I'm convinced: my Power Conditioner was ruining...

Sorry, I meant "Belkin" power conditioners, not "Belden".

Merry Christmas to you too!

I am convinced your power conditioner was ruining your sound too. Brown power with voltage drops is not the same as "dirty" power resulting from digital and/or high frequency noise, and does not have the same affect on audio performance. Presumably your APC is dealing with the brown power problems?

I have yet to hear a power conditioner that improved the performance of an even reasonably noise-free AC supply from the wall. PC's definitely make systems I have heard, including my home systems, sound "different", often "smoother" but not better if the AC is already fairly "clean" IMO. Dynamic peaks get clipped and smoothed over, so everything starts to sound like Steely Dan's early to mid-seventies mega-overdubbed mush.

This doesn't mean that there aren't conditioners out there that can significantly improve system performance by scrubbing noise from the wall supply in difficult AC environments, or reduce pollution from your digital gear back into the AC lines - I use a power conditioner with my sound system in my office in a highly polluted office building electrical environment, but this is the only place I have found a benefit to date. In agreement with Mingles, I am especially dubious of putting something in the line between the wall and your amp - in fact I am temped to hard-wire my amp at home directly to the AC supply line in the wall!

If you need multiple outlets, try this piece of gear instead of a power conditioner in a reasonable AC environment, plugging your amp into the first outlet or directly to the APC, and your digital components into the last outlets used -

http://generubinaudio.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=GRAS&Product_Code=Wmold&Category_Code=acc

Finally, I wonder if you tried unplugging your APC from the wall and running your system off the battery alone for a few minutes. That might provide the best sound you can get, albeit for short listening periods!

Dlcockrum,

Thanks for bringing these units to my attention - I have not listened to any of these yet... that I know of. It is possible I have heard some of these expensive and very well reviewed products in demonstration systems without knowing it, but they are all fairly new products and I have not been auditioning much gear recently.

I have previously tried in my home or listened to many units from the usual mid and hi fi suspects, Monster Cable, Panamax, Furman, Belden, Shunyata, etc. Most are much less expensive than the units you reference. I still suggest that many of these simpler and widely available products can offer improved performance to consumers living in compromised power environments such as apartments or condos, commercial buildings or houses with old or complicated wiring layouts. In my current house with dedicated electrical circuits for my audio systems, all new 10 and 12 gauge wiring, and new breakers and outlets I find the wall offers better sounding power than any of these moderately priced alternatives.

Interesting that one apparently needs to spend upwards of $5K for the power conditioners you recommend as effective (the Nordost is a little less). That is a lot of money. One of the retailers for the Audience Adept Response AR-6T is Gene Rubin, who also sells the Wiremold power strip I recommend. In fact, Mr. Rubin suggests there is no real benefit over a good power strip in power conditioning until you reach the level of sophistication and expense of the Audience.

So perhaps we are both right. I haven't tried some of the latest and more expensive power conditioners (yet), and your point that these units may be so good that they noticeably improve the power supplied to quality audio gear, even in the best of AC environments (dedicated large gauge lines with quality receptacles).

I look forward to the day I can pay $5K for a power conditioner and and justify it as a reasonable expense compared to my overall system.