what power line conditioner is best ?

[dubluv]

i hear a slight hum from my hdtv, and was told a line conditioner will fix this. which is a good choice for this? i see some of these units sell for hundreds of dollars, is there a more affordable option that will address the hum? thanx

[Justin Thyme]

Consider a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) instead of going the power line conditioning route.

It is the ultimate in power line conditioning since it completely regenerates the AC. If it seems like overkill, it may be- but you should have one for the Tivo so the conditioning for your HDTV problem is just gravy. It also solves a few other problems like power surges, and is an exceptionally simple and inexpensive solution.

[lasergecko]

Originally Posted by Justin Thyme

It is the ultimate in power line conditioning since it completely regenerates the AC.

Too bad they don't regenerate a true sine wave. If you zoom into the waveform with a oscilloscope, you'll see that it's jagged and not smooth. Some equipment does NOT like that. Instead of having a smooth transition in the flow of electrons, it's actually more of a "driving over corrugated metal at high speed" approach.

Probably wouldn't affect anything that we would have in our home, but you never know with audio.

We spent weeks tracking down just such an issue for the audio department in a theatre where I worked. It was a Liebert UPS with five banks of about eighty deep cycle batteries per cabinet. I think the breakers on each one were rated at 300A. (It's been awhile, though.) Boy, when the actuators threw those breakers, you knew it!

If a quarter million dollar UPS can't generate a true sine wave, I doubt a $140 unit can do it.

As always, YMMV.

[gweempose]

I use this one from Panamax, and I have been very happy.

[Eskimo Pie]

I use this one and enjoy it very much. It has a ton of AC outlets and is a very hefty surge supressor to boot. It has 12 outlets on the back and one on the front. The outlets on the back are isolated from each other in groups of two (six seperate circuits with two outlets on each). This lets you prevent power noise from one piece of equipment from reaching another.

http://catalog.belkin.com/PureAV_detail.process?Product_Id=178925

[Rubatoguy]

I have a number of Panamax units. The company I work for did a test on surger protectors / filters and the Panamax units were by far the better units.

Todd

[drew00001]

I hate to admit it, but I have a Monster Power strip that I paid less than $100 for. I'm sure the $1K Panamax and $500 Belkin units mentions above are better, as well as many others, but the Monster unit did what I wanted: Before I had a S3, the Monster unit made a noticable improvement for my Analog devices (e.g., Tivo S1) that I was having problems hearing over interference without turning the volume way up. My unit has only stage 1 power cleaning, which basically means that prevents outside interference from getting in. I live in a Condo, so filtinger interference from my and my nieghbors units is a must. Stage 2 seperates your devices into banks. I believe the Panamax units have like 10 stages, which do various things.

[vstone]

APS has a AV model that lists about $1500 that supposely provides a better sine wave than their $500 AV model.

[litkaj]

I use a Belkin PureAV PF60 and have been very happy.

http://catalog.belkin.com/PureAV_det...duct_Id=178925

The retail price is pretty high but they are selling for substantial discounts right now.