Suggestions wanted from AV owners

[Gauravdp]

I don't know if this has already been discussed, but what I'm about to start now is a decidedly unsexy but IMPORTANT (at least to me) topic.

Many of you dudes would have spent tens of thousands or lakhs of hard-earned Rupees (or other currencies) in AV equipment.

The question is, how do you protect / insure this equipment in case of damage / fire / theft? Many of these equipment may be hard or impossible to replace. Financially, it may not be immediately possible for at least some among us to be immediately able to replace stolen / damaged equipment, if, heaven forbid such an eventuality occurs.

The questions are:
(1) Have you bought extended warranties for your equipment ? If so what has your experience been, and what are the things to look for?

(2)Have you insured your equipment? If so, what policy(ies) did you choose and why? What do they cover -- Do these cover malfunctions, damage due to electrical surge, voltage fluctuations etc , fire, burglary etc ? Are there specific insurance policies for electronic / AV equipment ? Again, as above, what has your experience been and what would you advise people to look for in such policies?

I think this discussion would be essential for all AV owners. Whoever has some knowledge / experience in these matters please respond.

 

[Gauravdp]

One more point additional to the above is, have you done anything to prevent outage / damage due to electrical disturbances? Like Voltage stabilisers, UPS, Inverters, Surge protectors etc etc? If so, what would you recommend and why?

 

[Gauravdp]

Hey guys .... nobody to respond? I know it's not a sexy topic, but isn't this important?

 

[robovind]

I would like to update myself on the second post. Awaiting.....

 

[baijuxavior]

1. I intend to buy additional warranty for my TV paying 3K. Always go for extended warranty if available. We can't say when the device will fail. I think extended warranty is available for TV only. There are forum members who got 3D TV as replacement for faulty non 3D plasma TVs since the older model was not available.

2. No insurance at present.

3. Used servo stab initially. Now online ups.

 

[elangoas]

Even i intend to purchase 2 years extended warranty from Sony by the time the standard warranty comes to an end by Dec '13 (Standard warranty - 1 year)

For the receiver, i checked once with the insurance company... I think they are not clear on the policies...

When i started asking him about more details, he started doubting if my amplifier was faulty hyeah:

 

[vkirti]

I always buy electronics on extended warranty if possible. In fact for this reason only I bought my TV from Croma even though there was a big difference in price outside. The TV went kaput while in extended warranty and the motherboard (or whatever the main board is called) and the panel were both replaced. Have had similar issues with a laptop and a washing machine.

 

[jagdish_p]

One more point additional to the above is, have you done anything to prevent outage / damage due to electrical disturbances? Like Voltage stabilisers, UPS, Inverters, Surge protectors etc etc? If so, what would you recommend and why?

Yes to a Voltage Stablizer - V Guard Digital 2000 . I also have a small UPS connected to the player. This ensures that I dont have to start playing all over when the Genset kicks in.

 

[Shivam]

I use a device (Zephyr from Audire) that shuts down the power supply in case of high or low voltages and provides protection from spikes.
A note about Zephyr - make sure before buying that the power rating is much higher than what you feel is needed for your system's load. This will give breathing space to all your equipment and especially amp.

For equipment repairs, I have good relationships with people from whom I usually purchase equipment and they have always provided me good service when needed. Good relations is the important thing here.

I had tried insuring the equipment along with a house (theft) insurance some years back but later I discontinued both. Fire can be prevented with simple precautions. Theft is not a problem especially with such heavy items.

Another note about a friend of mine - He has a sine wave inverter and runs the systems totally on it even if there the mains supply is present and lets the inverter charge the batteries when not in use. His system therefore never comes in contact with the mains supply.