Power conditioning for digital gear AND tube amp?

There is a relative newcomer that I’ve tried and had great (miraculous) success with, but he’s not yet widely known. Alan at Alan Maher Designs (facebook) has a 2012 line-up he calls “Quantum” or “Q”. The whole AMD thing is different all the way around. He touts that the all-in-one box solutions just can’t do a good job simply because they are all in one box. And that electrical noise has many points of origin scattered throughout the home and that, contrary to audiophile belief, it’s not dirty power coming in from the mains (unless you have an unusual situ of a large factory close by or some such), but it’s actually everything that’s plugged into your home. Doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s on or has a sleep mode (which pretty much everything does anymore), then it’s polluting your home’s AC – even your gear itself pollutes. Everything plugged into your home “sees” everything else and the noise from every source is bidirectional, so the noise is sent back to the breaker box which only serves as grand central for distributing it all over the house. Alan makes individual gizmos of differing types that are (easily) wired into the breaker box, or self-contained, wall-wart-sized filters that plug into various unused outlets in the house and various other devices that to an extent rely on the user experimenting with these locations for best audio (and video) results. In that sense, this is almost not an easy recommendation to make in that this whole approach requires familiarizing yourself with all his gear and a seemingly large dose of patience and willingness to experiment (Alan is always there willing and able to help), so it’s not necessarily for the faint of heart. But, the results are absolutely fantasmagorical, beyond description!! Somebody else once said of Q that it was like upgrading all of his components - and I’m here to tell you that’s exactly what it is. Also, this is the ONLY method of conditioning to come across my radar that (in fact) stubbornly refuses to take something away from the signal in the audio band while reducing noise – not even the slightest of sonic compromises anywhere. EVERYthing is made better and not just a little – plus some things you just did not dream were possible with the audio gear have (not including Alan’s gear, I have a $5k system – so it’s not a just a function of how good ($$$$$) your system is, I can promise you that). $5k and up for an all-in-one box?? NO thanks. I’ve invested about $1200 so far and plan on at least half that again before it’s over, but it’s the best money I can spend on my system – by that I mean any and all of my components – it’s the core of my system – in fact, it IS my system, really. Yes, I’m saying it’s that good. I know this is basically just a long commercial for AMD (for which I apologize) and that I can’t help but come off sounding like a drooling fanboy, but maybe that has something to do with the fact that AMD (at the moment, anyway) has no meaningful brand recognition yet, so few people at Agon may be familiar with Alan. But, since Q, I’ve been officially off the equipment merry-go-round and entirely content.

As far as conditioning goes, Alan does not make audio products, his stuff only reduces electrical noise – that’s all they do, period. But, it works in whatever application you can come up with. A filter placed at the fridge keeps noise from the fridge from affecting the rest of the house (your system included) just as well as it keeps noise from the rest of your house from affecting the efficiency of the fridge. With power factor correction, your fridge runs physically quieter and noticeably colder for the same amount of electricity. It works. I’ve tried it. I even use a $60-version of his solution in my 2004 Kia minivan that works on the car’s computer. I’m getting right at 50 extra miles to the tankful with better and smoother acceleration and shifting – I sh*t you not. His products are as green and forward-looking as they get – most of them draw zero electricity from the wall. (Personally, I believe that when this energy-starved world discovers what he knows, for better or worse it is going to come and knock his door down). Collectively his stuff filters ground, neutral and hot.

But, to get around to your OP, some of his devices are best for digital, analog, computer, video – though each will also offer much improvement for other equipment as well. I’ve only occasionally seen him draw distinctions between SS and tube amps with his gear, but feel free to take that up with him. If you do decide to friend him on facebook and go down the AMD rabbit hole, prepare for an extended stay as there’s rather a lot to take in – worthwhile, but time-consuming (you can always message Alan for anything). Alan is a roadie by profession, but has experience in reducing noise in professional environments as well and for him the audiophile arena was more or less an outgrowth of that. Alan IS himself an audiophile however. He has a very direct, take-no-bs, make-no-apologies style, but I’ve come to rely on his instinct for cutting through all the smoke and getting to the real fire of anything technical (or much of anything else as far as that goes) but you’ll just have to take the time and check it all out for yourself. The rewards are positively huge - IF you find yourself willing to invest the time and trouble, that is. Best regards.

From the TESLA Plex SE receptacle (via power cables in series at each stage, including Bybee purifiers):

1. Medical grade isolation transformer.
2. Into Synergistic Research PowerCell 10SE.
3. Into Bybee Stealth conditioner (for amp, etc.).
4. Into Monarchy AC regenerator for DAC and transport.

Results: totally amazing. The isolation transformer and Monarchy AC regenerator have taken my system to a much higher level -- a level not attained with the SR and Bybee conditioners alone.

Although the 2 conditioners brought significant improvements to the sound and have excellent synergy it was only the addition of the 2 former components -- at a small fraction of the price of the conditioners -- that brought the sound to its full holographic potential.

My conclusion: some conditioners are way overpriced for the sonic benefits they deliver. Some components are underrated and can therefore be bought at knock-down prices -- a rare event in high end Audioland, in my experience. This has been a real ear and eye opener for me.

I have a very similar setup to yours, Ayon Triton and a DAC off the same power conditioner. My BPT BP-3.5 has worked very well. I'd say my soundstage shrinks by 30% in all dimensions when I take it out of the system, and everything just sounds slower and less defined. Chris is great for giving advice based on your particular setup, give him a call.

I use a Toruspower power line isolation device. It's amazing pure and simple. Isolates all the power line garbage by at least 60dB, and does not current limit, an issue with some regeneration devices. It also isolates between each hospital grade outlet. My Pioneer Kuro Plasma looks amazing and my audio gear sounds a lot better.

Hifigeek1,
Is the 60dB an estimate or have you measured it? I am curious about the dB in my system but I don't know how to quantify this.