If you fancy yourself to be a tech-friendly entertainment enthusiast, there is a good chance you have or will be building yourself a home theater entertainment empire.
It will be in your living room for all of your family and friends to see and enjoy.
For you, it’s a treat for you to be able to enjoy having quality access to movies with the best sights and sounds right from the comforts of home.
After making a material investment into your home theater, don’t you think it would be a good idea to do all you can to protect your investment? A properly constructed home theater system can give you years of enjoyment. That’s as long as each component operates exactly the way it should.
One of the concerns you should have involves what a sudden power interruption might do to your system. While opinions differ, there is evidence that a power strip or power manager component can help prevent damage caused by a sudden power surge, Whether you support this contention or not, it seems like something you might want to investigate further if you are serious about protecting your home theater investment.
For your edification, the following information is going to focus on home theater power managers (what they are and what they do).
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What is a Home Theater Power Manager?
A conventional surge protector is a strip of electrical outlets controlled with an on/off switch. While in the on position, all of the devices plugged into the strip will be functional. In the off position, they will not receive electricity. When an electrical device is in standby mode, it still draws energy, though a lower level of energy. A power strip serves to detect the lower level of energy and subsequently uses its circuitry to detect this drop and completely cut power flowing to the device. This effectively shields the device’s electrical system from a sudden surge of power.
A home theater power manager works in the same manner. However, it looks very different. If you can remember back to the early days of the Blu-ray disc player, that’s what a home theater power manager looks like. Most power managers are fairly flat black devices with a series of electrical outlets in the back.
High-end home theater power managers will have electrical outlets that are labeled for specific uses, including high-voltage devices, power amps, and others. Based on the available sizes, home theater power managers can be conveniently placed on a rack or placed somewhere within the home theater infrastructure. Caution: Really high-end power managers can weigh up to 50 lbs and cost as much as $9,000. The average price of a quality home theater power manager runs between $2,000 and $3,000.
What Does a Home Theater Power Manager Do?
Expensive electrical devices like computers and home theater entertainment systems are subject to harm from power surges and what is referred to as “dirty electricity.” Dirty electricity is electricity that flows with a lot of “noise.” Electricity noise is a term that is used to describe electricity that is affected by things like
- Micro and macro power surges
- Electrical interference from other devices connected on the local electrical grid
- Electricity flow interruptions due to damage done to the local power grid
- Electrical line noise
- Other circumstances that can adversely affect the flow of electricity
At the most basic level, a home theater power manager is designed to protect home theater systems (components) from being damaged by the aforementioned electricity flow issues. To be clear, power damage can result in the destruction of the electrical circuitry of any device that gets hit with an electricity flow issue. Repairs to home theater devices can be expensive even if the consumer can avoid having to go with a replacement device.
Specifically, power managers are designed to keep electronic devices safe from dirty electricity, ensuring that only clean energy gets through. They do this with power surge protectors, noise filtration systems, and automatic voltage regulators. The primary benefits of these processes are they add longevity to the life of electronic devices, which becomes money savings in the long run.
Aside from offering said protections, many home theater power managers can improve both the visual and audio quality of the home theater system. This matters a lot on the sound side of the equation because electronic sound sensors are particularly sensitive to interference from dirty electricity.
BTW: Power managers do offer another hidden benefit that most people don’t think about. Let’s say your home theater system has six components that require electricity. Without a power manager, you’ll have cables and electrical plugs running all over the place in search of somewhere to be plugged into for operation. A power manager with four(4) to eight (8) electrical outlets can drastically cut down on your need for places to plug in your devices. That makes the entire environment look more organized while certainly being a lot safer for the family.
Should You Purchase a Home Theater Power Manager?
You now have an understanding of what a home theater power manager is and what it does. The question at hand is, “do you need one, or should you purchase one?”
As we stated above there are opposing opinions about the viability of a home theater power manager. Some factions believe power managers deliver enough benefits to warrant the investment. Other factions believe they don’t offer enough protection to warrant any kind of investment.
Here’s a suggestion. Given the amount of investment you would have to make to purchase a power manager, why not let the quality of your home theater system’s output be your guide? If you sense no visual or audio interference, there is really no need to buy a power manager. Why? It would seem your home theater entertainment system is being run with clean electricity.
Conversely, poor visual and audio quality can adversely affect your home movie-watching experience. After making a significant investment of time and money, that just won’t do. That might be the only reason you need to go with a home theater power manager.
One other thing you might want to consider is the effectiveness of the power grid in your area. If you live in an area where the weather is bad and the power grid is susceptible to outages, having protection against power surges might be a good idea.
In fact, you’ll want this kind of protection for more than your home theater system. You’ll also want protection for other important electronic devices like computers and smart TVs.
Hint: You can plug other devices into your home theater power manager if other outlets are available.
Anyway, here are out top choices.
Our Top Choices
The Panamax MR4300 (Budget Friendly!)
As you built or will be building your home theater system, there was or will be a significant investment of time and money. The amount of time and money you invested or will be investing will be up to you. If aiming low, you might have invested in or might want to consider going with a budget option like the Panamax MR4300. It might scream budget, but it’s still a very good home theater system.
Panamax MR4300 Power Line Conditioner and Surge Protector
- 9 protected and filtered outlets featuring exclusive automatic voltage monitoring (avm), protect or disconnect technology and Panamax level 3 noise filtration.
- Industries best protection - specifically designed and engineered to provide protected and filtered power to home theater systems.
- 9 protected and filtered outlets featuring exclusive automatic voltage monitoring (avm), protect or disconnect technology and Panamax level 3 noise filtration.
- Industries best protection - specifically designed and engineered to provide protected and filtered power to home theater systems.
- Guards against damaging power spikes and current fluctuations that can harm your AV system components and impact performance.
- $5, 000, 000 Limited Lifetime connected equipment protection policy; lifetime product warranty
- With over 30 years of innovation, millions of units Sold, multiple patents granted and numerous industry awards, Panamax is the recognized leader in AV equipment protection.
The Panamax M5400
Conversely, you might have or could be thinking to aim a bit higher with a high-end option like the Panamax M5400. Some tech experts see this system as a Cadillac version of low-end models. And yes, the system offers everything you could possibly want from a home theater system. That includes high-quality audio and visual effects.
PANAMAX M5400-PM Home Theater Power Management System
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In most cases, a power manager might not be necessary. However, it can offer certain benefits that might make paying the price a bit more palatable. At the end of the day, you have to decide if the potential benefits of a home theater power manager warrant the financial investment.
My name is Tracy and I’m a passionate blogger about everything involving the latest tech, programming, gaming, gadgets, hardware or software.