New rack or power conditioner


Hello, new to this forum. I am a long time looker however. I am in the market to up grade my rack, which is a 15 yr. old home built 1 1/2" mdf shelves and 3/4" allthread supports, and a Tice power conditioner. I only have funds for one item and was woundering what is the most important, the rack or power cond.

Thanks for the input.
woodworker501
I would think a power conditioner wouldmake more of a difference. Maybe a used ps audio power plant premier for around $1,000 and some power cords?
You are right. At the time I got the Tice years ago, I don't know if it was what I could afford at the time or what the saleman was trying to unload.
It sounds and though you would really like to upgrade racks. I was in the same position, and didn't like the look of some audio racks. Ended up buying the Samson Rack from Mapleshade Audio. Very sturdy -- very nice old growth maple -- gorgeous finish. Sounds great.
Since everything has some effect, it's hard to predict, in the abstract, which will make the most positive difference in your system:
I'm not a naysayer to power conditioning, but once I did dedicated lines, I eliminated some highly regarded power conditioners- the system sounded better without them. (It's not that the dedicated lines 'improved' the sound, but they did eliminate one additional variable in AC power noise and interference and I generally have pretty quiet power, with the occaional spurious noise). Power conditioners and regenerators will make a difference, whether it is better is a separate question and depends in part on how nasty your AC is to begin with. (Note that I have invested in a very expensive power system for my next room, so I'm not negativing the value of dealing with AC power, just talking priorities, especially at a budget).
Racks- big improvement in that department, but you should know that even bigger improvements may be obtained by using a less fancy isolating rack and going with a very basic rack that allows you to use decoupling devices, like the Stillpoints. Having gone both ways (system currently uses some fancy Grand Prix Monaco stands and a very basic Adona platform combined with Stillpoints Ultra SS, you may find that the latter is more within budget and gives you considerable flexibility).
I would first check with the people at Star Sound.

They built and worked on your type of racking format for years. We have a few older versions of Mike Green racks in house and RobertÂ’s affordable recommendations worked out so well we kept them.

Quite possibly you could serve two masters with a single budget.