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
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.
Power conditioners are electronics parts, they can protect against surge, and soundwise they are suppose to clean the line but it is half truth, they add a noise of their own, this is a trade off with some lost always in the final result...

I own one to protect my amp against surge but i improve the sound greatly adding my own creation, the"golden plate", on it and isolating it from the floor...

golden plate: shungite +copper tape on the external side.....
I don't use 'em. No surge suppressing strips, or regenerative power. Just pure juice from the one 8 gauge line. 

I use a PS Audio regenerator plugged into a ZeroSurge. Both with upgraded power cords.
Happy camper.