Perhaps this is a thread CJ wouldn't want bumped, but I just want the record to reflect that for me CJ and Ed have provided the products and services commensurate of their prices. I'm a fan. If a surge made it past my power conditioner and did permanent damage to my equipment I wouldn't hold it against the manufacturer.
The one and only time my ET3 did the xmas tree thing that Bogeybuster49 described was before I solved my static issue. When I tried discharging against the surface of the DAC my ET3 lit up and stopped responding. Pulling the power plug reset the ET3.
My home has admittedly BAD wiring (open grounds in every outlet, exposed romex runs that would never pass inspection, etc). I also have wall2wall carpeting in my audio loft. The static shock issues I had here were comical. Every combination of people, cats, and metal were zapping each other. And often you could zap 2 or 3 times in succession. I even got small zaps from glass and wood. I didn't have anything to discharge against before touching my stereo so I would opt to touch something that was turned off, yet it made no difference. Every time I zapped my stereo my DAC would momentarily drop it's S/PDIF connection. Basically anything I touched (on or off) that ultimately plugged into [what I'd later determine to be] this one offending outlet would interrupt my music. I tried wiring a metal table to the baseboard heater for discharging, and even though I'd get a zap out of it, my stereo would zap me all the same. I then discovered if I discharged against the amp (which I had on a dedicated air conditioner line) this zap wouldn't reach my DAC, which was good. On a hunch I decided to move my electronics (and the Tripplite power conditioner they plug into) to a different outlet on the other side of the floor using an extension cord (though leaving the amp on the AC line). That eliminated my static issue all together.
The one and only time my ET3 did the xmas tree thing that Bogeybuster49 described was before I solved my static issue. When I tried discharging against the surface of the DAC my ET3 lit up and stopped responding. Pulling the power plug reset the ET3.
My home has admittedly BAD wiring (open grounds in every outlet, exposed romex runs that would never pass inspection, etc). I also have wall2wall carpeting in my audio loft. The static shock issues I had here were comical. Every combination of people, cats, and metal were zapping each other. And often you could zap 2 or 3 times in succession. I even got small zaps from glass and wood. I didn't have anything to discharge against before touching my stereo so I would opt to touch something that was turned off, yet it made no difference. Every time I zapped my stereo my DAC would momentarily drop it's S/PDIF connection. Basically anything I touched (on or off) that ultimately plugged into [what I'd later determine to be] this one offending outlet would interrupt my music. I tried wiring a metal table to the baseboard heater for discharging, and even though I'd get a zap out of it, my stereo would zap me all the same. I then discovered if I discharged against the amp (which I had on a dedicated air conditioner line) this zap wouldn't reach my DAC, which was good. On a hunch I decided to move my electronics (and the Tripplite power conditioner they plug into) to a different outlet on the other side of the floor using an extension cord (though leaving the amp on the AC line). That eliminated my static issue all together.