How do you know if you need a power conditioner?


I presently have my audio equipment connected to a dedicated line - is this enough? How does one know if you need a power conditioner? Are there symptoms? Does a power conditioner always improve the sound - or only in certain situations? Is there any way (short of sophisticated electronic measuring tools which I don't have) to tell if your power is relatively clean or dirty?

Thanks in advance.
studioray

Showing 1 response by albertporter

I have had terrible results with all power conditioning, from the cheapest to most expensive. Nothing I have ever put in my system did good, only harm.

If you live in a high rise and share electrical with 200 other peoples TV's, computers and AC units, perhaps power conditioning is better than crappy power. In most residential homes I would bet that multiple dedicated lines and attention to cabling will get you where you want to be.

For my own system I went with fourteen dedicated lines and star grounding. As crazy as that might sound, the entire rewire job by one of the finest electrical contractors in town, replacing EVERYTHING from the power pole to the wall outlets (including a new trans socket meter) cost less than $4K.

There are AC cords that cost that much. Make no mistake, I AM FOR high end power cords, but before spending on conditioning and cords, the electrical should be as solid as you can make it.