Are high end surge protectors necessary?

Here’s the question.

I just ponied up for a pimped out Plasma TV. A big ticket item if there ever was one. Of course the scheisters at the store were working to upsell me on all kinds of cables and add-ons. No surprise there. Now, I know that getting the quality component video, DVI and optical cables are a worthwhile investment. (Though its not really clear that the ubiquitous Monster brand is worth the premium cost or not). However, they’ve got a wide vaiety of reall expensive surge protectors with all kinds of claims that seem dubious and/or inconsequential. Are they necessary?

I’ve never lost a piece of equipment to a surge. I’d be insured for a surge on this item anyways. I’ve always assumed that these types of product managed their voltage on their own and didn’t need a additional voltage egulator. Plus, does any of this supposed “noise reduction/filtering” that they claim do any good?

Help is appreciated.

      • The claim of “Noise reduction/filtering” is about 95% bull, ignore it. The only devices that do true line filtering are computer UPS’s, as far as I have heard.
  • I’d just buy the cheapie surge protector, the $18 Belkin or whatever. And it’s mostly to add another line of defense against the problem ever occurring, really. A direct hit may sail right through a surge protector anyway, but a SP will protect the TV from a partial/nearby lightning strike.
    ~

It’s clear to me that it is not. Good quality cables, yes. Monster Cables, big waste of money.

Under normal conditions, line filtering and whatnot is generally unnecessary with high-end electronics, which usually use good switching power supplies that feed a nice, clean regulated voltage to the equipment. However, having a good quality surge suppressor, while not strictly necessary, can save you a ton of inconvenience at the very least - even if you’re insured, you have to do without the damaged equipment until it can be repaired or replaced. No power supply will protect against an incoming 6000 V line surge, at least not for long. The MOVs (metal oxide varistors) which do the “dirty work” of shunting surge voltages around the delicate equipment will eventually fail once they’ve absorbed their rated surge energy. Having a dedicated, external surge suppressor is the best way to guarantee continued protection, IMO. These units have an indicator light to tell you when their MOVs have failed, and are easily replaceable. I wouldn’t spend more than $40 or $50 on one, though. Many of these also offer connected equipment guarantees, which pay to replace any equipment damaged while plugged in to a properly-working supressor.

Thanks for the responses, it’s appreciated. Especially Q.E.D. These were the answers I was expecting, and I’m primed with a follow up question.

Could you recommend a optimal alternative to he Monster cables. (I’d like to save some money, but not at a cost of performance) And can you recommend a surge protector brand and the necessary features? I’m pretty sure the coaxial in/out is one detail I probably want, and is the MOV indicator a common feature? I’ve got about a hundred cheapie surge protectors that were purchaces over the years of computer upgrades and I don’t recall any having such a light.

Here’s ap lace for cheap AV cables.

The site loks a little sketchy, but I seem to remember other people recommending them.

DougC mentioned Belkin, and I’ve found their products to be generally excellent. They manufacture both surge suppressors with coaxial cable and phone line protection, as well as good-quality, mid-priced interconnect cables. You can check out their product line here.

Oh, and on the protection indicator light thing: I’ve never seen a surge suppressor that didn’t have one. If you’ve got one, then it’s not really a surge suppressor, so much as an outlet power strip. It’s usually an LED, labeled with “Protected When Lit”, or simply “Protected”. Once the light goes out, the MOVs are dead and the suppressor needs to be replaced.

All these old prower strips, some are protectors, some are not, do have a LED light on them. Its difficult to tell if its a “protected” light or a “on” light. I’d always assumed it was just a on light, and considering some are bordering on 10 years of constant use, I’m skeptical that the light is detecting if it’s worn, and the effiacy might be compromised.

Not saying I’m planning on recycling them for this use, I’m sure they aren’t rated for many volts, just what I’m looking at when I’ve bought these before.

Thanks for the link. Looked at the stuff and they seem to be more of a custom shop. Probably as good as any, but I think I’d just be more comfortable with something a little more “out-of-the-box”.

I figure theres a company out there selling the same or better retail product than Monster without all the markup for branding.