Does power conditioning really matter?

If you can hear the difference changing any part of your system...go for it. That goes for the amp, pre, cables, wires, power cords..you name it. If you can't hear a difference and you're just trying to upgrade because the "guru's" say it's better...save your money. In many cases just moving speakers around makes far more difference than changing any part of the system. Treating the room to control bass and reflections also can significantly improve the sound. If your room is acoustically poor, then putting in $20,000 speakers or the world's best analog amp is a waste of money.

There is a vast difference between the cleanliness of one's power depending on many external factors that you have no ocntrol of. If you have lousy power coming in with lots of noise and ripple, a good conditioner may really noticably help. But, if your power is good (and most people get good power in the US), you don't need to condition it...it's that simple.

I had Shunyata in my system to use as extension cords. It made no difference in sound quality at all. I also had PS Audio PS300 before. Sometimes I thought I heard improvement with PS Audio, but in most cases I wasn't sure if I heard the difference or just imagined. I think they are like extended warranty or insurance, and the most value is in providing the owners peace of mind.

For what it's worth I sell monster and panamax. I prefer panamax. I don't for a moment disagree with gentleman saying not all or even most will see the difference though. My friends and I did tests on a pioneer elite w/ matching Bluray on dark shots in transformers we noticed less noise on the screen as we isolated the TV to it's own circuit. My issue has always been product life span. It is the power transformers job to condition the power. It is also the power transformer or circuit boards attached to it that fail most often in electronics.Less work for the power transformer = longer product lifespan.

It depends on the system, your power and the conditioner. I have a ps audio power plant, monster and shunyata hydra 8 now. They all do something to my sound the Hydra is the best, most transparent. I am running tube amps though solid state stuff especally cheaper stuff I can't see it effecting. They do very little for video for me as well, however I did have 2 panamaxs sacrofise them selfs during power surges saving my equipnment so if nothing else panamax is pretty cheap get one just to protect your equipnment. At the level he sound he is at worry about protection more than any thing else you can get performance increases other places.

If you have crappy power and cheap power supplies in your components (most TVs, low-end receivers, DVD/BR players, etc would probably qualify), then you may see/hear a difference with power conditioning.

The thing is, power conditioning is basically what each component's power supply is supposed to be doing. Excessive noise in the power line could be more than what a particular power supply can handle, in which case power conditioning of some sort MAY make a noticeable difference.

However, to make a blanket statement that EVERYONE should go buy the most expensive conditioner and surge protector they can afford is a bit of a disservice.