Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Rowan said:
OK... Who uses an audio specific surge protector/ power supply and how guilable am I for even considering one?
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Back in the mid ‘90s I bought one. One night I came home from work and my then wife said the stereo was “dead”.

I’ve always had a nice system. In fact, I didn’t even own a television until I was in my mid 20s. Music and books are enough for me- even now.

So I walked up to the system and notice the Panamax is dead. I checked the circuit breaker. Not tripped. I unplugged everything from the Panamax and plugged everything straight to the wall. Everything worked. So a $400 surge protector/power conditioner saved a $7k system.

Here’s the best part: Panamax offered a lifetime guarantee, but I couldn’t find the receipt. I called them and they said they made it, I had it, and it was broken- and that was good enough for them. They repaired it free of charge.

Central Florida where I live is the lightning strike capital of the world. I wouldn’t be without one. It’s cheap insurance.
 
AnthonyI said:
I gotta agree with @Joe Mac, that's going to be tough at that budget, I'm just looking at it from an upgrade path later on down the line.
The best I could recommend that would be a good starting point with future options, would be the following:

  • U-Turn Orbit (Acrylic platter / Cue Lever / AT91B cart just to keep the cost down) - $294.00
  • Schiit Mani Pre-amp (Quality at a low price) - $150.00
  • Edifier R1700BT Active Speakers (Small footprint, very good sound and Bluetooth if you want to stream) - $150.00

I guess you could go super basic on the Turntable, but I feel like then you'll be basically starting from scratch later on, with the Orbit as it stands above, just upgrading the cart will do wonders for it.
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As a brief coda, I went with this set up except the Fluance and grabbed some lightly used versions to get the cost where I needed and it’s very much what I wanted. Thank you all (@Joe Mac , @HiFi Guy , @AnthonyI among others)
 
HiFi Guy said:
Back in the mid ‘90s I bought one. One night I came home from work and my then wife said the stereo was “dead”.

I’ve always had a nice system. In fact, I didn’t even own a television until I was in my mid 20s. Music and books are enough for me- even now.

So I walked up to the system and notice the Panamax is dead. I checked the circuit breaker. Not tripped. I unplugged everything from the Panamax and plugged everything straight to the wall. Everything worked. So a $400 surge protector/power conditioner saved a $7k system.

Here’s the best part: Panamax offered a lifetime guarantee, but I couldn’t find the receipt. I called them and they said they made it, I had it, and it was broken- and that was good enough for them. They repaired it free of charge.

Central Florida where I live is the lightning strike capital of the world. I wouldn’t be without one. It’s cheap insurance.
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I mean. I liked this post but given its about to set me back £500 maybe that wasn't exactly the most accurate reaction.
 
Rowan said:
I mean. I liked this post but given its about to set me back £500 maybe that wasn't exactly the most accurate reaction.
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Maybe this is very much a geographical issue. Ive only ever used any kind of power protector on gardening equipment to protect myself from electrocuting myself etc. Have you any evidence of experiencimg any kind of power surge in your home ?
Ive not, I also just out of habit turn everything off at the plug when I’m not using so I’d have to have a first power surge also time with my usage which again reduces chances down a lot.
Id not spend £500 on it, given I’ve heard no power surge issues from anyone of my uk friends ?
 
ByersVinyl said:
Maybe this is very much a geographical issue. Ive only ever used any kind of power protector on gardening equipment to protect myself from electrocuting myself etc. Have you any evidence of experiencimg any kind of power surge in your home ?
Ive not, I also just out of habit turn everything off at the plug when I’m not using so I’d have to have a first power surge also time with my usage which again reduces chances down a lot.
Id not spend £500 on it, given I’ve heard no power surge issues from anyone of my uk friends ?
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My dad has a surge protector plug on his PC, and has done for decades. I think he's only needed it once, maybe twice. His one is a cheapo once that costs a tenner maybe. Plugging it into a hi-fi system "may" colour the sound, but who knows!
 
I use protection for any electronics I really care about and/or put a good amount of money into - why would I spend good $ on stuff and then skimp on its power source. My PC/monitor/speakers/etc, guitar amps and gear, and stereo equipment all get protection (w/ the most expensive protection for the stereo; the PC gets the most basic strip protector but still capable). The TV, on the other hand, goes straight into the wall.
 
Thackeraye said:
My dad has a surge protector plug on his PC, and has done for decades. I think he's only needed it once, maybe twice. His one is a cheapo once that costs a tenner maybe. Plugging it into a hi-fi system "may" colour the sound, but who knows!
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Yeah to clarify - I’ve no idea tbh if needed - god would it discolour Sound? Another element I’d not even considered haha. I’m just going off my own experience and if I’d think £500 was worth it, and for me having had zero issues I’d feel like it was chucking money away for no benefit. A lot like an insurance premium I suppose Just peace of mind.

Ive just never even considered having any electric issues ever ? Not even had a power cut i can recall in past 20 years.
 
ByersVinyl said:
Yeah to clarify - I’ve no idea tbh if needed - god would it discolour Sound? Another element I’d not even considered haha. I’m just going off my own experience and if I’d think £500 was worth it, and for me having had zero issues I’d feel like it was chucking money away for no benefit. A lot like an insurance premium I suppose Just peace of mind.

Ive just never even considered having any electric issues ever ? Not even had a power cut i can recall in past 20 years.
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It's the peace of mind as well. I've not needed one in 20 years of hifi gear but my set up has been kinda incrementally built up. Most of it is absolute bargain second hand stuff but the other day I tallied up what it would cost if I'd bought it all from new and had to replace it and its now about £8,000 to £9000 quids worth of kit if I count the speakers. Starting to wonder if at that sort of value the premium for a bit of protection may be worth doing.
 
ByersVinyl said:
Yeah to clarify - I’ve no idea tbh if needed - god would it discolour Sound? Another element I’d not even considered haha. I’m just going off my own experience and if I’d think £500 was worth it, and for me having had zero issues I’d feel like it was chucking money away for no benefit. A lot like an insurance premium I suppose Just peace of mind.

Ive just never even considered having any electric issues ever ? Not even had a power cut i can recall in past 20 years.
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Oh, they're worth having, but like you I don't know if I'd chuck £500 at one.
 
Thackeraye said:
Oh, they're worth having, but like you I don't know if I'd chuck £500 at one.
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Yeah I really did have to think long and hard about the price. The problem I found was that there is no one like our US pals have with Panamax doing something nice for around £200 for the 240V supply that we are using. I researched it for a while and it came down to, for me, the PS Audio and the iFi ones, both around £500 and the PS Audio one won out becuse it has 10 sockets, with 2 as high power for my mono blocks, as opposed to 6 standard on the iFi. If you can find something cheaper that I missed though I wouldn’t discount it.
 
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Lord Diaper Baby said:
Keep in mind, at that price point, you're likely getting more than surge protection. If only surge protection, you can spend much less and still have it rated to handle large power loads.
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Yeah it’s a power conditioner and surge protector. 2 sockets for high power with just the surge and minimal conditioning for amps and 8 conditioned and protected sockets for the rest of the gear
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah it’s a power conditioner and surge protector. 2 sockets for high power with just the surge and minimal conditioning for amps and 8 conditioned and protected sockets for the rest of the gear
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You got the PS Audio Dectet (don't know if you mentioned it prior, but my scrolling up function is broken - not on my PC hardware but on my motivation to do so)? But I'm assuming by your description that's what you have?
 
Lord Diaper Baby said:
You got the PS Audio Dectet (don't know if you mentioned it prior, but my scrolling up function is broken - not on my PC hardware but on my motivation to do so)? But I'm assuming by your description that's what you have?
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Yeah that’s the one I have! It came down to that and the iFi one over here with our more limited selection and the extra sockets won out for me.
 
A surge protector saved my friend's computer in the 90s. Lightning struck a power line near his home. The resulting surge melted parts of the house wiring, blew up light bulbs, smoked his TV and microwave, and welded switches into the "on" position.
His surge protector was a cheap APC that fit over the plug like a giant wall wart. The UPS's case changed color from off-white to charcoal, a hole appeared in the bottom of the case, and one of the prongs from its plug was welded to the wall outlet. When we pulled it off the wall, that prong stayed in the wall. Don't get me started on the smell!
Once an electrician repaired the house electrical system, he plugged his computer back in, and it worked fine. The same day, he bought a new surge protector.
I'm not going to say you need an expensive surge protector. My friend's El-cheapo served him just fine. I will suggest you treat them like insurance. Spend the money and then pray you never need it.
As for my own system, I have two. I have a purpose-built "audiophile" surge protector I bought 20 years ago and a UPS for my router and Xbox.
 
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apholden said:
A surge protector saved my friend's computer in the 90s. Lightning struck a power line near his home. The resulting surge melted parts of the house wiring, blew up light bulbs, smoked his TV and microwave, and welded switches into the "on" position.
His surge protector was a cheap APC that fit over the plug like a giant wall wart. The UPS's case changed color from off-white to charcoal, a hole appeared in the bottom of the case, and one of the prongs from its plug was welded to the wall outlet. When we pulled it off the wall, that prong stayed in the wall. Don't get me started on the smell!
Once an electrician repaired the house electrical system, he plugged his computer back in, and it worked fine. The same day, he bought a new surge protector.
I'm not going to say you need an expensive surge protector. My friend's El-cheapo served him just fine. I will suggest you treat them like insurance. Spend the money and then pray you never need it.
As for my own system, I have two. I have a purpose-built "audiophile" surge protector I bought 20 years ago and a UPS for my router and Xbox.
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The other digital components, Roon server, CD player and the like are also plugged into the UPS, but not in its uninterruptible outlets. I can't remember if the Xbox is in an uninterruptible outlet or just a surge-protected outlet.
 
In between the mofi table and the ortofon cartridge I definitely plan on getting a good power conditioner (not power cables because you need an ac adapter, but when mofi happend I will buy boujee cables)
 
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