Don't try to fix these electrical prolbems with a conditioner!

@wsrrsw  - Excellent numbers.  Now just watch it during the day. :) 

I have a 35 years old trac house that is fairly nice build , but I did find exceptions. Decent Supply panel and appropriate gauge copper wire and decent grounding  including multiple earth ground rods. However  the inside was finished with subpar duplex outlets.

We don’t think of breakers as wearing out but they do.  40 years is a very good run for breakers, especially if outdoors.  I replaced most of mine at 15 years and added a whole house surge suppressor.  Hopefully this means I don’t have to think about this for 30 more years. 

Standards have changed though.  While not required to come up to modern code I did, replacing indoor circuits with CAFCI and GFCI where required.  

This house was a rental, though rented to adults and service members.  After 15 years of use, and several rounds of painters doing goodness knows what to the switches and covers I decided to do a whole-sale replacement of every wall switch, GFCI and almost every outlet in the house.  Glad I did, I found a number of issues, and signs of prior arcing and resolved some "haunted" lights. 

You don’t have to go that OCD on your home, but this stuff is why I think that the bare minimum you should do is get a 3 light AC outlet tester and make sure things are wired as they should be. 

In addition to prior improper maintenance, light switches and outlets DO wear out as well. 

Hey @mikenike80s 

See this is exactly the problem we all have.  Audiophiles think they get a dedicated line from the power company to their panel and they don’t.  Lots of external factors come into play. 

While I absolutely don’t recommend fixing bad wiring issues in the home with a conditioner, I would rather have a power conditioner with voltage regulator like this one than to rely on a dedicated line. 

From years of watching my AC voltage fluctuate in apartments and my home, I know the biggest factor in having a stable AC voltage is everything going on outside AND how my HVAC is operating.  Perhaps a dedicated line can reduce some noise, but it's not going to solve the neighbor problem or the HVAC problem. 

@goodlistgening64

Consider the case of a missing ground wire.  This is not an audiophile issue.  This is a life safety issue.  If your outlet is 3 prong, and the ground is open or missing, or swapped with the neutral a basic safety feature of your home and equipment has been disabled.  this is true if you are using an integratd amplifier or your clothes washer. 

So this is one example why I’m not really talking about this as an audiophile issue.  It’s an electrical and life safety issue and finally it may ensure your system behaves well. :) 

What you suggest is a way to determine (sort of) if your lines are causing your rig to sound less than optimal.

@goodlistening64 

That’s not how I would phrase it.  I’d say this is what you should do to make sure your wiring is performing as intended.  It doesn’t even have to be for your stereo or TV.  

As you mentioned, this is important for old homes that may have inferior cables, dirty lines, or subpar outlets.

But, what about those that live in modern homes with none of that being a possibility?

Wiring mistakes can and do happen.  I moved into my current home when it was 15 and I found half a dozen issues.   Do you have to check every outlet in every home?  Maybe not... but if you feel like you have an actual AC problem maybe don’t try to fix it with a conditioner first.   You also don't immediately have to go get a new panel with a dedicated line.  This post is about how homeowners should check their important outlets first, with an absolute minimum of spend. 

Make sure your outlet is wired correctly and has a working ground.  Then we can talk about power conditioners.   I do worry about back-stabbed outlets however.  Technically they are OK but I removed everyone I could find in my home. 

Having said all that, my HT system is fed by a Furman with a voltage regulator which gives me rock solid voltage regardless of the air conditioning, range or even most brown outs.  However, it cannot fix a host of other problems I checked for first.   

@wsrrsw 

- There seem to be like 6 versions of that which are identical except for the brand.  None of them are "laboratory grade" or anything but all super convenient.   Cheap, easy to use, you can leave them plugged in for days and monitor your AC, that alone makes them useful even if you have a nice multi-meter. 

In addition to the standard 3 light wiring checks which you can find from any hardware store electrical department these have two features I really like.  One is Voltage reading, two is the Neutral to earth voltage, which is important in assessing both neutral connectivity as well as voltage sagging under load.  Even if you get a bad one, worth  buying two.  

I wish I could find a higher end version from Klein or Fluke or something but so far I’ve not found one with the N-E reading. 

Good for you, @whart - Occasionally I still run into stories of homeowners who have a home built in the 1960's with Federal Pacific Stab-Lok breakers.   Owning an old home that's gone through several eras of electrical upgrades is a real challenge.  It doesn't even have to be as old as yours to see not just several generations of work but also short cuts taken. 

Hey @atmasphere  - I specifically wrote this for those on the opposite end of the financial situation.  While yeah, it seems like many well-to-do audiophiles are able to and have spent money with an electrician to create custom AC solutions there are also those I read about here who try to avoid spending that money and try to fix actual AC  problems with a conditioner, or some other patch, like a new outlet, when the problems they describe are more serious. 

@ghdprentice - Yes, yes it is.  I’ve seen more than one thread her on A’gon start like that.  "My lights flicker a few times a day, especially if I run up the stairs... what kind of power conditioner should I get..."   In one such thread we convinced the OP to get an electrician who found their house neutral was bad. 

Not too long ago there was a poster who had current running through his interconnects.... I think that was a reversed L-N issue or something.  

Point is, peace of mind is cheap.   Better to test and know than to let things linger. 

Unfortunately it’s exactly because we so often discuss the dedicated line, if not dedicated meter/panel/line that we exclude the less well-off audiophile who takes matters into his own hands via a power conditioner or strip.   Having a safe and reliable outlet is something everyone should have, even if they can't afford the higher levels of AC customization.