Crazy4blues, in answer to your question, I got rid of the three conditioners for different reasons, some relating to sonics and some more to my comfort level with owning the product and having it in my system.
I had one of the early Power Wedges and used it without giving it much thought for several years. Until I took it out of the system one day and found that I preferred the music without it. I think it made my system sound dull. (But I wonder if what I find dull is what others consider a welcome absence of sibilance.)
I mostly liked what the PS Audio did sonically, but I was frustrated that it (1) had only 4 outlets, (2) could not accomodate my power amp, and (3) consumed power all on its own, so I was conflicted (environmentally speaking) about leaving it on all the time even though I certainly wanted to leave my low-consumption front-end gear on all the time. Also, I thought it was ugly and I was kind of embarassed to have it in the house.
When the Hydra came out, I thought: 6 outlets, doesn't consume power, handsome, and I had had some good experiences with Shunyata power cords. But I was never convinced that it improved my system. Larger soundstage, yes, but things often sounded, again, dull. So I sold it and have been using a Mapleshade power strip as a stopgap.
Over the years, I have certainly heard huge effects from power-related variables in my system. I believe it's important. But I find that I am often unsure about whether the change is an improvement, and sometimes I feel like I'm chasing my tail. Ditto for cones and footers and such. About a year ago, I decided to remove most of them from my system and perhaps revisit the whole topic down the road when I had the time and patience to critically evalute their effects in my system. I used to buy inexpensive tweaks on the basis of reviews or buzz and assume that it was a good thing to have them in the system. Now I'm being more conservative about adopting these things. I got tired of friends asking, "What's that?" and then, "Does it work?" to which I could only say "I don't know, but it's supposed to." Know what I mean?
