Power Conditioning - How Important for Digital and Analog Source Components vs Amp?

I completely agree with your list ghdprentice and yes power cord to amp makes SO much difference. Can make or break a system.

what is still a mystery to me is how important the cord going TO the conditioner is. Is this a place that you can skimp out a LITTLE? Because, I would think that the cords taking the conditioned power to the source components would be much more important than the cord going to the conditioner?

Thanks for the advice all.  Just did a first quick comparison with and without the AQ 1200 for my InnuOS streamer, and I definitely heard an improvement with the conditioning, albeit a small one.  It was the same effect all across the frequency range, with better clarity and definition.

I have will have a superior power cord going into my Diablo, than I do going into the conditioner.  Debating whether to go through the hassle of testing how much difference an upgraded power cord will make for the AQ 1200! 

I know it’s an age old debating point but I will say it anyways:  how can the PC suddenly provide more power on demand when you have all that smaller gauge wire in your wall?  
 

I actually agree with you, I’ve found that beefy expensive cords to the amp definitely sound better.  But I do plug my amp directly into the wall as I mentioned.  I feel like there is no point even connecting it to the AQ 1200 considering that the Diablo is current hungry and considering that higher end AQ conditioners are rated to deliver more current.

Yep, all makes sense.  What I was wondering about however, all conditions including "dirtiness" being equal, is which components are more or less impacted by the grade of power cords and conditioning.  Like, is it more important to put the best cords on the source or amp, etc...

Thanks, I suppose I will need to do a test of a basic cable connected to my conditioner vs a more spendy one.  Since I can’t swap my high end amp power cord without ruining the test results, I’ll need to find a demo cable to try.  
 

Despite my amp power cord making a world of difference, I somehow doubt the cable to the conditioner can possibly matter as much…. But this is just my unfounded speculation.

Maybe I’m a sucker but I did upgrade to a AQ Diamond USB cable to my Gryphon’s DAC module, and I’m strongly considering upgrading my Ethernet cable to my InnuOS streamer / Roon core.  Even when I can’t actually hear a difference at all in the sound vs a standard $3 USB cable.  I know the Gryphon DAC module has some fancy voltage stabilization and clock sync tech for the USB input, so maybe my AQ Diamond USB cable isn’t needed…..

I hear massive differences with the amp power cord and also when swapping out speaker wire…. Now I’m getting to the nitty gritty I guess.

Drrstlif,

What power cords and USB cable are you using on your Diablo (which is totally awesome, I agree)?

I’m a bit worried about limiting the amp’s performance by plugging it into a conditioner considering what the manual and what Fleming says.  I’d be too paranoid that it could sound better a lot of the time, but maybe an element of dynamics or transients or slew rate could be negatively impacted - so maybe only in certain sonic scenarios performance could be hampered.  Not saying I think that, just that I’d be paranoid it could be so.  I read one instance when Phillip at the Gryphon distributor was putting on a show and the Diablo 300 was underwhelming everyone listening.  They removed the conditioner and suddenly the sound was transformed to what they expected….

A note on power for the Diablo DAC (which I adore the sound of):  I don’t believe the DAC itself is powered by the super-capacitor.  I think the super-cap powers the USB only, so it doesn’t rely on the USB power from the source which could be an unreliable computer.  I’ve tried to tell the difference in sound while that cool blue light is flashing at startup (signalling that the super-cap is still charging) and after the blue light stops, and I cannot hear any difference.  Perhaps because I am using a high quality InnuOS streamer with a solid USB power regulator? Don’t know…