Home Theater Power Conditioner Buyers Guide

This page provides power conditioning product recommendations for home theater enthusiasts. We've looked at the best products for two of the most common setups.

Home theater system on a single electrical line
Home theater system on multiple dedicated electrical lines

If you situation isn't covered by these buyer's guides or you wish to discuss further please contact us.

Home theater system on single electrical line

This situation is the most common for people who haven't installed dedicated electrical lines yet (i.e. most of us...). It also applies for those who've installed a single dedicated line.

Up to 20A current draw requirement
With flat panel or projector
Single dedicated or non-dedicated electrical line
With or without equipment rack

Our approach is to choose a main power conditioner and then supplement this with products for the video side. Main power conditioner recommendations:

Type	Product	Power Quality Issues Solved
Type	Product	Spikes & Surges	Noise	Outages & Blackouts	Sags & Brownouts	Waveform Distortion	Swells & Overvoltage	DC on the Powerline
Good	SurgeX XR115
Good	Surge XR315
Best	Torus RM15 / CS15
Best	Torus RM15 / CS15 AVR

Additional video power product recommendations:

Type	Product	Power Quality Issues Solved
Type	Product	Spikes & Surges	Noise	Outages & Blackouts	Sags & Brownouts	Waveform Distortion	Swells & Overvoltage	DC on the Powerline
Best (TV)	TV Bridge^a				*		*	*
Best (Projector)	TV Bridge^a + SurgeX XU115

^aTV Bridges are devices that plug into your main power conditioner and feed the power through the wall to your video display. * depends on main power conditioner selected

Rack mounting notes:

SurgeX products come with optional rackmount ears

20A notes:

For 20A use SurgeX professional series products and Torus RM20

Other recommended power upgrades:

Dedicated electrical line
Whole house surge protection

Home theater system with projector and powered subwoofers on multiple electrical circuits

This guide covers home theater systems for those who have or are thinking of using multiple dedicated lines.

With projector and powered subwoofers
Multiple 20A electrical circuits
With equipment rack
Control system manages power sequencing

We recommend protecting equipment and increasing performance by using a 'whole room' power conditioner supplying multiple dedicated lines. Additional 'point of use' devices used close to equipment may provide further benefits. The projector should be on a UPS fed by the whole room conditioner.

Power conditioner recommendations:

Type	Product	Power Quality Issues Solved
Type	Product	Spikes & Surges	Noise	Outages & Blackouts	Sags & Brownouts	Waveform Distortion	Swells & Overvoltage	DC on the Powerline
Good	SurgeX XN120^a
Best	Torus WM60BAL^b
Best	Torus WM60BAL AVR^b
Best (Projector)	SurgeX XU115-DC

Notes: ^a provides 4 x 20A lines. ^b provides 3 x 20A lines. Requires two phase 240V input; output is 120V.