying it in October 2000 and haven't been shocked yet.

 

[Bob Lee]

Steve,

No, I never isolated the cause of my ground loop hum, even after going through an exhaustive process of unplugging all of my cables. I was told by Steve at Power Systems that despite the labeling the coax connections on the HTS5000 were all the same, meaning you can mix and match between cable, satellite and antenna. This was also an issue for me, as I have 3 satellite and one antenna connections. In order to get protection for all 4 coax inputs I daisy chained a lower end HTS800 which I previously had and plugged one of the satellite connections to its single coax input. According to Monster tech support daisy chaining two of their devices is okay and does not void the warranty.