Jsadurni, it appears that you like to tweak quite a bit and that's good.
However, from where I sit (in Salem, OR), it's difficult for me to see if you have any serious benchmarks in which to compare your tweaks.
I've heard one very authoritative source state that isolation transformers have their own pitfalls and in general are no match for excellent line conditioners. But I'm out of my league as to the whys and wherefors. The fact that you seemed to experience some positive benefits by plugging straight into the wall would seem to substantiate such claims. The other problem is finding line conditioners worth owning that do not induce their own sonic harm. In my experience the most popular brands actually sound worse than plugging straight into the wall.
As for the ics and scs, I'd highly recommend acquiring some Speltz anti-cables and anti-ics. Speltz' anti-cable speaker cables cost $10 per foot, the anti-ics cost $100 for 1m pair and are the second best cables I've yet heard. Moreover they require essentially only a few hours burn-in time and they come with a 30-day satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.
These should give you some good benchmarks for your other cables and they induce little to no time-smear. You probably are aware that some to many ics and scs induce much time smear which in the highs produces a digital-like noise or hash and induce much ear fatigue. Time-smear in the lower bass regions simply make the bass sound wooly, loose, bloated, ill-defined, etc.. Anyway, the Speltz' cables absolutely minimize all of these ill affects and when the anti-cables are elevated at least 1 or 2 inches off the carpet, they will sound even more pristine and with greater speed.
In my experience and almost without exception silver cables/ics without the best line conditioning simply accentuate any fatigue already present. And that's assuming the silver ics/cables offer good sonics to start because there's plenty of poorly designed silver ics just as there are copper.
-IMO
However, from where I sit (in Salem, OR), it's difficult for me to see if you have any serious benchmarks in which to compare your tweaks.
I've heard one very authoritative source state that isolation transformers have their own pitfalls and in general are no match for excellent line conditioners. But I'm out of my league as to the whys and wherefors. The fact that you seemed to experience some positive benefits by plugging straight into the wall would seem to substantiate such claims. The other problem is finding line conditioners worth owning that do not induce their own sonic harm. In my experience the most popular brands actually sound worse than plugging straight into the wall.
As for the ics and scs, I'd highly recommend acquiring some Speltz anti-cables and anti-ics. Speltz' anti-cable speaker cables cost $10 per foot, the anti-ics cost $100 for 1m pair and are the second best cables I've yet heard. Moreover they require essentially only a few hours burn-in time and they come with a 30-day satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.
These should give you some good benchmarks for your other cables and they induce little to no time-smear. You probably are aware that some to many ics and scs induce much time smear which in the highs produces a digital-like noise or hash and induce much ear fatigue. Time-smear in the lower bass regions simply make the bass sound wooly, loose, bloated, ill-defined, etc.. Anyway, the Speltz' cables absolutely minimize all of these ill affects and when the anti-cables are elevated at least 1 or 2 inches off the carpet, they will sound even more pristine and with greater speed.
In my experience and almost without exception silver cables/ics without the best line conditioning simply accentuate any fatigue already present. And that's assuming the silver ics/cables offer good sonics to start because there's plenty of poorly designed silver ics just as there are copper.
-IMO