Monster Power HTS 3500 MKII

I reached a point where I was literally running out of room to plug stuff in. I had two generic powerstrips plugged into the outlet behind my component rack and to plug anything more in I was going to need to start daisy chaining powerstrips together; definitely not a good idea. I was also a little concerned that those cheapie power strips wouldn’t be able to handle a powerful surge and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to my home theater stuff so I finally broke down and bought a Monster Power HTS 3500. The Monster HTS 3500 not only provides me with security against power surges (backed up with a $100,000 equipment warranty) but also with power conditioning that cleans up the power being sent to my home theater devices. In theory the cleaner the power the less noise that gets through to your components which can effect picture and sound quality.

On the Monster Power HTS 3500 you will find: ten power outlets (four switched, 6 unswitched), three coax connections, a phone connection, a 12 volt trigger input for remote turn-on of switched outlets and a volt meter which measures incoming voltage and shows AC power fluctuations. It also comes with Monster’s Stage 3 power filters and is rated at 2775 joules.

I must say I was a little skeptical about the power conditioning aspect of this unit. I was buying it more for the convenience of plugging everything into a central unit and for the surge protection it affords. That being said, I was actually a little surprised. It may just be wishful thinking on my part but I do believe that it helped both the audio and video of my system. For audio, most noticeably it improved my bass which seemed richer and deeper after the unit was installed. For image quality, it helped mostly in black levels and shadow detail. I didn’t really notice any difference in my cable signal which is now routed through the Monster HTS 3500.

There is one thing I don’t like about the unit, the lights on it are far to bright. There is an adjustment for the volt meter back light but even on the lowest setting I think it is too bright. The LED lights are very bright as well. Not a real big deal, but I like my theater being as dark as possible so I am going to have to see if I can think up a way to dim them.

Overall I am very happy with the Monster Power HTS 3500. It looks nice sitting on my rack, it gave me much needed outlets, it gives me a sense of security and it helped both my sound and video quality. For the price you can find these for I think they are definitely worth taking a look at.

Want to buy some protection for your home theater? Then check out my Power Center store!

Monster Power HTS 3500 MKII Highlights

Monster Power HTS 3500 MKII Links

Monster Cable’s Monster Power website

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