My Feelings About Surge Protectors

This post started out as a comment to a post at Seventh Sister, and after awhile, I decided it was probably long enough to just create my own post. I mean, why give it away somewhere else when I can put it here, right?

I learned long ago the value of those surge protectors and I buy the best I can get for the TV, PCs, and stereo equipment.

Many years ago, not long after txrad and I moved in together, we had a wild electrical storm (this was in Hollywood of all places!)-- a nearby lightning strike knocked out my fancy schmancy amplifier I'd bought in London in 1984.

This looked really cool and high tech in 1984, trust me. And honestly, nothing can replace the feeling of turning up the volume on anything with a knob! A matching radio tuner was also available but I didn't have the bucks back then to add that to my collection. I didn't even have the $1500 for these two pieces, nor the additional $1500 I popped on a pair of Celestion SL-600s. Thank God for credit cards.

I got a quote of about $200 to fix it but since we were just starting out and money was tight (sorta like 2008) I decided to wait. Besides I wanted to check around and be sure whoever did the work knew what they were doing since this was an audiophile system.

Quite a few years passed and I had this thing sitting in a box here in Austin. I had a work colleague in Sacramento who knew someone capable to repairing this, and it was a recommendation I trusted. So I shipped it off, and a few weeks passed and I got it back in the mail.

My friend told me the guy who fixed it was VERY impressed with the sound quality this thing could produce. That was about 2 years ago. Prior to getting it fixed, my pair of Celestion speakers that I purchased with the system in London started getting a buzzing tweeter and had to be retired. The guy who worked on the amp searched for weeks for the parts and finally gave up.

Before I got the Sacramento repair connection I had already started amassing a new hi-fi system, assuming the old one would never be repaired. I got a Creek amplifier and a really high quality turntable for my wall of vinyl records here in the office. No speakers yet. That headphone cord you see attached is my source of sound.

When I get ready to buy speakers, I need to do some research and get a pair that are well-matched to either amplifier. The ones which were recommended to go with the Creek were about $1200 a pair. Needless to say I won't be buying a pair for each amp!

Anyhow, my point was this: if I'd realized the value of surge protectors in 1991 I wouldn't be having the need to write this blog post in 2008.

And pardon the dusty electronics. We haven't finished cleaning yet after the window installation project.