Power cords or power conditioner

@coachpoconnor , well put. And I’ve experienced the phenomenon that you have, with your system becoming WAY more sensitive to certain variables as you upgrade it to become more resolving. In my case this happened when I upgraded to Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker cables, from Clarus Crimson Biwire’s. I had them pre burned-in by my dealer, and connected them up late at night and was floored at the detail and the 3D soundstage depth that they exposed. Everything became clear and snapped into focus. Woke up next day and was excited to listen again over morning coffee, and…. What the hell? What happened to my soundstage depth? Everything is compressed and foggy now! I thought I might be imagining it but then I tried again late at night and again I was treated to a mesmerizing and holographic experience. After a few weeks of this I realized my incoming power is cleaner at night when my neighborhood is asleep. Bought a Torus, installed dedicated lines, and now all is (mostly) well. In that now it sounds great in the day and I can’t complain. But it STILL sounds best at night. I think most have this experience, for those who have highly resolving systems.

And to your point, after upgrading to the Valhalla 2 speaker cables, there is no doubt the differences in power cords became magnified.  It’s not the highest impact component in the system, but I do find power cords can have a profound impact soundstage depth, and the 3D presentation of vocals and instruments, and the “air” around vocals and instruments.

@jl1ny   I have a JL Audio Fathom 113V2.  At first I was only using it with the Datasat for HT.  A few days ago I used the pre out on the Luxman to see how it would integrate.  Let's just say it is still connected to the Luxman.  

While the KEFs have nice bass, the addition of the 113 just made everything so much better!  

@nyev  My Shunyata Triton V3 arrives tomorrow, along with a Shunyata Alpha XC PC for the conditioner.  I will soon see if there is any black magic with a conditioner.  Seeing that I live in Chicago, and 3/4 of a block from my house is a busy main street for my neighborhood.  I have a hard time believing I have clean power.  

While I don't have any auditable noise coming out of my speakers.  I do from time to time get transistor hum from my amps.  The McIntosh amp was the worst, my ATI amps it's rare and the Luxman never makes a sound.  Either way I'm sure there is room for improvement. 

@wheelndeal1099 , good luck and let us know the results. Try to resist making any judgements for at least a week if not longer, and leave your system on quietly.

I always get impatient and make rush judgements when trying new gear. My final assessment after at least a week with it is rarely consistent with my initial assessment (although my amp was an exception, as it was awesome from the start and remained that way).

After burn-in and after you adjust, try removing the new cord and conditioner and then see what you think.

Also - AC noise (THD) is not something you consciously hear from your speakers in most cases. But when it’s removed, if effective in your system, you may notice a quietness that surrounds vocals and instruments that wasn’t there before, allowing more detail, air and soundstage depth to come through. I agree with others that connecting amps to conditioners is detrimental to them (except for Torus which is not a conditioner), but your results could easily vary. Nothing is a sure thing in this hobby.

Also - AC noise (THD) is not something you consciously hear from your speakers in most cases. But when it’s removed, if effective in your system, you may notice a quietness that surrounds vocals and instruments that wasn’t there before, allowing more detail, air and soundstage depth to come through.

@nyev - that is usually my first clue that a system is getting good.
When the system has a sort of quietness, but the SPL meter is high and one cannot hold a conversation… that is pretty good sign that the distortion is not wildly high.