To Plug Power Amps Direct in to Wall or Not ??


Hello .
I own a number of different power amps. PASS, THRESHOLD and MACs. I have dedicted rooms for each system. And no appliances are tied into the circuits I am using for my equipment.

BIG Questions??

Should you plug power amps directly into the wall or use some type of surge protection ?

Is it safe without protection on power amps even though they are pretty hardy and not sensitive like digital gear ?

I do notice better performance on the power amps plugged directly into the wall. But I am scared of the common surge , brown out or electric goes out may fry my amps.

Or am I being too much of a worry wart.

Thank you to all.
BOB
lawyerman

Showing 2 responses by mdhoover

"I do notice better performance on the power amps plugged directly into the wall."
You've probably just answered your own question. Maximum performance, in my opinion, trumps the minor equipment safety concerns.
"Or am I being too much of a worry wart."
I'd say that it's self-defeating to purchase high end gear for big bucks and then compromise its performance with a surge protector or something. You MAY want to consider one of the supposedly "non-current limiting" big boys like Running Springs Audio or some of the others. I think those offer surge protection.

Also, the NBS website provides an interesting perspective on this issue (I don't sell NBS or work for them or any other power conditioner company):
What the people at NBS have to say
"I can get used to a miniscule amount of sound problems vs buying a new amp."
On the other hand, what better excuse could there possibly be to upgrade????? You could say: "Honey, the urge struck me like a bolt out of the blue; now I'm thundering mad and going to storm off and buy a new amp."
OK, maybe not.....