Whole house surge protectors and dedicated line

[BabySneaks]

We had a tree eat through the neutral in the wires delivering power into our home on Mother's Day. All of my surge protectors popped as designed, and those things saved all my stereo equipment, including my Quatro Wood CT speakers and M5-HPA amps. Our furnace and microwave, among other things, were not as lucky.

Since then, I had a dedicated power line put in for my stereo equipment, and I had a Type 2 whole house surge protector installed at the box outside our house to prevent a repeat of the great Mother's Day Fire of 2022.

Even with this setup, I still have the M5-HPAs plugged into a power conditioner/surge protector because one of them makes a bit of noise from the transformer and the power conditioning seems to help.

That leaves the speakers. Is it relatively safe to plug the subwoofer amp for the speakers direct into the wall outlets for the dedicated line that has the whole house surge protection? Or, would this be foolish?

[GdnrBob]

I would not fret over this. The whole house surge protector is sacrificial and should protect everything downstream. Is it 100% reliable- should be. But, like everything in life, things are usually a bit muddied. But, you have a very good isolation protection system, so I, as I said, I wouldn't fret over it. Of course, you could make sure your homeowners insurance will cover any loss.

And, given that your electrical wires are near tree roots, why not have them run it through a conduit? I have found electricians to be somewhat clueless to the the fact that underground wire is susceptible to damage from things like roots, shovels, etc.  Especially, if it is running at anything but a straight line.

Bob

[ctsooner]

I plug the Quatro’s and M5’s into the wall. It’s a dedicated circuit. Sounds best for my room. 

[Stringreen]

I had a whole house surge protector installed when the right 5A amp was taken out.......all has been well since.  I remember remarking that the system sounded a bit better with the newly installed protector

[Holmz]

2 hours ago, Stringreen said:

I had a whole house surge protector installed when the right 5A amp was taken out.......all has been well since.  I remember remarking that the system sounded a bit better with the newly installed protector

Is there something in the amp design that would be affected by the power coming in?

[Stringreen]

I had a whole house surge protector installed when the right 5A amp was taken out.......all has been well since.  I remember remarking that the system sounded a bit better with the newly installed protector

 

Richard told me it might have been a lightning strike.....I think trolls

[GdnrBob]

21 hours ago, Holmz said:

Is there something in the amp design that would be affected by the power coming in?

As far as I can tell a whole house surge protector does nothing with the power. It only trips when surges occur, and then needs to be replaced. Though I recall there might be some that can be reset.

B

[Holmz]

Yeah @GdnrBob but I meant technically with the amplifier would it care?

Some amps seem to have better power supplies than others (bigger, more energy storage capacity, more filtering.)
And some amps have external power supplies.
So I would assume that  those amps which are more engineered,  would also care less about the incoming power?

I son’s think it is a bad idea to have a separate circuit, but does it help this specific amp?
(Maybe it is an RV question? And also I thought that maybe PSE Dean had a hand in it?)

[BabySneaks]

Thanks to all for the replies and reassurance. 

This community is so much more helpful and the Vandersteen customer support so superior to what I experienced trying to run down a problem with my dedicated music server and my preamp/DAC. I can name names through direct message. But you all have been immensely helpful to me. I thank you.

For the questions about why I plug the M5-HPAs into power conditioners,  sit down with a cup of coffee and read through this long thread for the story.

The power company asserts control on how they get power from their pole to the house and they opt to have it go through a tree. After the fire they whacked out a good section of branches.

We are about ready to file a claim for the damages and hope to recover some portion of repair and replacement expenses. We cannot include the whole house surge protector as we did not have one at the time of the fire. Having it now is a sleep aid for me.

Vandersteen silenced the noise one speaker made on its own. The dedicated line + power conditioner + HumDinger reduces the noise from the one amp sharply.

After four-plus months of an additional expenses and fires, I have a stereo system that sounds ridiculously great to me. And from your comments it is well protected. I am happy for the day!

[GdnrBob]

Not to get you to spend more money...

I just read a Stereophile article on a battery based power source. It ain't cheap, but for those with lousy power, it could be a thing of value.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/stromtank-s-1000-computer-controlled-battery-power-source

 

B

[ctsooner]

Interesting products. I’d love to hear the. To see what they really do.  I’ve found most amps that engineer their power and grounding properly are much less depend on cords and cleaners etc.  

[Stringreen]

In MY system, I've tried many power conditioners, and have found I like the sound better after I send them back.

[ctsooner]

21 hours ago, Stringreen said:

In MY system, I've tried many power conditioners, and have found I like the sound better after I send them back.

Many say the same thing. I find that in my house, I needed the Niagara. Lowers the noise floor,but not until I got my main system components that I wanted. 

[Holmz]

I always symbolically think of a barrel when I hear Niagara.

And then pirates.

[Mr645]

I can tell you from experience, a lighting strike, that even cheap $5 power strips protect what's plugged in to them.  When the building got hit, higher end surge protectors, battery back ups all tripped, some were able to be reset and worked. AC unit and things not plugged into surge protectors all got fried but even the cheap 6 way strips all fried but nothing down stream was damaged.  Computers, a receiver, pencil sharpener etc, that was all fine.  I was told that lighting is worse than powerline surges