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Monster HTS1600 power center - Unswitched outlets still only work with the power on?

99.75.92.237
Posted on August 14, 2016 at 14:35:43
centaurus3200
Audiophile

Posts: 1671
Joined: September 9, 2003
 hi all,

i bought a Monster HTS1600 at a swap meet yesterday. i mainly just need it to turn SOME of my components on/off (tube amps), BUT leave some others on all the time (like the preamp, cd player, etc).

anyway, i plugged the CD player into the UNSWITCHED outlet and the player still only gets power with the HTS1600 turnd on. makes absolutely no sense, unless i'm either not understanding what monster calls unswitched outlets, the unit is defective OR there's some setting where you can change the outlets to switched/unswitched.

Robby

 

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RE: Monster HTS1600 power center - Unswitched outlets still only work with the power on?, posted on August 14, 2016 at 15:34:16
riley804
 here is the manual. page 16 ?

 

RE: Monster HTS1600 power center - Unswitched outlets still only work with the power on?, posted on August 14, 2016 at 18:36:36
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 The manual is very little help. Basically is asks if it is plugged in correctly and nothing more.

 

RE: Monster HTS1600 power center - Unswitched outlets still only work with the power on?, posted on August 15, 2016 at 06:00:29
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Robby-

be careful here, these Monster conditioners will steal current away from your system.

 

RE: Monster HTS1600 power center - Unswitched outlets still only work with the power on?, posted on August 15, 2016 at 07:38:04
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 I did some research. Seems some of them had a tendency to buzz.

My spidie senses tells me I'll bet that one hummed and some one bypassed something inside it.

Open er up and look around for remodeling.

I've had a few name brand conditioners and they all hum or do shit I didn't care for. In the end I just bought a TripLite to actually PROTECT my gear.

Charles


 

RE: Monster HTS1600 power center - Unswitched outlets still only work with the power on?, posted on August 15, 2016 at 09:37:57
SpotcheckBilly12345
 Quick, get rid of it before it's too late!!!!!!!!

Continued use of Monster gear will turn you into Noel Lee and then you'll be sorry :-Q

 

for the record, it was only a $20 investment :-), posted on August 15, 2016 at 09:51:01
centaurus3200
Audiophile

Posts: 1671
Joined: September 9, 2003
 and i mainly just need it to turn my tube amps on and off, BUT have enough outlets to plug some of my other crap in that i want to LEAVE ON.

Robby

 

RE: for the record, it was only a $20 investment :-), posted on August 15, 2016 at 12:48:13
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
 No one's questioning your purchase. Heck I would have picked it up as well.

Go with a nice TripLite or APC (room permitting) if you really care about protection.

 

RE: for the record, it was only a $20 investment :-), posted on August 15, 2016 at 15:18:31
Uncle Mike
 I have to agree on the Tripp lite surge protector. If you keep an eye out you can find a special at Home Depot for an A/V 10 outlet that has custom outlets for different input/output devices. I have two that are pretty much the same iteration of the same idea many years apart. The last one I got about 3 years ago for less than fifty.

 

RE: Monster HTS1600 power center - Unswitched outlets still only work with the power on?, posted on August 16, 2016 at 12:23:27
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 After looking at the manual to try to figure out the 'switched outlet' issue, I'd also consider swapping out the MOV devices, which DO wear out eventually and lose the ability to protect.
One big zap will do it or years of smaller insults.
Too much is never enough

 

The manual says, posted on August 17, 2016 at 17:14:25
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 The front panel has an LED for both the switched and unswitched outlets. Is the unswitched outlet LED lit? It should light when the units AC Power cord is plugged in. The power switch makes the switched couplet LED light up.

Your move


ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

yeah, i'm thinking the manual is wrong, posted on August 17, 2016 at 17:21:54
centaurus3200
Audiophile

Posts: 1671
Joined: September 9, 2003



these are all the lights i see on the front panel.

i did pop the top on it. i'm no engineer, but it looks like all outlets are switched.

it's fine, i think i can use it for now and use my ancient panamax power strip for my unswitched stuff. then, just keep an eye out for something more suitable.

 

It is certainly possible a prior owner changed them from unswitched to switched., posted on August 18, 2016 at 04:42:07
Smelly_Socks
 I have owned a couple of Monster items, and messed around with them. I would think plenty of owners do.
It would be relatively easy ?? to change them around. Jut run them all through the switch.
The wiring in them usually is pretty easy to follow.. So look at the supposedly non switched outlets and see if maybe their wiring was moved?

Is there a wiring block on or near the circuit board(s) which is not used?

Typically the wires come from the board, end at a small screw block, then go to the duplex on back.

 

but, posted on August 18, 2016 at 07:10:05
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 Then the unswitched would go through that switch which would be bad for a few reasons. The unswitched are made for digital gear anyway though so they would be lower current. The power amp should be plugged into the audio outlets and they are switched. Also KAHL Audio is printed on his unit. Maybe they modded it or something. I would call them. They are a dealer.



ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: The manual says, posted on August 18, 2016 at 15:12:14
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 Are the switched outlets REALLY switched or is their a RELAY which could be stuck or wired permananently ON?
The switch would be a heavy duty unit while for switching a relay, a more modest switch would suffice. Though the relay would still be required to have 15amp or 20amp capacity.
Too much is never enough

 

RE: The manual says, posted on August 18, 2016 at 16:58:10
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 Yes the unswitched are for digital not higher current items but he is also saying no LED on the panel for switched or unswitched too.


ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: The manual says, posted on August 18, 2016 at 17:29:00
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 I guess what I mean to say is that I can think of only 2 reasons for the 'switched' outlets to no longer be switchable.
Modification of Equipment. Moving ONE wire from one side of the switch / relay to the OTHER would do this
OR
Stuck Relay. The low-current switch is still OK, and unmodified, BUT the relay is stuck 'on'. A good zap COULD 'weld' the contacts.
If such a relay is socketed, it takes all of 10 seconds to replace.
Too much is never enough

 

All that is ture. I does not negate the unit may have been modified. Particularly bad is:, posted on August 19, 2016 at 09:54:46
Smelly_Socks
 Running a power amp through the puny switched circuit relay/switch.

I agree it is a bad idea.
The previous owner may have never used the unit for a power amp anyway!

 

plugged in in anyway..., posted on August 19, 2016 at 10:05:44
centaurus3200
Audiophile

Posts: 1671
Joined: September 9, 2003
 well, i hooked it up anyway. there's only 2 components i want on all the time (preamp and cd player), so i plugged those into my old panamax power strip. and two components i need to turn on and off (McIntosh MC60 monoblocks). the rest i don't care if they aren't on all the time.

i'm always surprised when i notice a difference in sound... just by plugging stuff into a different power strip. the stereo has an obvious amount more top end (Yamaha NS-1000M) and just seems ore ballsy.

i'm no engineer, but i think this is because i previously plugged EVERYTHING into my 20+ year old adcom ACE-515 "a/c enhancer". it had one unswitched outlet, which i plugged said panamax power strip into. i'm thinking the adcom's component specs drifted over time and probably lowered the voltage and current? no idea...

see ya,
Robby

 

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