Darryl Wilkinson

Surge protection is great and – take it from someone whose equipment recently suffered from the effects of a wayward bolt of lightning – really, really, really important. Unfortunately, most of the serious surge suppression components on the market have the bad habit of taking up valuable rack space. SurgeX’s new XC series separates the protection from the plug, giving you the ability to mount a strip of 18 or 24 outlets vertically along the back of your AV rack (or elsewhere) whilst the serious surge-suppressing circuitry (with SurgeX patented Advanced Series Mode protection technology, a remote interface, an Over/Under Voltage Protection LED, a Power On/Off LED, and a highly interactive Self-Test LED) sits separately. SurgeX says the company’s XC series are built to withstand a 6,000V, 3,000AMP AC power surge at least 1,000 times without failing. (They’re probably telling the truth, although since I had to leave after the 965th surge, I can’t say I saw it with my own eyes…) They’re also backed by an 11-year warranty and are built in the USA.

Surge protection and power conditioning often seem like an industry filled with smoke and mirrors – and full of dubious, hard-to-verify claims of protection. SurgeX brought some heavy duty surge-generating equipment to demonstrate how other types of surge protection devices react under real-world electrically stressful situations. The brand-obscured surge suppressor being used here would have left some home theater owner heading to the repair shop had a real component been hooked up to the outlet when a bad surge came down the line. SurgeX claims their devices are designed to resist surges at much higher levels than the competition can handle without self-destructing – and they can do it repeatedly (like well over 30,000 times).

Ace Bayou Corp. is adding two new chairs to the company's X sound furniture line. The new RelaX-I and Xsoothe are brown and leather, full recliners with built-in sound systems that connect to just about anything with an audio output (MP3 players, portable DVD players, handheld and console game machines, and home theater systems). The two new recliners will also include the option of built-in massage.

Switchmate is dramatically expanding the company’s line of incredibly simple smart devices for home automation and security developed for do-it-yourselfers who want to convert existing dumb homes or dumber apartments into smart homes or smarter apartments. The original Switchmate is a battery-operated motorized cover that is held in place over an existing in-wall rocker or toggle switch by magnets. When the Switchmate receives the appropriate command, the mechanism inside does the exact same thing you would do with the fingers on your hand: it quickly flips the toggle or rocker switch from off to on (and vice versa). Switchmate says the smart switch conversion can be done in as quickly as one second, although my experience is that it takes more like two or three seconds for the physical installation.

The new Switchmate smart switch will include...