Power options?

[GXAlan]

Furman PST-8 is the cheapest way to get Series Mode Protection with high voltage disconnect. I have had it trigger appropriately, so I consider it a good design.

My Yamaha CX-A5100 (2 prong power) into Meyer Sound Amie (3 prong power) generates a ground loop EVEN though I am using balanced XLR cables. Using a line conditioner WITH A GROUND LUG is very effective. Panamax has this feature as do vintage Monster Power and Belkin PureAV products. You could manually do this too.

Then you have the 12V trigger features of these power centers to consider.

 

[Bvbellomo]

Furman PST-8 is the cheapest way to get Series Mode Protection with high voltage disconnect. I have had it trigger appropriately, so I consider it a good design.

My Yamaha CX-A5100 (2 prong power) into Meyer Sound Amie (3 prong power) generates a ground loop EVEN though I am using balanced XLR cables. Using a line conditioner WITH A GROUND LUG is very effective. Panamax has this feature as do vintage Monster Power and Belkin PureAV products. You could manually do this too.

Then you have the 12V trigger features of these power centers to consider.

There is another long thread on here about Series Mode Protection (Furman calls this "Lift"). That thread doesn't give much technical detail, but says most surge protectors are based on MOV which has a limited lifetime and potentially catches on fire. However the PST-8 I believe is also a MOV device, so I don't know what the advantage is here.

The PST-8 does seem to be a noise-removal device. As I said, I don't need that, but as long as it is harmless, I don't mind paying for it. I'd much rather spend $120 on a decent looking and well built device, even if it has features I don't need and doesn't perform noticeably better than a $12 device from the local drugstore. My concern is this filtering may not be harmless, and may end up causing some sort of problem itself.

 

[GXAlan]

There is another long thread on here about Series Mode Protection (Furman calls this "Lift"). That thread doesn't give much technical detail, but says most surge protectors are based on MOV which has a limited lifetime and potentially catches on fire. However the PST-8 I believe is also a MOV device, so I don't know what the advantage is here.

The PST-8 has a series mode protection, an over voltage disconnect, and a MOV as the final stage of protection. Many other surge protectors just have a MOV. So with the Furman, the micro surges should be handled by the Series Mode protection which is not by a traditional setup. With a SurgeX, eventually you have too high of a transient to be handled by the series mode protection and electricity keeps going. Some SurgeX’s have the over voltage disconnect and none have an added MOV for safety.

The PST-8 does seem to be a noise-removal device. As I said, I don't need that, but as long as it is harmless, I don't mind paying for it. I'd much rather spend $120 on a decent looking and well built device, even if it has features I don't need and doesn't perform noticeably better than a $12 device from the local drugstore. My concern is this filtering may not be harmless, and may end up causing some sort of problem itself.

If you have an E1DA Cosmos ADC or UMIK-1/2 you can measure and see if your filtering causes problems (it really doesn’t).

 

[Bvbellomo]

Any reason to choose a PST-8 over a PL-8 C? The price is close enough and I'd rather have a neat stack and maybe even rack mount this eventually.

 

[egellings]

For the issue the OP describes? Absolutely not.

Perhaps it was just what you needed to hear more than what you wanted to... My bad.

No, for protection from line voltage misbehavior, nothing else.

 

[Amused]

I use multiple Furman PST-8s for my office/studio. It's the only Furman that I can recommend. I've tried several of their rack mount offerings, but they've all made noise. The PST-8 is the only model that "runs" dead silent. I used to use the Tripp Lite Isobar series, but they too hummed after a short while with no indication of being triggered. I'd try Zero Surge, SurgeX, Brick Wall, but cost is a serious deterrent as I'd need 3 to replace my current setup.

 

[T0paz]

The PST-8 has a series mode protection, an over voltage disconnect, and a MOV as the final stage of protection. Many other surge protectors just have a MOV. So with the Furman, the micro surges should be handled by the Series Mode protection which is not by a traditional setup. With a SurgeX, eventually you have too high of a transient to be handled by the series mode protection and electricity keeps going. Some SurgeX’s have the over voltage disconnect and none have an added MOV for safety.

Furman used an expired series mode patent as a basis for their surge protection technology. They could not replicate or license the SurgeX inductor, so they used a smaller one. On it's own their technology could not handle the surge so they strung a series of technologies together to reduce the surge but in the end still had to rely on the venerable MOV which still fails.

It is therefore not the true Series Mode protection used by SurgeX and Zero Surge. In their literature, Furman refers to their technology as Series Multistage Protection.

 

[Speedskater]

Note that MOV's have come a long way in the last half century. And with modern MOV's and better circuit designs, most every home has way more than a dozen MOVs but we don't often hear of failures. Now the NEC/UL require surge suppression in new homes.

 

[Gary_G]

I use this as a place to consolidate all the power needs. Furman ELITE15 DM I Surge/Power Conditioner

 

[T0paz]

Note that MOV's have come a long way in the last half century. And with modern MOV's and better circuit designs, most every home has way more than a dozen MOVs but we don't often hear of failures. Now the NEC/UL require surge suppression in new homes.

Damage from surges is cumulative and most people will replace their gear long before the damage is permanent, and yet it's still possible to find MOV surge strips as causes of fire in homes in 2024

 

[Anton S]

Decent used power conditioners are a dime a dozen on ebay. I picked up a couple Panamax 5100-EX units in great shape for about $80 each as cheap peace-of-mind insurance for my equipment. Nice looking, 11 outlets on 3 separate banks each, one of which can be DC trigger-controlled. Each one can dissipate 1800 joules and can handle a peak impulse input current 73K amps. Love 'em.

 

[Speedskater]

There seems to a large exaggeration about the ancient problems with MOV's. I would guesstimate that there might be a billion items that have MOV's in them in current use in the USA. New NEC/UL rules will require them.

 

[Speedskater]

For most of us in the USA, the best plan is a whole home surge protector installed at the main breaker panel or by the power company in the meter (and yes it will have MOV's).
For point of use protection, use metal not plastic outlet strips (with a UL stamp) from a commercial/industrial manufacture.

 

[pablolie]

I am perfectly aware all the filtering isn't needed, especially if you're Class D (by definition it does its own). But I use a Furman (https://www.amazon.com/Furman-PST-8...tag=se&keywords=Furman&qid=1714686596&sr=8-18) just for protection and because it doesn't do too much. I have one of those $1k power "enhancers" but it's just there for looks, not connected to anything.

 

[DMill]

A grounded lightning rod on your home might be something. As much as a joke as it sounds I know someone who was home when his chimney was hit by lightning. It blew the glass door off his fireplace insert in his living room. He said it scared him enough to install one. I’m more of a risk taker.

 

[Brian Hall]

We get a lot of short power failures / surges here from thunderstorms. I have two battery backup power supplies for my main system / tv / Xbox in the living room and a single battery backup power supply for my smaller office system.

I've had one battery backup killed by a close lightning hit, but never had any other electronic equipment damaged. No issues with ground hum.

 

[T0paz]

For most of us in the USA, the best plan is a whole home surge protector installed at the main breaker panel or by the power company in the meter (and yes it will have MOV's).
For point of use protection, use metal not plastic outlet strips (with a UL stamp) from a commercial/industrial manufacture.

Approximately 80% of recorded surges are due to internal switching transients caused by turning on/off motors, transformers, photocopiers or other loads. Externally generated surges make up the other 20% and are due to induced lightning, grid switching or from adjacent buildings.

Many internally generated surges never make it to the Whole House Surge Protection Device at the service entrance.

For externally generated surges, installation lead length (wiring) reduces the performance of any surge suppressor. As a rule of thumb, each inch of installation lead length will add between 15 and 25 V per inch of wiring. Published let-through voltage ratings are for the device/module and a typical installation will use between 18 and 24 inches of additional wiring meaning an SPD that lets through 600 Volts at the device will also let an additional 450 to 600 Volts. In other words a Type 3 SPD is still needed to deal with the 1050 to 1200 Volts being let through.

Something to think about. Surges like to travel in straight lines. When was the last time you saw point to point wiring (straight, no 90 degree bends) in a house?

 

[dlaloum]

I purchased a Belkin PureAV PF60 some 15+ years ago... I use it as a glorified PDU... but it also monitors voltages, and has a few other features that are nice...

Mostly the key thing is it protects the rest of the gear from the wear and tear of surges and spikes

I have never noted it to have any audible impact for better or worse.

at the time I purchased it, I would have happily used a true double conversion UPS - but all of those devices were loud and had fans... there was nothing really suitable for audio. Plenty available in the IT world... where noise is not a primary concern ( as they are usually comms room or Data Centre fixtures...)

No complaints with it... sadly, there does not appear to be a current equivalent

 

[dlaloum]

Old thread of relevance:

Good and affordable alternatives to Belkin PF Surge protectors and Power conditioners

Hello there, I used to have a Belkin PF40 when I was living in France, and now I'm living in USA and have had to sell my Belkin as it was said it was not compatible. Now I need to buy a new thing like the Belkin PF product in order to use my gears knowing that my amplifiers need to be...

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