2. misc-audio
  3. 189802-89202

Surge protector

This morning we had a power surge.  First one I ever experienced.  It knocked out the sub woofer components of my GoldenEar Triton one speakers. In my ignorance I had them plugged into the wall rather than a surge protector. Soooo it blew the amplifiers in the sub woofers. It’s going to be a costly proposition: $500 for the amplifiers plus God knows how much the dealer is going to charge for coming to my house. (He’s very reluctant to do it, wants me to lug the 80 lbs speakers to the store.   
Meanwhile, I’m having to listen to bass-less  speakers for the foreseeable future.
So, the moral of the story is plug everything into a surge protector.

128x128rvpiano
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano OP
2,654 posts
 

The amps have shipped and should arrive Tuesday.
Unfortunately, I am not the least bit handy, so I am going to suffer the expense of paying a technician from the dealer.

Post removed 
12blistn
35 posts
 

Thanks for the info.  That makes sense.  I'm running my T1's as rear surrounds and have them on a small APC surge protector.  My front end electronics are on a Furman Elite 20, but my front T Ref's and power amps are just into the wall.  Maybe I need to rethink things.  I'm in Vegas.  We don't get many thunder storms, but do get a few.  I've never had a destructive power surge so far, but......

12blistn
35 posts
 

Sense about the function of fuses.

 

erik_squires
16,056 posts
 

Sounds like a cord and plug Type 3 SPD will do little, if anything, for protecting audio equipment from a high voltage transient event if the branch circuit wiring is less than 30ft long.

Well, that sure explains why Wirecutter’s testing with 5kV is useless... (not).

Based on other readings in the NEC, my understanding is that when the NEC includes minimum wiring distance as important they are considering the total amp interrupt rating. That is, if a short should occur, will it cause too much current for the upstream breakers. They are not making a statement about the effectiveness of the surge protector. They are saying you should keep it far enough away to ensure when the protector does work it won’t overload the breakers.

In the case of SMP devices, this is not an issue as they block current instead of encouraging it as MOV’s do.

Again, if you are questioning the effectiveness of Furman devices, I encourage you to read the full Wirecutter article and their testing methods. There’s no bone in that soup to pick.

More to discover