APC AV J15 Power Conditioner and UPS
Thursday, Aug 9, 2007
As just about any apartment dweller can tell you, shoddy wiring seems to come hand-in-hand with renting: lights flicker when you recharge your cell phone; turning on the clothes dryer is cause for panic across your city’s power grid; houseguests tremble in fear whenever they have to flick a switch. It’s hard enough just to live in conditions such as these. What’s next to impossible is plugging in high-end electronics and expecting them to perform properly. As dangerous as spikes in current can be to receivers, televisions and computers, sags in voltage can be just as damaging over time. For this reason, I desired more than a basic surge protector when it came time to purchase a power solution for my entertainment system.
One of the more affordable ways to bring voltage regulation into the home is through the variety of uninterruptible power supplies aimed at consumers. Though most are still designed for use with computer systems, more and more are being released which specifically address the power needs and requirements of the home theater. A recent contender in this subcategory is American Power Conversion (better known as APC). Though they’ve been developing power solutions for computer systems both large and small for decades, it’s just been a few years since the release of their first AV products. First to market were their ‘S Type’ AV power conditioners—offering high-end construction and a myriad of features including a true sine wave output when under battery operation, these were a hit with audiophiles, but their prices kept them out of the reach of many AV enthusiasts.
More recently, APC released their ‘J-Type’ conditioners. These two models (the J10 and J15) offer almost every feature of the ‘S-Type’ products (with the exception of a pure sine wave output) at less than half the cost. The J15, for instance, lists for a mere $650, and at that price it’s a steal. I mulled over the differences between the ‘J’ and ‘S’ product lines for quite some time before I finally made a decision. What convinced me to go with the J15 was a conversation I had with one of APC’s product engineers. Since I was primarily looking at these products for their undervoltage protection, he convinced me that the pure sine output of the ‘S’ series was pretty irrelevant (I’m not going to run my system off battery anyways—for me, that backup only exists so that I can safely power everything down in due time). With this information in hand, I placed my order, and within three days their was a 75 pound packing crate on my doorstep.
Here’s a view of the J15’s rear panel.
To put things simply, the
J15 is built like a tank. I realize that most of its heft comes from its large
internal battery, but as you look over its surfaces, you’re bound to recognize it
as a quality product. Assembly was relatively simple. After connecting the
battery to its terminal and snapping on the front faceplate, one needs only
plug it in, and the J15 comes to life. Though I first viewed the LCD display
located on the front panel as a gimmick, I’ve come to recognize it as an
invaluable tool in operating the unit. From this front faceplate, one can
adjust voltage trim levels, set the brightness levels for the display and
status LEDs, and acquire up to date information about the quality of power
being output to connected equipment (one can view number of watts being drawn,
the unit’s input and output voltage, the battery’s runtime based on current
load, and a variety of other statistics). There are a total of 12 device
specific outlets which are broken up into four banks for filtering purposes.
Analog devices are separated from digital, and line noise filtration is matched
to a particular device's needs. Other features include three separate coax
pass-throughs, telephone and 10/100 Base T Ethernet pass-throughs, a DC trigger
pass-through, and a USB data port for management from a connected PC.
My only
complaint with the J15: though the LCD can be turned off completely, the blue
LED which surrounds the power button can only be dimmed. Under normal use, the device
is completely silent. The only time it makes itself known in my home is during
an undervoltage situation (when it makes an audible “click” sound) and when it's
operating off battery (a cooling fan engages at this time, and though not
deafening, it's definitely audible enough to interfere with program material).
One can adjust the unit's sensitivity to undervoltages if that “click” becomes
too annoying, but for me, that sound acts as simple reassurance that my
purchase was justified. My unit is forced to regulate an undervoltage about
four to five times hourly, usually in response to the HVAC turning on or someone operating
a larger appliance in the house. The J15’s battery capacity
and maximum load have proven more than adequate for my mid-sized system (I
probably could have gotten by with the smaller J10, which costs about $100
less). As a precaution, I plugged my subwoofer into a separate power center,
though even during a film’s loudest passages, the J15 has never exceeded 50% of
maximum load. Although I haven’t noticed
any great improvement between this unit and other products I’ve used from
companies like Monster Power, the J15’s price-to-performance ratio is utterly
mind-blowing. Nothing else comes close to offering as many features for such a
low price, and most of those products aren’t backed by a legacy as impressive
as APC’s. Considering the rash of blackouts I’ve already experience this
summer, $650 doesn’t seem like that much to spend for total peace of mind.
Till Next Time— The Good Ed 
