Cable for my amp.

Nsgarch has some good suggestions on your amp and preamp. Not that what you have is lacking but the 27.5 (which I had) is better. Mids are better and the top end is a little crisper and not as rolled off. I wish I had never got rid of mine to tell you the truth. I love my 29 but one day will have another 27.5. Some people do not like Levinson's but to each their own. I like them.

Yes get rid of the cheapo Conditioner and get something to your liking. It will help.

Nsgarch have you tried a Hydra and if so how did it compare with your EP15a? The EP15a is not cheap in comparison but there are several models of Hydra's to choose from.

Samzx12, no, I must admit I never auditioned a Hydra. However, all power "conditioners" like Hydra, Monster, Panamax, PS Audio, etc., are variations on the same circuitry, and use the same kinds of components. They all present the same problem too, which is that in using passive circuits and devices to reduce noise, they slow down energy transfer.

Nobody realized this problem at first. Amps were less powerful and/or they didn't have detachable cords. Everybody was happy to have surge protection (they hoped!) and less line noise. Then, with the introduction of large conductor aftermarket power cords, folks began to realize that these power conditioners were choking their amps, which sounded better plugged right into the wall. In addition to that, today's components often already have built-in surge protection and some noise filtration.

Power REGENERATORS compare what's coming out of your wall (in terms of noise, sine wave accuracy, and voltage stability) with the ideal AC power profile, and corrects the wall current to match the ideal, using active amplification and feedback. The Exactpower unit does this very efficiently by "fixing" only the distorted parts of the incoming AC power and leaving the rest alone -- it doesn't throw out the whole signal and start over, which would waste energy and is how some other regenerators work.

Power "conditioners", regardless of brand, are IMO a thing of the past for serious audio. To quote a friend who designed the first line of super high-end DACs, "they do more harm than good."

And balanced power units, although they can be used as "stand-alone" devices (right from the wall) end up being unnecessarily large capacity if you want to plug everything, including your amp, into them. This might be OK for a recording studion, but completely unnecessary for a home audio system.

So basically that leaves the following options:

1. Dedicated circuits with or without a power regenerator or isolation transformer(s). A regenerator is necessary with dedicated cts. ONLY if your utility power fluctuates a lot or has noise in it before it even gets to your house (a common problem in New York for instance) With dedicated circuits alone, you get no lightening protection so unplug everything during T-storms.

2. Regenerator in lieu of dedicated cts. Even with decent utility power, this is the BEST way to insure an adequate power resevoir for your amp, plus quiet noise-free power and spike protection for your other equipment.

If you want, you can plug a (modest capacity) balanced power unit into the regenerator for the ultimate in quiet power for your source equipment. Another benefit of balanced power is it eliminates (cancels) the hum caused by ground loops. (It doesn't necessarily eliminate the ground loops themselves, but who cares!) Therefore, you don't have to worry about lifting the ground pins on any of your components' AC plugs -- thus improving both safety and performance.

Regenerators (NOT conditioners) are the ONLY logical solution for condo and apartment dwellers for whom dedicated circuits are out of the question.
.

I do not doubt that regenerators do a nice job cleaning up the power or like you say in dirty power areas such as yours and NYC. I can tell you the Hydra does not choke the amp. I am surprised to what it does to be honest. Trust me when I say this, I was very skeptical of any power conditioners, regenerators, etc... for a long time till I tried my buddies Hydra 4 with a Copperhead PC. I was quite shocked at the results. Do me a favor and try or borrow one if possible and let me know what you think? I don't think they would be selling as well as they do if they did not work IMO.

Samzx12 -- your choice of words:

do a nice job cleaning up the power

tells me I'm not being clear enough. Power conditioners "clean up" power (power regenerators don't need to) by filtering EMI and RFI out of wall power. Add a (current limiting) circuit breaker to protect from lightening strikes (yeah right!) and it's a finished product. For example, here are the specs for the Hydra 8, their best unit:

Trident Defense System
1.) • Shunyata VENOM noise-reduction filters (16 elements):
These are wire-wound chokes to take out line noise from refrigerator motors, etc.
2.) • Patented FeSi-1002 noise-reduction compounds: These are nothing more than ferrite chokes for RFI. Patented iron? I don't think so ;--)
3.) • 8 cryogenic treated Shunyata SR-Z1 outlets: Must be why it's Hydra 8! What, Ever, there's outlets and there's outlets!
4.) • Four isolated individually filtered circuits: Code for 4 duplex outlets, the 8 outlets (total) already mentioned
5.) • Massive cryogenic grade CDA-101 copper buss array: So they froze 2 copper strips and attached the 4 duplex outlet to them. Whoopee!
6.) • Advanced hydraulic electromagnetic circuit breaker: I'm not sure what the hell this is. Maybe it just makes a SOFT pop when it blows because it's hydraulic! CBs are like fuses and they limit current. They belong in your electrical panel, not in your audio chain. Your equipment already has fuses in it (unfortunately) so you don't want any more!
7.) • 2400 watt / 20-amp power rating: Only if it's attached to a 20A wall outlet with 20A AC and IEC plugs. In fact, the Shunyata PCs have 15A AC plugs on them standard, otherwise they wouldn't work in most folks homes.
8.) • Dual chassis -- all aluminum case: Thats nice, I guess.

OK, so my point is, the only parts that are doing anything are items #1 and #2. Item #6 it would be better to leave off. The rest is just fluff and cool-sounding copy. A massive rip-off IMO.

Regenerators, by comparison, don't CLEAN up the power. They CREATE new power, which is clean to begin with. So they don't really need all these little beads, and coils and filters. And although they all must be fused to meet UL requirements, they don't require circuit breakers or diodes to protect your equipment. When the AC-matching amplifier feedback loop senses a voltage spike, it simply tells the amplifier to shut down. Instantly. No muss, no fuss, no continuous current limiting.

By the way, just for general info, one reason some equipment (like the Hydras) aren't sold with PCs (or with just junk PCs) is that to get UL approval, any shielded PCs sold with electronic equipment must have the shield attached to the ground pin at both ends of the cord. Do you know what that means? It means INSTANT GROUND LOOP! So most manufacturers hope you'll just go out and buy a 10AWG PC with a floating shield.
.