Power Conditioners


Gee, I'm starting to feel like a poster of posts lately, but I am finding a lot interesting, sometimes controversial, comments from the "YouTubers" these days, much more so than in the past.

There are a multitude of threads on this subject here on AG of the what's, why's, how's and when's of PC's but not many on the thoughts of having none.

I wondered what your hands-on experiences were with power conditioners and if they added something to your musical enjoyment or as in this fellows case, taken away from it?

  https://youtu.be/XjzlFkcZP1g
high-amp
tvad

"My goodness, there are dozens of threads on this topic. Do a thread search and dig in"

Yes, but they all get different response, there are no two alike. I was looking more for comments on the video, nothing really specific.

If all we did was dig in, there would be no more forums, because just about everything audio has been discussed here?

I'm in between remodel projects and have way to much time on my hands! New project starting next week so I won't have much time for the computer any more...Yeah! 

First project? Dedicated 20 amp line for that (one day) audio system.

Happy Holidays to all of you Audigoners' and your families & all the best in 2021 (gotta be better than 2020 was) 
high-amp, I do not use any power conditioners and do not feel the need to spend money on a questionable improvement. My system is dead quiet even when turned up to ridiculous volumes. I do have an unusual situation as my house has it's very own power transformer and I do have a whole house surge protector. 
Although there may be conditioners that are effective my sense is there is a lot of scamming going on in this area as there is in cables. It is just the way humans are.
Expectation bias leads a lot of people to think they hear an improvement when in reality there is no difference. The question is, is a perceived improvement as valuable as a real one. My own attitude is absolutely not. 
I tend to ignore subjective evaluations and look for objective evidence such a lower signal to noise ratio. Obviously object evidence does not tell the whole story especially with amps and speakers. These evaluations you have to make on your own.
Okay high-amp you asked so I will tell you how it is. There is no such thing as "power conditioners". At least not in the way you mean it. A power conditioner is not some generic fungible commodity like corn or crude oil. Although come to think of it even crude oil is not all the same, with "sweet crude" commanding the higher prices.   

Got it? You can't make sweeping broad statements without being clear to set some ground rules or conditions. Questions about "power conditioners" without that are meaningless to the point no one even knows what it means. Some are mere transformers. Some include caps, and the varieties and combinations go on and on and on.

Some are a complete waste of time and money. Some are transformative to the point you will be shaking your head and start blathering about how you have discovered the most important component of all: the power conditioner!

This will last until you hear a really awesome speaker cable, at which point move over power conditioner. Spoiler alert: its like that with everything. Sorry. But you can forget about "power conditioners". All you can do is look for one particular component that maybe happens to be a power conditioner, and do it on the basis of how it sounds. Same as everything else. Don't make the rules, just report em. And that's the way it is.
I had a PS Audio line conditioner and, yes, stuff sounded fine when I had my components plugged into it. One day about two or three years in, though, the thing heated up and started to smell bad.  I hurriedly replaced it with a generic power strip. Sound quality might have taken a one percent hit.  Short story shorter -- I happily use the generic strip.  Yes it is plugged into a High End wall socket, and my DAC is plugged into it's own dedicated High End wall socket, but AC quality is something I don't obsess over anymore.  Finally, oh yeah, I do still have the boa constrictor-width AC cord that came with the conditioner.  It goes between the generic power strip and my integrated amp.