Dynamic Duo

More people seem to be worrying—and rightly so—about the generic "electricity" that is flowing through the AC plugs of their HDTVs, amplifiers, and so on. To protect your hardware, add a new level of control, and quite possibly improve the home entertainment experience, consider dropping in Belkin's top-of-the-line PureAV Home Theater Power Console PF60 ($750). Incoming electrical "noise" is removed, and the PureFilter Circuitry supplies a total of six isolated "digital," video, audio, and high-current (a pair of these specifically for juice-guzzling power amps) filters which help to prevent any noise created by one component from tainting the entire system. A dimmable LCD control panel on the face of the unit monitors voltage and current from the individual outlet banks which are also programmable, so we can set switching and delay for each as desired. A baker's dozen of outlets is proffered, when you count that auxiliary one up front, hiding behind a small removable panel. Trust me, it's the new best friend of any home theater product tester who is frequently visited by temporary additions to his audio/video stack! Four pairs of gold-plated in/out connections safeguard coaxial cable lines, too. Surge protection is rated at 7,114 joules, coupled with 369,000-amp maximum spike amperage and a lifetime warranty. And Belkin's power products are neither great lumbering behemoths nor are they styled like some Con Edison industrial reject: They are sleek and remarkably sexy for HT power gear, slim enough that I could fit in a single shelf of my rack the PF60 console and the PureAV Home Theater Battery Backup with AVR Technology ($600).

The combination of the PF60 with an uninterruptible power supply such as the PureAV Battery Backup opens up a whole new world of protection: I've had far too many problems with blackouts, brownouts, and other interruptions forcing me to miss TV recording windows as my gear needed to be reset after the power loss—unbeknownst to me—while my carefully configured custom settings simply vanished into the ether. The 1,200 volt-amp/640-watt battery inside the PureAV Battery Backup continually recharges and can feed our hardware for up to 40 minutes during every contingency from minor instabilities to a complete power failure, an especially attractive benefit as we head into peak air conditioning season.

Keep in mind too that even minor voltage variations can lead to premature wear on consumer electronics, or even damage to temperamental circuitry and connected hard drives, inside TiVos for example. Typical battery backups engage only during a power outage, but the PureAV uses its Automatic Voltage Regulation technology to maintain constant voltage without tapping into the battery, continuously correcting fluctuations to send consistent volts to our gear. And in the event of a full power outage, the battery backup automatically kicks in, delivering reserve power through six of the eight surge-protected (5,500 joules) outlets. Rack-mounting hardware is included with the hefty 31-pound unit, along with a three-year warranty.

www.belkin.com

X