Does power conditioning really matter?

It depends on the system, your power and the conditioner. I have a ps audio power plant, monster and shunyata hydra 8 now. They all do something to my sound the Hydra is the best, most transparent. I am running tube amps though solid state stuff especally cheaper stuff I can't see it effecting. They do very little for video for me as well, however I did have 2 panamaxs sacrofise them selfs during power surges saving my equipnment so if nothing else panamax is pretty cheap get one just to protect your equipnment. At the level he sound he is at worry about protection more than any thing else you can get performance increases other places.

If you have crappy power and cheap power supplies in your components (most TVs, low-end receivers, DVD/BR players, etc would probably qualify), then you may see/hear a difference with power conditioning.

The thing is, power conditioning is basically what each component's power supply is supposed to be doing. Excessive noise in the power line could be more than what a particular power supply can handle, in which case power conditioning of some sort MAY make a noticeable difference.

However, to make a blanket statement that EVERYONE should go buy the most expensive conditioner and surge protector they can afford is a bit of a disservice.

a decent quality power cable on the plasma makes a big difference imo.

Mykesinger, I have had fairly expensive power cords and yes they do make a nice improvement on the t.v. This being said I have found some power cords that are made by Vintage Audio Labs to be what a lot of us our looking for. Bang for the buck is an understatement. I found these cables on ebay and they are not built or do they sound like something you would find there.

Mlc75, you say " It is the power transformers job to condition the power" YES! so this is why I use a couple of Kleen Line transformers. These transformers have power regulation and surge protection. They do not kill transient speed on amps either. High frequencies are very clean and detailed, not tizzy or metalic. With the panamax conditioners I would get compression and if an amp was plugged into it I would lose weight and texture. This is another form of power conditioning and it does matter.

Jp1208 that sounds amazing like an advertisement.