Am i missing something without a power conditioner?

Yes, you do. An Equitech 2Q; A Symetrically Balanced toroidal transformer is what I suggest you audition as an excellent ‘long term’ investment in your listening pleasure. Incredibly simple and efficient with science that forms an absolutely sensible approach to AC power noise reduction. Take some time in their website and learn why some of the most demanding and refined research labs;as well as recording,mastering and production facilities and live music and theatre venues use Equitech. They can sometimes be found used however most purchasers keep them as their effectiveness, efficiency and rock solid durability are legendary.

Never heard a power cord to make a difference. 

The Furman power conditioners with SMP are the only one's I would trust to a high power amplifier like that, for these reasons:

1. Rock solid lightning protection
2. Line noise cleanup starts low, around 3kHz. Most conditioners start in the 100kHz
3. No current limiting
4. They sound good. 

I know that there's a major crowd at Audiogon who will go absolutely crazy with my first sentence, and you may disagree. I'm only pointing out my personal point of view. 

Best,


E

I use a Bryston BIT20 isolation transformer for all my equipment BUT the amplifiers.  I have 130w. tube monoblocks which each have a pair of 7"X3" storage caps.  They suck up power and apparently don't like being plugged into the transformer.  The tube bias voltage drops from 110 to 85 when do that and loses power output.  The storage caps require Synergistic Research 8 amp fuses rather than the rated 5 amp cheap fuse in order not to blow on turn-on due to the huge storage caps. 

The manufacturer of my amps does plug his amps into his isolation transformer(s).  He uses a pair of transformers double the size of mine so apparently they can handle it.  I have heard that most power conditioners are not favorably used with large power amps, especially with large caps. 

@erik_squires

Won’t disagree about power cords, Eric, but my milage has differed, if just a little. I heard a small difference, or thought I did, but markedly less than with the isolation transformers, where the difference was obvious.

But bang for buck? Nossirree. I would buy them, if I didn’t have a better solution already, somewhat after my third premium MC cartridge. And the big Koetsus DO make a significant difference, no "thought I did" about it.

As I said in other forum, my experience was at first  with passive AC filters. First with Lessloss, Acoustic Revive, Bybee (two of them). 
When I tried the Torus AVR16 in which I connected my whole system incl the tubed mono blocs Air Tight ATM3, this has been « end of the game » for me.
 Dynamics, silence, transparency, images in all dimensions, music flows very naturally in the room...
You just have to be be carefull dimensioning the transfo. In Europe, Toris doesn’ sell their balanced models, but if you are in USA this is a possibility you can explore.
My 2 cents 

PS : another thing to consider if you don’t want to « miss something » is the Total Contact. It is a contact enhancer that is really (I mean Really) efficient. I won’t say more because the topic can be polemic.

AudioTroy.....Richard Grey was the worst component I've ever had in my system....  Ruined the sound...couldn't wait to get it out.  (Ayre/Vandersteen)

Missing something? Probably yes, a lower noise level. Depends how good are your power supplies in your system and how much noise filtering are they doing. I don’t see what difference can make the power cord, the noise still goes through.

In my case I use a Furman PST-8DIG and I clearly noticed complete silence under no load using Marantz SR5008 and 7008 receivers. Plasma TV is making way less hi frequency noise. The filter inside is working even if doesn't look more than a power bar.

i use a Furman PL-8C. it has a big torroidal tranny
the power in me hood is suspect but seems stable and clean. we do not tax the power here at all. my non-audiphile system of MacBook Pro and LSR 305s sounds very good, noise floor is non-existent and black. I do run a reclocker for the USB into a PreSonus DAC.
everything is plugged into the furman and the system is protected and fed RFI free and regulated power.
if nothing else, i feel better for using the Furman. I lived somewhere that had terrible power and lost a nice Yamaha Nat Sound reciever twice in 6 months....

boa_constrictor

Power conditioning (AC voltage regulator and RF noise eliminator) is a good thing to have provided:

1- the AC power your utility supplies is not stable and not clean ....

How do you know if the power supplied is stable or not?

I use a vintage analog meter made by WIZ (Power Line Monitor) whose needle will tell me how the power is being supplied ...

When the power supplied from your wall socket is very stable, there is no detectable benefit by using a power conditioner.

There's a lot more to quality AC than simply stable voltage. In fact, power factor is at least as important, and is the reason that many systems benefit from power conditioning.

Especially for amps, it can be a good idea to check with the manufacturer. Some have definite views about using power conditioners with their products.  Otherwise, I've just gotten clear improvement installing an AQ Hurricane HC cord to my Aesthetix amp. But there are a lot of good wires out there. 
Jim Heckman

O yes, the Hurricane cord for my amp goes straight into the wall. 
Jim Heckman

aalenik ....That is exactly what i heard also from alot of people. That putting a conditioner on a power amp is like putting a condom on it? Now ive read alot of good reviews about the Shunyata Denali 2000t conditioner for HC amps. I too honestly dont know. And being that i want to find one used you can forget about demoing it.                                                                                                                                                                                                        billshenefelt... Yes thats exactly right !!!

@tattooedtrackman, I have a Shunyata Denali 2000t that I have tried on my Plinius SA Reference amp. Although it did not have a negative effect on the amp, it also did nothing positive that I could detect.
On the other hand, I did hear an improvement with my Transport and Dac plugged into the Denali 2000t and/or Preamp.

lak.... Il tell you the Gods honest truth. I was really listening to my system to hear if i really need a conditioner. The sound seems so clean and so pure that i could not imagine how cleaner my system could actually sound. I really think it would be a very big waste of money as of now. I really can not see my system sounding any better and more cleaner than now even with the best conditioner there is. 

Btw ...I dont even have a dedicated 15a circuit for my cd player and Krell B&W Bass Alignment filters. I have 1 Dedicated 20a circuit with a 4 outlets that i plug my Krell FPB 600 and my ARC Ref 6 preamp. 

Maybe its due to my Shunyata Sigmas and King Cobra cx power cords? I dont know.... But i really believe i will have no cleaner sound than i have now to actually hear a difference. 

Maybe i will put a dedicate 15a circuit for my cd player just for the hell of it. But as of right now i cant see me spending about 4-5 grand in used Shunyata conditioners not including about 2 grand in power cords. Seriously my system sounds crystal clear. 

does the Elgar give you any protection for surge, like a close lightning strike?

Yes.

My system has all digital source components (stream Tidal on a Windows10 Pro machine, music server and CD/SACD transport) and external DACs.  When I upgraded from a Furman power conditioner to a PS Audio P10 power regenerator (which removes most of the "distortion" in the AC power), I noticed an immediate improvement in the SQ from my DAC.

I can't speak to if improved power would improve a system with analog sources, but I suspect it would be a good upgrade for that as well.