Is an isolation transformer better than a power conditioner?

@aberyclark 

A very valid concern. I think the equation changes over one’s lifetime as you realize you only live once and for a finite time. What is the real probability of having your equipment fried? I lived in Tucson Arizona for 25 years… I was in charge of a data center that went down because of thunderstorms every summer… yet have never lost a single piece of audio equipment. 
 

Live.

The result of power conditioners is highly dependent on your home and the incoming power. Typically direct lines (one for components and one for the power amp) is always a good improvement.

Generally the power conditioner is used only for components… with your improvements you will have to see if there is still a good improvement with the power conditioner. In my circumstances there is… 30 seconds of listening without my power conditioner is plenty to realize it is doing important work.

@boostedis 

Once you have a good sounding and complimentary set of components and speakers one can very significantly improve their performance by methodically evaluating and adding carefully chosen improvements. Typically these are: speaker cables, interconnects, power cords, direct lines, power conditioning. Each is incremental… together several can add up to the level of a component level upgrade. 
 

Typically one would not add a $5K power cord to a $5K amp. But that being a cost effective move is not unheard of. I recently added a $2K power cord to my $22K amp. The improvement in sound was very important and obvious. I would say, I got a sound quality improvement worth at least $5K. The boost I got from my direct lines was similar… so to my power conditioner. All this stuff adds up to a much… much better system. This is how you go from a good to a great system for the least amount of money. 

While not often I have heard cables or interconnects that produced improvements worth nearly the total cost of the component… instead of upgrading the component. 

@boostedis 

Thanks for your comments.

I have heard this claim of “just different”.. or even about a realization after some time it wasn’t good. But it has always sounded like it was coming from a skeptic… a theoretical assertion… not from the experience of a real audiophile.

Over the last fifty years of being an audiophile it has certainly never happened to me. Differences in sound the sounds of high quality interconnects, cables, and power cords are easy to hear… although it may take a little while to clearly articulate them. Also absolutely reproducible and consistent across components.

However,  fooling around with the stuff that comes with inexpensive equipment, Bilken, Blue Jeans, Monster, and the like can be confusing and difficult to pick out the differences. But good quality purpose built for sound equipment is seldom difficult.

@mahler123 

It is definitely dependent on where you live. That said, for the vast majority it provides a very meaningful improvement in sound quality. Even more likely to produce a really meaningful improvement are direct lines.

OP,

Congratulations on your progress on your power. I look forward to hearing your system sometime… if the pandemic calms or goes away.