Do power conditioners help with unwanted hum/noise

In some cases, even dedicated circuits or power conditioners might not help. If the house power system is not grounded properly or there's excessive current in the neutral wiring (dimmers, fluorescents, computers, etc), or if strong external RFI/EMI is present (nearby radio towers, radar facilites, etc) then no power conditioner will help short of an isolation transformer. Power conditioners are not a cure-all; it's like saying all a wrecked car needs is a coat of wax.

I agree with the boys . Noise and especially hum are symptoms of a problem with a ground loop, a bad connection , a bad cable , or something along those lines.
A good PLC can enhance your listening pleasure but in my experience its not a cure for a problem existing at the source.

I think that we are all in agreement here. That is, even dedicated lines, line conditioning, etc... can't solve a problem that is component or system based. How about describing the problem that you're having? Someone here might be able to point you in the right direction.

Gs: "it's like saying all a wrecked car needs is a coat of wax"

Isn't that like the old saying about a "dog" of a muscle car i.e. "if it don't go, chrome it" : ) Sean
>

Gs5556 puts his finger on the problem that has just been solved for me by an isolation transformer.

Since home heating season began this year in Montreal (and electricity use went up), I had been getting a hum on my bedroom lullaby system (HK 930, Paradigm Titan) that made it unusable for me, no matter what the volume setting. Adding a CDP made it worse, doubled the hum volume. The darn hum went up and down in volume, like a prop-driven small aircraft buzzing the neighbourhood. (OK, it was hum plus buzz... ).

I found a small (250VA), very cheap isolation transformer on eBay and it has cut the noise down to a viable level, not gone, but slightly more than just perceptible.

My main system is on a dedicated line and I get the same hum there, but at a much lower level. I've put the transport on a Deltec 500VA hospital-grade isolation transformer and the results are so good that I intend to give the entire dedicated line similar medicine.

You may want to try this before you spend much $$$.
I had a sporadic hum that I thought was in the AC line. I ran a new AC outlet back to the circuit breaker but it didn't cure it. I discovered the cause by accident when I disconnected the cable wire from the back of my TV and from the wall to rearrange some wires. The hum disappeared completely.
It comes back every few months but I just disconnect the cable line and reattach. It must build up a charge over time. Worth a try.