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Tag : Home Tool Kit

My question is are expensive surge protectors even necessary? I seelots of other surge protectors in the $20-30 range that seem likethey would be sufficient. Will an expensive surge protector reallykeep the "dirty power" out of my lines and give me better pictureand sound?
That's a great question. If you listen to the companies selling theequipment, there's no doubt about it. Monster promises, "a more natural sound, increased dynamic range, and themost vivid video images possible," and includes a highly suspect comparison to back up its claims. Similarly, Panamax claims, "improvedpicture and sound quality from AV component sources" from its $500 surge protector . (We did notice that Belkin--another major manufacturer of surgeprotectors--makes no claims of improved AV quality.)
So is the marketing hype true? As far as we can tell, no. At CNETLabs, we have a large Monster surge protector, plus a variety ofother, less expensive models from different manufacturers. In termsof video quality, we've never seen any difference from the Monstersurge protector compared to other surge protectors, or evencompared to plugging components directly into the wall--and we'reconstantly looking for even the slightest video artifacts. Maybeour lab just has good, "clean" power, but we haven't noticed anydifferences in our personal home theaters either.