If your home theatre system is your source of refuge from the barbs and bruises of everyday life, the idea of protecting it from damage caused by a less-than-perfect electrical supply may prove well-founded.
Installing a home theatre power manager efficiently protects your delicate and expensive home theatre equipment from fluctuating power supplies, lightning strikes, surges and power outages.
Protection is only one of the positive features of installing a power manager. They eliminate the annoying audio and video interference that “dirty electricity” can cause.
Let’s examine power managers and how they can protect your expensive home theatre system.
What is a Power Manager for a Home Theatre?
A power manager is an electronic device that protects your delicate audio and video equipment from electrical supply fluctuations. Potential harmful electrical malfunctions include:
- Spikes in electrical supply
- Surges
- Over or under-voltage supply
- Lightning strikes
- Electromagnetic interference
Power managers protect your equipment by disconnecting it immediately when an unsafe electrical supply is detected. The power supply is only restored once the supply returns to acceptable parameters. This feature enhances the longevity of your equipment and reduces the risk of expensive repairs and replacements.
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The power manager’s design allows for neat and efficient cabling and reduces cable clutter. It uses a single power source to supply power to the individual components.
As well, their noise filtration capabilities reduce electrical noise, enhancing the audio and video quality of the home theatre.
Do I Need a Home Theatre Power Manager or a Power Bar?
Power managers come in a range of capabilities. The most basic version is the power bar or power strip, which provides a number of power sockets, all supplied by a single power source.
The power strip offers limited surge protection for home theatre equipment. This ability will deteriorate over time, so it is important to replace these units, especially if they have suffered severe power surges.
One of its primary functions is to protect the home theatre from surges caused by lightning strikes or changes in load conditions resulting from switching large appliances on or off. It does this by diverting the electrical supply if the voltage surpasses the clamping voltage. (Read this for a more detailed explanation of how surge protectors work.)
Power managers, sometimes called power conditioners, regulate the electrical supply and deliver clean electricity to provide a more extensive and sophisticated protection, including surge protection. Noise filtration and the ability to reduce radio frequency interference and electromagnet interference are other features found in more sophisticated power managers.
Radio frequency interference is caused by wavelength interference from outside the device, while electromagnetic interference is a high-frequency emission that has its source inside the device. (Learn more about EMIs and RFIs.)
The power manager offers a more comprehensive range of protective functions, making its features far more reliable and extensive. This ensures the home theatre enjoys greater protection when using a power manager than the power bar. Power managers are similar in appearance to a DVD player. They have several power sockets located at the back of the unit.
The power management device’s ability to eliminate electrical noise is a big aspect of your home theatre system’s audio and visual quality. The noise is normally audible as a hum, amplified by the speakers. It is important to check that the power management device’s filtering system does not exaggerate the removal of noise, which may reduce the sound quality. So, comparing the sound quality before and after connecting the power management device is always a good idea.
Programmable home theatre power managers allow remote control of the home theatre. Smartphones can often be employed to fulfill this function using an app and voice commands can make the whole process effortless, further extending the convenience of your smart TV setup.
Be careful if you are using a remote device to control a lamp projector. These units require power to run the fan to cool the unit down once it has been switched off, and switching off the unit remotely may prevent the fan from doing its job.
Are Home Theatre Power Managers Worth the Money?
Are power managers worth the money, and do you need one? It depends on a few factors:
- The quality of the local electrical supply will be a major determinant of whether your home theatre requires protection. Along with the supply quality, natural climatic conditions also influence whether you should invest in a power manager. It’s a similar question to whether insurance is a viable option. Sadly, it only takes one lightning strike to answer the question.
- The cost of the home theatre itself is a deciding factor. Obviously, the higher the cost of the system, the more protection it deserves.
- Most modern home theatres have internal components that regulate the electrical supply. However, these have a limited lifespan, and the addition of a power manager will extend the life of the home theatre components.
- A power manager can improve the quality of the sound and video of the home theatre. How important this is to you will help you make your decision.
So, how much money should you spend on the power manager? The answer lies somewhere in the relationship between what the cost of replacing is going to affect your budget and the corresponding cost of the power manager. The more expensive the home theatre, the more money should be allocated to adequately protecting the system.
Best Home Theatre Power Managers
Furman AC 210 E Compact Power Conditioner
The Furman label is among the most trusted and well-known names in the power conditioner market. The features that make this model attractive are:
- The series multi-stage protection circuit
- Zero ground contamination
- Compact design
- Liner filter technology
- Extreme voltage shutdown
Some drawbacks that customers have noted:
- There was no noticeable reduction in noise levels
- Failed to reduce the hum on equipment
PYLE PCO-800
This eight-outlet home theatre power management has a front panel switch for easy control. Among its most appreciated features are:
- The generous number of outlets
- Ease of control with a front panel switch
- Internal circuit breaker for enhanced protection
- Sleek and lightweight design
- Sophisticated surge and spike protection
Some drawbacks that customers have noted:
- Not quite as silent as envisaged
- Rack mounting could be problematic
Panamax MR 4000
This is also an eight-outlet system, including one front-mounted outlet. It has gained popularity due to the following features:
- Attractive price for the level of protection provided
- One-year warranty
- Easy one-button operation
- Includes a rack mounting kit
- Ample number of accessible outlets
Some drawbacks that customers have noted:
- Could be a little bulky for some installation areas
- No USB ports
- The outlet spacing is a little tight
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