Panamax 5100 Short Review

dkg999

I recently sold my Panamax 4310 surge/noise suppressor to a friend as part of a HT system I put together for her. I was using it as part of my 2 ch. system and did notice that it tended to flatten the sound of my power amps a little bit. I bought a Panamax 5100 that has the high-current outlet bank for amplifiers/subwoofers, as well as more outlets and supposedly better filtering, as well as voltage monitoring and high/low voltage shut-down. I also compared it to the highly regarded Tripp Lite LCR-2400.

Compared to the 4310, the high-current outlet bank makes a significant difference. My two Parasound HCA-1500's have a much more dynamic and clear soundstage. In switching back-and-forth between the two units, the difference could be heard clearly. Compared to the LCR-2400, no real differences to note. In using the 5100 on the same circuit as the window air conditioner, with a flouresent shop light and a fan plugged in also, the Tripp Lite unit produced dead silence when the pre-amp volume was turned up, while the 5100 did product just a tiny bit of noise at the same volume level. Plugging the pre and power amps directly into the same circuit without a surge/noise suppression unit, produced very audible background noise at about half the same volume setting. In the A/C unit cycling on/off test (and this is an old unit), the Panamax unit did have a slight dip in voltage, barely made my digital multimeter jump, while the Tripp Lite doesn't have any variation in voltage register at all.

Please realize this is a very un-scientific test and represents my findings and opinions only. I like the Panamax 5100 much better than the 4310 for a 2 ch. system. The Tripp Lite LCR-2400 is functionally my favorite, although the Panamax 5100 is very nice looking and could be displayed on an audio rack. Pricing is a tough comparison. I paid right at $250 plus shipping for my Tripp Lite LCR-2400 from an authorized dealer. I paid $202 plus shipping for the Panamax 5100 through an internet site that said they were authorized, and at this point I am a little questionable about that claim. Just in case they were not an authorized site, I had it shipped to my Iowa address, because in Iowa the consumer protection office does not put up with manufacturers allowing and feeding the gray market sales to boost volumes without having to back the product. If you bought it and it was new, you have the full warranty from the manufacturer and they have a history of quietly winning these. Seems Yamaha, Denon, and other consumer electronics companies don't want a court case and the publicity on this, nor do they want how the gray market gets goods shipped directly to them investigated. I have seen where other states are also starting to give consumers more protection on this.

heiney9

Thanks for the info. I've been contemplating some sort of power conditioner for a long time, but have heard such mixed results I'm not convinced it would cure more problems than it would create. One of these days I'll just have to take the plunge and find out for myself.

My brother has a Panamax 5300 which seems to do a good job and doesn't seem to "choke" the sound. I'm not sure I want to spend that much however. I've always been partial to the Adcom's simply because they designed those to go with their other audio components. I realize most of the "design" of the Adcom's is probably done by someone else. I've heard that while power conditioners can be beneficial to providing clean noise free power they can reduce soundstage, choke the dynamics and roll off the highs. So I've been very skeptical. I really don't have too many power issues, but one could always lower the noise floor and stop the popping everytime the A/C or refrigerator cycles on, plus I have one of those Halogen lamps with a dimmer on it that can interfere sometimes.

It's good to hear some positive results. I suppose it's like many other things in audio....you get what you pay for. If I do get a power conditioner I've convinced myself it can't just be an entry level model...so the search continues.

H9

dorokusai

Panamax makes good stuff and it's much more reasonably priced than the Monster Cable gear. Good choice, have fun.

Emlyn

Excellent review! I have heard that fluorescent lights or lights on dimmer switches in the same circuit as audio/video gear can be bad. I've always just used a power filter, so didn't know whether the effect was really audible. I am a slave to the Monster with power conditioners though, mainly because they look good and I bought cheap on Ebay.

dkg999

Heiney9 - if I remember right you are in Rockford, and I am right next door in Belvidere. If you want to have a look/listen of the power conditioners I have send me a pm.

gregure

Panamax line conditioners are vastly superior to Monster in many ways. For one, their whole company is exclusively focused on these units, as opposed to Monster's fingers in many pies approach. They are so specialized, they even make conditioners for electrified security fences. How random is that?
One of the things I really like about the Panamax units, is that the "high current amplifier" outlet is labeled such, because they eliminated capacitors to those outlets, to solve the problem of current limitations for amps. They are still protected by the regeneration/surge protection, but are not limited in terms of current draw. Panamax is very innovative in their designs, and I would trust my system with Panamax much more than with Monster.

dkg999

Amen, err I mean +1, to that!