Audio Video News

Tributaries Cable, guys better known for high-end cables and the like, are introducing their first power-protection component, the TX500 Power Manager. The new unit is man enough to handle up to 10 components with 1,800 watts of combined demand. (That's almost enough juice to power a small, third-world nation.) After a surge of inspiration, Tributaries included protection for two telephone connections and for a pair of fully independent RF signal paths engineered specifically for cable, satellite, or antenna connections. Image quality is protected by an RF circuit design that maintains a consistent 75-ohm impedance with bandwidth capability in excess of 1.5GHz. (That kind of bandwidth capability could most likely carry the entire broadcast TV channel lineup of a small, third-world country.)

The TX500 Power Manager uses silicon-avalanche diodes (SAD) (no St. Bernard's search-and-rescue dogs are included with the "avalanche" diodes, however) rather than the more typical metal-oxide varistors found in most surge suppressors. The sparky Orlando, Florida-based company says the metal-oxide variety degrade in suppression capability over time while the SADs retain 100 percent effectiveness over hundreds or even thousands of voltage spikes. Tributaries Cable's suppression circuits are also designed to deliver half-wave protection and react within a single half-cycle while recovering within 2000 nanoseconds. (A nanosecond, even 2000 of them, is a really, really short period of time.)

Power purification - that term sounds almost like "electrical exorcism", doesn't it? - comes from three Twin-T noise filter pairs that filter both "legs" of the AC line. Each AC outlet pair on the TX500 is isolated to prevent spurious AC noise coming from one rowdy connected component to un-purify power flowing to the other components.

The new device is a custom installer's dream with microprocessor-controlled power- and outlet- programming capabilities. Blue front-panel LEDs (displaying on/off status of each outlet pair) and an analog voltmeter (showing AC line voltage) make the TX500 a show-off's delight.

You can pick up one or more of the TX500 Power Managers - they're available now - for $750 (U.S. MSRP) each.