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Surge Protection for ARC Tube Amps

I have to admit the more I read about power conditioning, the more confused I get. I am looking for a recommendation on protecting my Audio Research Reference 110 from power surges, and my speakers which are of course cabled to the amp. I had an incident last summer which might have been related to a surge, perhaps from lightning in the area. I have a PS Audio Premier Regenerator for other components, which is said to provide surge protection. But the PS Audio unit doesn't seem to like being connected to the amp -- it becomes very hot when I do that. So....at the moment I just have the amp plugged into the wall, perhaps not the best idea. Anyone have any suggestions how to handle this?
Ag insider logo xs@2xscottwsmith
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scottwsmith OP
60 posts
 
Thanks for the recommendation. Do you think I could plug the PS Audio Premier Regenerator into this, given that it also supposedly has surge suppression, or should I use it only for the power amp?
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
I don't believe Audio Research recommends any power conditioners at this time. I might suggest you contact Kalvin in Customer Service at Audio Research and ask him directly.
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,602 posts
 
Scott-

much of this will depend upon where you live. Are you living on the grid (major U.S. city)? I have heard ARC gear w/ protection, Transparent products, and no protection used. These systems were in 2 different states. If you are subject to black/brown-outs, then yes, it would be suggested to get some kind of surge protection. Keep me posted & happy listening! -JA
tom32
33 posts
 
To protect from lightning surges, you might want to contact your power company and see if they offer surge suppression for the whole house. It normally costs about $4 per month, and they add a really large transorb device to your home's power box.

Most off-the-shelf surge suppressors have internal inductors that can play havoc with a high power amplifier, causing a ringing voltage effect on the AC power input of the amplifier. Also, they tend to be too aggressive in choking the input power when the amp draws high current like during boot up. This choking causes brown out and slow rise time problems with the primary power supply of the amp.

If you do want to experiment with off-the-shelf suppressors, choose one that is grossly over-rated. If your amp has listed draw of 30 amps, use a 100+ rated suppressor or higher. Amps have "rush current" that can be quite high, and those numbers of 30 amp and 100 amp are just the nominal current draw numbers. Rush peaks out to much higher current, and that's the problem.
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