I am most impressed by the many thoughtful reply's to my thread regarding power conditioning. Since, I have learned quite a bit from the informative leads that other members provided. I ended up with a solid protection unit that the local electrical labour union recommended, so I'm feeling like I have as adequate a barrier one could put in place, plus a lightening stake for good measure.
Inside the house is something altogether different; I have had a trying period of fooling about with the power conditioners. I started with everything I could borrow from the local shops, and from a few of my mates in our listening group. We performed some pretty exhausting comparisons between the Richard Grey substation, and a bigger model, the RGPC 400 MK II. We went so far as buying a Belkin piece we found online so cheap that we bought it just so we could test it, plus we tried several (different) APC units. After all of that, we tried a new Furutec and finally a PS Audio power plant (which seemed to be overheating). We found that they all sounded different, but not necessarily better. I'm not going to name the stinker of the lot, but suffice to say, money won't buy you everything! Then, right at the end of the second week, my neighbour (an audiophile of the first order) discovered what we had bee up to from the local HI FI shop owner. The other night he dropped over for a chat. I filled him in on our findings and after, he went home directly and brought back his MIT Z Center (from 1994) and said I might want to "give it a go". When its right, its right. Too bad they don't make this product anymore! I just found one in Germany for 750 euros, (about $1500.00 NZD) and I'm having it shipped to the MIT factory for a check up and a possible conversion. I got on to the MIT site and using the distributor locator, I contacted MIT dealers in countries with 230V. During my search, I also found some at the MIT Distibutor in Italy, but his were new and a bit more money. If anyone else is considering a power conditioner, buy the MIT Z-Center. Thanks again for the thoughtful direction! I now have "bang on" protection, and (soon) a fantastic sounding system!
