30 Years, 5 Cities, Many Storms - Not One Failure

Andredoan

Ha - well spotted! This is actually a very recent development mainly for the new PC system.

I thought I would give those a try but mainly because they were
a) < $200 and b) convenient with cool lights

But I have never used them for my Levinson amp or ARC preamp, which remain plugged naked and direct into the wall.

Herman

No, I don't work in the insurance industry, but I work in the investment industry and have at least a bit of statistical analysis in my background.

Yes, you cite several dim witted examples which I will try not to take personally as an insult to my thinking.

From an investment perspective we like to describe risk as positively or negatively convex, where I might agree that not having a surge suppressor is a negatively convex risk, provided one is not spending the mega bucks on surge suppressors from say, Transparent, which is one of the brands that inspired this thread.

So easy enough to understand that just because it hasn't happened to me, doesn't mean it wont happen to me or that I should drive around with no seatbelt.

But to be honest, until this thread I had never heard of anyone losing a component, while more and more manufacturers seem to be jumping on the bandwagon with high margin products.

So what I was driving at really, was the amount of snake oil and fear mongering that goes into the marketing of these devices.

I do wear a seatbelt and I dont smoke. But I drive a motorcycle(with helmet and protective gear while sober always), drink red wine and I particularly love cheese and red meat.

Thanks for the advice as I try to find a similarly appropriate place on the risk/return spectrum with surge suppressors.

Thank you

My brother lives in the country and he can expect 2-3 lightening hits ,to his house, a year.
This pattern has been repeated over 14 years.

He has fried,besides eggs,two CDP,amp,pre ,too many clocks to count ,cordless phones and several modems.

So ,yes, you are very luck and playing Russian Roulette.
I wish you continued good luck.

Thefalls1117..."Hits to his house". Really? Not just a surge/spike on the line? If so insurance might cover damage. It did when a tree about 30 feet from my house was hit. Although no audio equipment was damaged, TV sets, VCR, control module on refrigerator, microwave and some other things were zaped. Insurance bought me new replacements.

Cwlondon,

I too have lost equipment to lightning strikes, but this is all anecdotal evidence, as is your experience in not losing any equipment. You said:

I am hoping someone will provide me with sufficient justification to add more expensive gear to my audio collection.

What would be sufficient justification? I'm not sure any of us are providing the information you're really looking for. If you give us a better idea, maybe we can be of more help.

David

In personal discussions with two Companies who's gear I own - Krell and Musical Fidelity - they both said, without allowing me to quote them, over the phone, to not use any type of conditioner or suppression device, unless you have massive interference problems(not storms, etc, but RFI Interference). We are fortunate to live in the countryside outside of Pittsburgh, and have our own transformer for power for our log home. Many, many storms, etc, never a problem, leave equipment on 24/7. I do, however, have photos and a DVD of all my equipment in the fireproof box, and talked with my insurance company - that's why you pay all those homeowner premiums that never get utilized - hopefully you never need them. I encourage all to review their policies, however, periodically, to ensure(no pun intended) that you receive purchase/replacement value, not current market value - under most circumstances.

Some areas do need them, I understand, and to each his own, but from my experience, for my system, an unnecessary expense. If I had a completely irreplaceable piece of gear, akin to a '58 Les Paul, I might change my tune(again, no pun intended), but that is rare in the audophile world. An insurance settlement would be an upgrade, as this stuff depreciates faster than a new Pontiac. Good luck in your quest.