Austere vs Viborg vs Pangea power strip / conditioner advice / reviews or experiences?

[Jeff M.]

Good Afternoon Everyone. So I am looking into a few power strip companys. I saw this one and it looked reasonably priced. I think the most I would spend on something like this is $500.00 and below. I believe product can only do so much at a certain price point and if you go beyond that it’s just hype. So looking into 3 different brands or Companys and wanted to know if anyone has used or tried them? The first brand is Austere v2 8 is only $229.00 for their top of the line power strip and conditioner. The Second one is from Amazon the brand is Called Viborg and is $349.9@ for their 8 plug power strip and conditioner. I bought 2 set of binding post from them 4 years ago and they are holding up well. No discolored cooper or turing black or green (unlike some brands). The 3rd brand is the Pangea power strip conditioner and it’s $499.99 for their top of the line one. (An update The Pangea is on sale now and is now a $100.00 off so the sale price is $399.99). I did buy the smaller tripp lite power protection for my refrigerator and my router and next will be my stove and then my washer and dryer. So No issues after a power surge or loose of power the last 2 years. I’m just looking for something that is more built for my components and not my appliances . All these brands have Diy wire or already finished valves you can buy. So Am having more and more power outages and brown outs in my area now so I want to be safe. Thanks for anyone advice and suggestions. Be safe. Jeff

Here are some pictures of the 3 products am looking at? and cost and the tripp lite I bought for my appliances. I did buy them on sale for $24.00 each.

 

[DVDdoug]

I’m just looking for something that is more built for my components and not my appliances .

It's more related to the kinds of power problems you have. A surge protector should cost much less than $100 USD. If you are going to spend more than that, it's probably worthwhile talking to an electrician about a whole-house protector.

Power line noise or other power problems my require more-specific solutions.

If you don't have a specific problem and a specific solution, none of the devices will make any difference to audio performance or "sound quality".

 

[BDWoody]

Have you considered having a 'whole house' suppressor installed by an electrician in your load panel?

 

[EERecordist]

The question of power filters and conditioners comes up often. It is well worth a search.

1 Electronic devices have filters on their power connector that reduce line and radiated EMF from coming in or going out.

2 The outside grid can be struck by lightning causing over voltage and as a result over current into equipment.

3 The power company can implement conservation voltage reductions, or in less developed countries it can be the result of insufficient generation. The substation transformer has adjustable voltage taps. It is not supposed to, but sometimes voltage tap switching can put transients on the line or cause a momentary loss. Power companies in the US try to maintain voltage between 114 and 126 +- 5%.

So each issue has a different solution.

I just got a whole house surge suppressor for #2. Mine snaps into a breaker spot ~$200. Next I have a Kill-a-Watt to see the voltage for #3, and to see how much my audio hobby costs in kWh per month. I then plug in a power pack which can even be powered by solar panels. It acts as a UPS. So that handles #3. Then I plug the Tripp Lite Isobar between the power pack and the equipment for extra help on #1 and #2. For a power pack I like the Bluetti brand with LiFePO4 batteries and a 5-6 year warranty. Those are about $400 on up. A regular lead acid computer UPS would be about $150, or less used, but will not run long with no mains power. I would not buy a power pack with lithium ion batteries for fire concerns. Many power pack makers have shifted to LiFePO4 - verify.

The power pack, with some panels outside can power your router and mobile phone, some people also use them for CPAP or their refrigerator.

 

[Martin]

Living in southwest Florida I had the local power company install a whole house lightning / surge protector. The power company employee that installed it recommended individual surge protectors for major appliances and my audio / video equipment. I added inexpensive TrippLite Spikecubes on appliances and continued using existing TrippLite Isobar 2 and 4 outlet and Panamax 8 outlet power conditioners on my audio / video equipment, and a CyberPower battery backup on my PC, NAS and networking equipment.

Martin

 

[Jeff M.]

Have you considered having a 'whole house' suppressor installed by an electrician in your load panel?

Yes I have but, I will have to save a little more for that and having 2 homes or house holds to protect. I bought into my father and mother enlaws house 18 years ago. We put all the electrical breakers into 1 panel and ever thought out about separate panels. I would have to have an electrician separate the 2 house holds and put a 2nd panel in. Am pretty sure it’s up there in cost last time I looked. I can talk to a company that comes to my work to see what they would charge and go from there? Jeff

 

[Jeff M.]

The question of power filters and conditioners comes up often. It is well worth a search.

1 Electronic devices have filters on their power connector that reduce line and radiated EMF from coming in or going out.

2 The outside grid can be struck by lightning causing over voltage and as a result over current into equipment.

3 The power company can implement conservation voltage reductions, or in less developed countries it can be the result of insufficient generation. The substation transformer has adjustable voltage taps. It is not supposed to, but sometimes voltage tap switching can put transients on the line or cause a momentary loss. Power companies in the US try to maintain voltage between 114 and 126 +- 5%.

So each issue has a different solution.

I just got a whole house surge suppressor for #2. Mine snaps into a breaker spot ~$200. Next I have a Kill-a-Watt to see the voltage for #3, and to see how much my audio hobby costs in kWh per month. I then plug in a power pack which can even be powered by solar panels. It acts as a UPS. So that handles #3. Then I plug the Tripp Lite Isobar between the power pack and the equipment for extra help on #1 and #2. For a power pack I like the Bluetti brand with LiFePO4 batteries and a 5-6 year warranty. Those are about $400 on up. A regular lead acid computer UPS would be about $150, or less used, but will not run long with no mains power. I would not buy a power pack with lithium ion batteries for fire concerns. Many power pack makers have shifted to LiFePO4 - verify.

The power pack, with some panels outside can power your router and mobile phone, some people also use them for CPAP or their refrigerator.

Wow a snap in place of a breaker spot that’s a whole house power surge protector. Nice Idea. Yes I have looked into the battery back ups and the solar panels or the mini wind mill outside my house. Your right I would have to get a kill-a-watt to read the proper voltage I would be be using on my stereo system. Another great idea. . Thanks for explaining and giving your advice on this subject.

 

[EERecordist]

Yes I have but, I will have to save a little more for that and having 2 homes or house holds to protect. I bought into my father and mother enlaws house 18 years ago. We put all the electrical breakers into 1 panel and ever thought out about separate panels. I would have to have an electrician separate the 2 house holds and put a 2nd panel in. Am pretty sure it’s up there in cost last time I looked. I can talk to a company that comes to my work to see what they would charge and go from there? Jeff

Not related to audio, but once you separate into 2 panels attached to one meter, one panel becomes a subpanel. Look up subpanel grounding and bonding on the Internet. If you have 2 service entries with 2 meters, and if the meter panel has a main breaker, then the panel with the individual breakers becomes a subpanel with the grounding and bonding requirement. If you are adding a backup generator with a load transfer switch it becomes even more complicated. The electrical code has a lot of details for safety which are not immediately obvious. This is not professional advice and I am not an electrician.

 

[GXAlan]

The only power conditioners that make sense are UL listed surge protectors with grounding lugs. I have fixed a lot of ground loops by taking advantage of this. The Panamax line is one that has ground lugs.

Belkin and Monster Power did this too (no longer available). Furman and AudioQuest do NOT have this feature.

 

[Jeff M.]

The only power conditioners that make sense are UL listed surge protectors with grounding lugs. I have fixed a lot of ground loops by taking advantage of this. The Panamax line is one that has ground lugs.

Belkin and Monster Power did this too (no longer available). Furman and AudioQuest do NOT have this feature.

 

[Jeff M.]

Thanks for the advice and technical info on UL listed surge protectors with ground lugs. I would have never known or guessed about this feature. Thanks for listing the company that does and the ones that don’t. Very helpful. This is the technical information that is hidden from the common public and thanks to you for sharing this information. By the way does tripp lite do this? Just wondering if you know? Thanks again Jeff


Also what Model Panamax from what line are you using? They have so many different models and designs?

 

[DSJR]

I’m just looking for something that is more built for my components and not my appliances .

Umm - Sorry to burst a few bubbles here, but your sound setup IS very much a set of appliances!!!!! Appliances/tools to help reproduce music...

I can't comment on surge protection as US needs may well be totally different to here in the UK, but here, one can get 6 or 8 way power strips perfectly up to the current loading for a few quid and if they start to look tatty after some years' use, they're easily replaced. As said earlier, no real need for an 'audiophile' power strip. Maybe Mouser or similar component suppliers, sell something suitable for a fraction of the price?

 

[Jeff M.]

Not related to audio, but once you separate into 2 panels attached to one meter, one panel becomes a subpanel. Look up subpanel grounding and bonding on the Internet. If you have 2 service entries with 2 meters, and if the meter panel has a main breaker, then the panel with the individual breakers becomes a subpanel with the grounding and bonding requirement. If you are adding a backup generator with a load transfer switch it becomes even more complicated. The electrical code has a lot of details for safety which are not immediately obvious. This is not professional advice and I am not an electrician.

I do understand what you’re saying and will talk to a master electrician I know. Example : So At work we had a bottle filler put in a few years ago. The receptacle is under the drinking fountain. It’s not code to cover this any more due to access and unplugging the power. Now anyone can unplug them and has accuse to them. (like little kids) . I liked the locked plastic covers before more safer. Also we are planning on selling the house in a few years so a professional electrician is a must. My city has very strict codes. Again I will ask my Master electrician Friend about this. I’m confident I can do this and if I do I want to do it right by the code.

 

[GXAlan]

Thanks for the advice and technical info on UL listed surge protectors with ground lugs. I would have never known or guessed about this feature.

It’s super simple and people might be able to do the same thing with a chassis screw, but having a simple ground lug that I can use to remove ground loops is amazing.

On an Arcam SR250, using active speakers with XLR input using the RCA line out can generate a ground loop. Running a wire from the black speaker terminal to the ground lug solves this.

Same thing with a Yamaha CX-A5100 using XLR (!). There is still some sort of 60 Hz buzz I get which I can solve by running the phone ground lug to the ground lug on the surge protector. Both the Arcam and Yamaha are two prong power. The active speakers are three prong.

It’s not universally needed, since a WiiM Pro to RCA to XLR adapter works fine (2 prong power), even though the same connection does not for the others!

You just have to look at the rear panel to see which ones have a ground lug. Panamax MR4300 has it.
Panamax PM5300 has 12v trigger controls. Panamax M4000-Pro is slim, has a 12v trigger input and Ethernet/Cloud control and automatic voltage shut down.

The audio performance will be the same since none of the filtering matters since your electronics already do the filtering. Knocking out ground loops is real and measurable and audible. So it’s just a matter of features that you want.

For actual surge protection, some of the Furman’s are nice. I have some and the overvoltage has triggered before (when nothing else in the home sees a complaint so they are sensitive (and accurate; it does have an over voltage event according to my Powerwall meter). Even though Furman has the same parent company as Panamax, Furman doesn’t offer a convenient ground lug.

Both are UL listed, so it’s built to code, so to say. Amir has tested all sorts of gear that is actually electrically dangerous here.

Oh, the Emotiva CMX-2 blocks DC on AC power. I have been in one place where that led to a very subtle buzz on my Arcam’s toroidal power transformer and having the Emotiva helped. When I moved, there was no longer a need for that product. The ground loops seem to be an interaction between the hardware and the Meyer Sound speakers.