Monster Cable MP AV 800 PowerCenter AV 800 with Surge Protection

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 3 x 16 inches ; 2.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00003CWDH
• Item model number: MP AV 800
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Power Protection
  #52 in	Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Audio & Video Accessories > TV Accessories

• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 1, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Harmful power surges and voltage spikes can travel up AC power and coax connections and damage your components. Lightning, automatic garage doors, power tools, refrigerators and fluorescent lights all cause power surges and voltage spikes that can travel up AC power lines and coax cables to damage the sensitive electronic circuitry of your connected audio video components. Ordinary surge protectors, or the so-called "value brands", often fail to provide the adequate level of protection your AV components need. Plus, standard surge protectors often cause as much as 20 to 30dB of signal loss which can adversely affect the output performance levels of coax connections. A properly designed surge protector can help protect your sensitive audio video components. Proper connection to an advanced surge protector that offers integrated system protection can help minimize the risk of permanent surge damage.

Monster PowerCenters give you the level of protection your system needs. Unlike standard surge protectors, the Monster PowerCenter AV800 with SurgeGuard protection provides multiple layers of defense against harmful surges. Strategically placed multiple Metal Oxide Varasitors (MOVs) respond within one nanosecond (a billionth of a second) to power surges and voltage spikes before they can reach and damage your audio video components. Plus, Monster's ultra-low loss RF circuitry minimizes signal loss to maintain the peak output performance of your coax connections.

Monster PowerCenters make life easier. Monster's FlatProfile plug lets you push your furniture flush against the wall. And, with color-coded outlets and cord labels, you can avoid unplugging your VCR by mistake, causing it to blink "12:00." Finally, a generous eight-foot Monster power cord, which is the optimum length to reach most electrical outlets, is included.

Maximize your system's protection. Now you can get protection from harmful surges, voltage spikes and inconvenience! Monster's PowerCenters offer high performance solutions for today's technology challenges.

Product Description

Monster multiple surge guard circuitry absorbs harmful power surges to give you audio video system protectionharmful power surges and voltage spikes can travel up ac power and coax connections and damage your components. Lightning, automatic garage doors, power tools, refrigerators and fluorescent lights all cause power surges and voltage spikes that can travel up ac power lines and coax cables to damage the sensitive electronic circuitry of your connected audio video components. Ordinary surge protectors, or the so-called "value brands", often fail to provide the adequate level of protection your av components need. Plus, standard surge protectors often cause as much as 20 to 30db of signal loss which can adversely affect the output performance levels of coax connections. Proper connection to an advanced surge protector that offers integrated system protection can help minimize the risk of permanent surge damage. Unlike standard surge protectors, the monster PowerCenter av800 with Surgeguard protection provides multiple layers of defense against harmful surges. Strategically placed multiple metal oxide varasitors respond within one nanosecond (a billionth of a second) to power surges and voltage spikes before they can reach and damage your audio video components. Plus, monster's ultra-low loss RF circuitry minimizes signal loss to maintain the peak output performance of your coax connections. monster PowerCenters make life easier. Monster's flatprofile plug lets you push your furniture flush against the wall. And, with color-coded outlets and cord labels, you can avoid unplugging your VCR by mistake, causing it to blink "12:00". Finally, a generous eight-foot monster power cord, which is the optimum length to reach most electrical outlets, is included. Now you can get protection from harmful surges, voltage spikes and inconvenience! Monster's PowerCenters offer high performance solutions for today's technology challenges.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

135 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok, but there are better ones out there, August 31, 2006

By	HonestReviews (MI) - See all my reviews

I bought two surge protectors at the same time. One was the Monster AV 800, the other was APC Performance SurgeArrest 11 (PF11VT3).

The Monster is fine. Most importantly, it should do a good job of what it is designed for: extension cord + surge protection. It does NOT have a phone line protection, just for coax cables. But if your only criteria is whether it does it's job, it gets an A in that area.

But, I'm more picky, so here are additional items for consideration:

It has a right angle plug allowing it to be plugged easily to a wall behind a desk or other tight spots. The plug is angled towards the right hand side, so it's better if you're going to keep the surge protector on the right hand side of the wall outlet. My equipment was on the left side of the outlet on the wall, so the plug looks a little weird for me; the APC unit has a left angle, so that was a better fit. Obviously this is purely cosmetic.

I also have mixed feelings about the color-coded outlets. They also come with stickers so that you can tag the power cords, so that you know which cord belongs to which unit. That certainly makes things easy when you need to unplug just one of the items. On the other hand, since each plug is titled with a specific equipment name (TV, VCR, DVD Player), if you are plugging something else, you are stuck with using one of the existing tags so you have to sub-optimize. Again, just a cosmetic complaint.

But, overall, the main reason I'm not as passionate about the AV800 is that it is not as good a value as APC Performance SurgeArrest model is. I bought both at the same price (About $30 on Amazon). But:
a) APC comes with phone line protection, Monster doesn't (and in fact, you can connect two equipments to the same phone line on APC, so it also acts as a phone-line splitter)
b) APC has safety shutters on its outlets, Monster doesn't (Although they do make it slightly more difficult to plug things in and out of the APC unit, and some complain about this. I find it as a useful feature)
c) APC has 11 outlets, Monster has 8.
d) On APC, 2 of the outlets are "always on", while the remaining 8 can be swtiched on and off using the switch on the unit. This is useful, if you are going on vacation and want to leave only your VCR or DVR on for recording, but want to cut power off from your amplifier, your TV, and any other equipment. When you initially set it up, just make sure to put your VCR on the always on plugs. Then you can flip the switch to off and leave. Monster AV800 does not have such a feature, so the switch turns all outlets off.
e) Cord Guide - APC also has a cord guide, so you can group all cords together and guide them from one end of the surge protector, making it look a little tidier. It's not perfect, but better than nothing (which is what Monster has).

Finally, if you are obsessed about the joule rating (I'm not), the APC also has a higher joule rating at 2030 joules.

They both get the basic job done, but the APC comes with more bells and whistles, making life just a little easier, but for the same price.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tested it and going to buy it, June 13, 2000

By A Customer

My friend has this product - Monster Cable MP AV800. I am starting my own home theater system. I borrowed the surge protector from him because I needed one with a longer cord.

I need a decent surge protector and other Monster products were good so I'll end up buying this. The price is right. Hmmm, maybe I'll keep my friends and buy him a new one. :)

Other things I liked is the three outlets that allow space for ac adapters. The color coded outlets are convenient if you tend to add and remove plugs when other items are on. I think the coaxial and phone line protection are nice features. I haven't used the free video and phone cable so I don't have any comments regarding that besides that its free.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Monster vs. Belkin: close call, but price and number of outlets shouldn't be the deciders., August 29, 2008

By	Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

[Since the following was written, the price difference between the Monster and Belkin (both approx. 25) has become decisively gaping (20 and 35), making the Belkin the only sane choice.}

Monster is premium quality at a premium price. Musicians will pay more for a Monster patch cord than some folks would pay for an electric piano. But on closer inspection, this power strip is competitively priced. I recently purchased a 12-outlet Belkin strip at only several dollars below this Monster strip. But the Belkin would accommodate only 8 of my plugs because 6 of the receptacles are in a vertical row (with the ground holes on the inside, not the outside as is the case with Monster). Consequently, a right-angle plug took up the space of 3 receptacles, in effect reducing me to the same number outlets as this Monster.

Even so, why not save several bucks and get the Belkin? Two compelling reasons in favor of the Monster (the included HDMI cable isn't one of them): 1. The color coding is a thoughtful timesaver/frustration eliminator (how many times have you found yourself on the floor suddenly at a loss about which device connects to which receptacle?) 2. The well-illuminated surface tells you at a glance whether the unit is connected and receiving power (Belkin units have too few or zero lights, requiring the user to get down on all 4's to determine whether the problem is a loss of power to the strip).

I'm giving it 4 instead of 5 stars because only 3 of the 8 outlets are dedicated to those space-robbing power adapters (wall-warts). Count on the remaining 5 outlets accommodating no more than 2 additional power adapters.