Zaikesman: Although I make use of fairly extensive power conditioning in my system, I have done no electrical upgrades or dedicated lines in my house. With respect to placebo, if you are running your entire system off one receptacle, it may (just may) be possible to argue that the placebo effect comes into play with receptacles. As the effects are cumulative, however, I will guarantee that you will hear a substantial improvement in the sound quality of your system by doing the following and incurring a very modest outlay.
I'm assuming you are running your system off between 2 and 5 standard duplexes. Purchase 2-5 stock Hubbell 5262's from an electrical supply house; your cost on this will be between $20 and $50. The 5262 is not a sub-standard outlet; in fact I would argue that, for reasons I won't go into here, it is the best outlet to cryo (along with the 15 amp version of Albert Porter's non-plated 8300) for any audiophile not having equipment with 20 amp male plugs. I'm assuming you have no equipment with 20 amp male plugs.
Replace all of the receptacles at once and you will hear an improvement akin to a major component upgrade. Even without dedicated lines, placebo will not be entering your mind. Your system will sound substantially better. This is with the receptacles fresh out of the box. They will fully break-in over a 4-5 week period and sound even better. You could then go back to your stock receptacles if you wanted. On the other hand, if you like what you then have, you could either 1) pop for cryoed units or 2) cryo the ones you have. I seem to recall you are in the northeastern States and my guess is that you could probably track down relatively easily a company to do the cryo for you at a modest expense (I recently had 3 power cords and two 15 foot runs of Kimber 8TC done for $30). The improvements you will get following the cryo and re-burn-in will approximate further the improvements you got going from the stock house receptacles to the standard Hubbells. They get substantially better with a proper cryo.
I simply offer this up as someone who messed around with about 5 different receptacles over the course of about 18 months. It was a time consuming, pain in the ass kind of experience, but it brought me much better sound. Cryoed Hubbell 5262/5362 or non plated 8200/8300 receptacles are, in my mind, the biggest bang for the buck in audio and absolutely necessary to realize the full potential of your system.
And if I'm wrong, you're out $20-$50 and can replace some worn out receptacles at your house. Good luck.
I'm assuming you are running your system off between 2 and 5 standard duplexes. Purchase 2-5 stock Hubbell 5262's from an electrical supply house; your cost on this will be between $20 and $50. The 5262 is not a sub-standard outlet; in fact I would argue that, for reasons I won't go into here, it is the best outlet to cryo (along with the 15 amp version of Albert Porter's non-plated 8300) for any audiophile not having equipment with 20 amp male plugs. I'm assuming you have no equipment with 20 amp male plugs.
Replace all of the receptacles at once and you will hear an improvement akin to a major component upgrade. Even without dedicated lines, placebo will not be entering your mind. Your system will sound substantially better. This is with the receptacles fresh out of the box. They will fully break-in over a 4-5 week period and sound even better. You could then go back to your stock receptacles if you wanted. On the other hand, if you like what you then have, you could either 1) pop for cryoed units or 2) cryo the ones you have. I seem to recall you are in the northeastern States and my guess is that you could probably track down relatively easily a company to do the cryo for you at a modest expense (I recently had 3 power cords and two 15 foot runs of Kimber 8TC done for $30). The improvements you will get following the cryo and re-burn-in will approximate further the improvements you got going from the stock house receptacles to the standard Hubbells. They get substantially better with a proper cryo.
I simply offer this up as someone who messed around with about 5 different receptacles over the course of about 18 months. It was a time consuming, pain in the ass kind of experience, but it brought me much better sound. Cryoed Hubbell 5262/5362 or non plated 8200/8300 receptacles are, in my mind, the biggest bang for the buck in audio and absolutely necessary to realize the full potential of your system.
And if I'm wrong, you're out $20-$50 and can replace some worn out receptacles at your house. Good luck.