Would ZeroSurge or SurgeX worth it and would make sound worse?

[Pancreas]

Yes. Zero Surge was the original. My understanding is that the patents expired and that is how Furman and Audioquest went with Series Mode protection.

This is the patent that I believe is the key one

US4870534A - Power line surge suppressor - Google Patents

A surge suppressor for repeatedly protecting a load against surges occurring on A-C power mains from lightning surges or the like comprises a first series circuit having a first inductance and a first alternating voltage limiter, including at least a first capacitance and a bidirectionally...

patents.google.com

So which furman do you recommend that have this?

 

[GXAlan]

So which furman do you recommend that have this?

The Furman PST-8 is the one that is relatively affordable at $75-120.

If you need 12V trigger

Furman Elite 15I Power line conditioner and surge protectorDefault Title

Furman Elite 15I Power line conditioner and surge protector Linear filtering AC power source. For over 40 years, Furman has pioneered the development of AC power products for the most demanding audio, video, and broadcast professionals. Though the need for pristine AC power is nothing new, the...

www.safeandsoundhq.com

The criticism is that the MOVs can catch on fire still but if the MOV didn’t catch on fire, that surge energy still has to go somewhere!

 

[Pancreas]

Ironically thats the same Furman product (Furnan powerstation 8) the furman worker posted on the negative reviews he left for SurgeX and Zerosurge

 

[GXAlan]

Ironically thats the same Furman product (Furnan powerstation 8) the furman worker posted on the negative reviews he left for SurgeX and Zerosurge

Yeah, that is the cheapest series mode unit out there at retail price. You are still subject to the quality control and the political consideration of country of manufacture. But the WireCutter review is why it is popular.

By all means, go with SurgeX or ZeroSurge if you have the budget. Although SurgeX no longer makes all of their products in the USA, ZeroSurge does.

SurgeX has several tiers of products including non series mode protection. So you have to check the details.

ZeroSurge invented the tech *and* it is made in the USA.

 

[jtwrace]

Zerosurge.com all the way

 

[Speedskater]

a] SurgeX, ZeroSurge and BrickWall are most excellent point-of-use surge protectors. But very pricey!

b] MOV's have come a long way in the last 4 decades. Those horror failure stories are from back then. In fact some modern high-tech whole home units will text you if they have a problem.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
But on the other hand, Bill Whitlock points out that with point-of-use MOV surge protectors, because the MOV's are capacitors, they can dump power line noise on to the Safety Ground.

 

[Pancreas]

Zerosurge only has 8 outlets tho

 

[Fred H]

Zerosurge only has 8 outlets tho

Search for "power strip no surge" for more outlets w/o MOVs.

 

[MoreWatts]

I believe the most recommended solution for surge protection is to install a whole-house surge protector at the electrical panel. I had it done, in the USA, during the course of some other electrical work, and I don't think the cost of the device and install was over $500, near the cost of some of these devices. If this is possible for the OP. It hasn't been mentioned in the thread.

 

[Pancreas]

Search for "power strip no surge" for more outlets w/o MOVs.

What is that though

 

[Fred H]

What is that though

If you don't want any MOVs in the circuit path there are power strips (generally with overload protection) but without MOVs available, for instance this. As all of the 15 amp surge protectors will pass 15 amps, regardless of the number of outlets, it's your choice whether to pay the high cost of the many-outlet units. Medical grade power strips without MOVs are also available (around $50) if you want to make it more difficult to accidentally unplug things plugged into them.

 

[Pancreas]

If you don't want any MOVs in the circuit path there are power strips (generally with overload protection) but without MOVs available, for instance this. As all of the 15 amp surge protectors will pass 15 amps, regardless of the number of outlets, it's your choice whether to pay the high cost of the many-outlet units. Medical grade power strips without MOVs are also available (around $50) if you want to make it more difficult to accidentally unplug things plugged into them.

How do they compare to zerosurge?

This guy on ebay is selling this for $300 used supposedly never used it which i dont believe lol

For that price i could buy zerosurge but it has 8 instead of 10

 

[Fred H]

How do they compare to zerosurge?

This guy on ebay is selling this for $300 used supposedly never used it which i dont believe lol

For that price i could buy zerosurge but it has 8 instead of 10

I've only used zerosurge, so I can't comment on the your attachments except that others I respect have said that they are at least of equal quality. I just wouldn't pay so much to get many outlets on the unit when plugging a power strip into a 2-unit model gives the same surge protection. OTOH, if the neatness of plugging everything into the same place is worth the extra cost, I can understand that.

 

[solderdude]

One should only use surge protection to protect (expensive) equipment against surges and unreliable mains.
When one is plagued by weird sounds, noises etc from external sources it makes sense to take some action.
One does not need to buy this to 'improve' sound quality by 'cleaning the mains'.

 

[Pancreas]

I've only used zerosurge, so I can't comment on the your attachments except that others I respect have said that they are at least of equal quality. I just wouldn't pay so much to get many outlets on the unit when plugging a power strip into a 2-unit model gives the same surge protection. OTOH, if the neatness of plugging everything into the same place is worth the extra cost, I can understand that.

The 2 outlet brick on Zerosurge is almost as much as 8 outlet is like $240

 

[Fred H]

There's a 2-outlet and a 6-outlet zerosurge on eBay, both asking $99 plus shipping.

 

[Pancreas]

There's a 2-outlet and a 6-outlet zerosurge on eBay, both asking $99 plus shipping.

Made in 2000

The other one looks even older

Also if you connect a regular surge protector to this, what are you really protecting? Wouldn’t the MOV surge protector usually made of plastic still be the weak link in the equation?

It could catch fire one day

 

[Fred H]

for instance this.

Plastic power strip w/o an MOV. Metal power strips without an MOV are harder to find, but they exist. Series mode protection doesn't use anything that wears out, that's part of why its good.

It could catch fire one day

This concern seems extreme to me if you don't overload the unit, but if you have it you should do what makes you comfortable.

 

[Pancreas]

would gladly accept more opinions lmao

 

[Pancreas]

Yeah, that is the cheapest series mode unit out there at retail price. You are still subject to the quality control and the political consideration of country of manufacture. But the WireCutter review is why it is popular.

By all means, go with SurgeX or ZeroSurge if you have the budget. Although SurgeX no longer makes all of their products in the USA, ZeroSurge does.

SurgeX has several tiers of products including non series mode protection. So you have to check the details.

ZeroSurge invented the tech *and* it is made in the USA.

found this on a forum where the owener of zerosurge responded

I just got four Furman PST-8's, to replace MOV-based devices. I think their design is similar to Zero-Surge.

Sorry Skid00 but it is not similar to our design. They still use MOVs. You can see the "MOV" printed on the board on their website "deep dive" into their technology - furmanpower.com/series-multi-stage-protection-smp/ You can also see the iron core inductor which saturates.

It is the inductor that helps with the dI/dt reduction that is critical in protecting today's switch mode power supplies. If it saturates quickly, then it can't do any work.

When one looks around for claims about technology, you will see a ton of conflicting information. One that seemed to pop up when I poked around today was that Zero Surge sued Furman. That never happened. Surgex may have sued them but I can say 100% that Zero Surge did not.

Sorry to dump on you like this. I don't jump on forums much so when I get a chance to spread some knowledge, I do.