Dedicated line vs. power conditioner


I've pretty much found the gear for my "keeper" system. Now, I'm turning my attention to the little things that make a system sound its best. Which is the better tweak, running one or more dedicated power lines to my audio gear, or investing in a high quality line conditioner? I've heard arguments both ways. Some say the line conditioner is better because there is "junk" coming in even with a dedicated line. Others say you'll never know true power and dynamics without a 20 or 30 amp line. Any thoughts?
macm
My Eletro friend installed two dedicated runs on two new breaker slots with a separate ground from the rest of the house. The improvements were detailed and amazing. He installed some of those Hubbell “orange” hospital receptacles and I even tried one of those costly WATTaGATE receptacles. I then tested a cheap Monster power 3000 to filter the front ends. I tried the amp into it but you can imagine the results. But the improvements on the front end was lifted again to another level. I then stated in with power cords; Synergistic AC Master Coupler, Harmonic Tech AC-11N, Sonic Horizon Skyline. And all exhibited marked improvements. ( If you question it, just remove it and listen to the same recording again ) Well, now I purchased a PS Audio PP300 and this was a huge jump in depth, clarity, focus, detail, background blackness. ( Not in that order, but you know )
Now, I cannot comment on how the sound was before the dedicated lines, but I would have done them no matter what. ( I was tired of watching the light bulbs in the house going to the beat of the music not to mention that I like that soft lighting that you only get with dimmers ) But I only needed the smallest Power Plant because I never intended to plug my amp into it. I have a reasonable amplifier ( Krell KAV-25a ) and it always sounds better plugged into the wall. And I have tried many a different filter, fuse, power conditioner, APC, line couplers. Maybe if I had one of those cute little SET amps I would consider a larger PP to be able to plug my amp into it. But I don’t see that happening. Not unless Dynaudio really makes a new direction. But I did add a nice filtered AC cord from the wall to the amp. The Synergistic sounded fair but I tried a Sonic Horizon Silver Moon which worked very well. I am sure that I could also have used a Whale or a Cobra or a Designer reference and probably have gotten good results. It just depends on what you hear when it is connected. I tried all three of the above mentioned AC cables but this one was the obvious winner. But at $500.00 it kind of hurt. But now I have no regrets. Except that I live in California and now having good clean power may not even be the issue.
MO (mostly as above): 1st you need the juice, plenty of it -- so, dedicated line(s). 2nd, when you HAVE juice, you "clean" it if you need to.
Good luck!
I must side with the seperate line! It doesnt cost that much and it actualy doesn't rely on magic. Also dropping the grounds on your amps make a improvement even Grandma can hear! It wont hurt the equipment and its safe as long as you dont shower with your amp! A great audio product would be a large gold plated cheater plug! I can see it now in audio advisor for 19.95! (royalties and kickbacks welcome!). You can also buy nice 3prong plugs (use two) and custom length your current power cords. A friend bought a PS audio power thing(quite pricey!) ajustable voltage even! sucked the detail right out of his speakers. If he turned up the voltage, some detail returned. Buy better amps instead, maybe even some music!
Macm; I put in a four breaker sub-main breaker box, and from there four 20 amp dedicated Hubbell duplex outlets with dedicated ground and ended up getting rid of my Tice E-4 power conditioner, ie it made music worse. With the dedicated circuitry, noise floor dropped dramatically, but music presentation became too bright-- the cure was high quality power cords. Good Luck. Craig
Craig, thanks for presenting "the other side of the coin". Kind of funny how some things that work so well in one installation can reverse so quickly in another situation. I'm assuming that you still had the same components and were using the Tice in the same manner with the only variable being the dedicated lines. Is that correct ??? Sean
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