Power cords or power conditioner

Only reason I am asking about power cords and conditioners is I keep reading about guys claiming about the change in sound stage depth and width with the change of power cords and conditioners.  To me it doesn't make since, hence why I asked.  

With my current set up the Luxman D-03 goes straight to my integrated amp. For music I 100% bypass the Datasat.  My Kefs are 8' apart and I sit 8' from them, they are around 2.5' from the wall behind them and I have about 6' from where I sit to the back wall. .  I do have bass traps in the corners but that is it so far.   

Thanks for the advise.  I'm going to work on cleaning up my rooms acoustics next. 

Thanks guys!  I have DYI power cords on all my two channel equipment.  I used Oyaide Tunami V2 for the cable.   Not the best but far from the stock wire. So my power wires are not bad, just not up to reference level, if that is needed. 

As to speaker placement, trust me, I'm been playing with the placement for a year.  I've got them where they sound pretty good.  I did pull them out another foot from the wall today.  It did help give more dimensionality to the sound. 

I have an 80" TV in the middle of my sound stage so I tossed a thick blanket over it and it helped.  My center channel KEF Reference has a large aluminum face so I tossed a blanket over that next.  Helped a tiny bit more.   I think I'm on the right path!  😂 Total spend for improvements today- ZERO. 

@nyev  My usb cable is pretty short, I'll have to look at it but I think it is around a meter.  I've also heard that a longer power cord will work better than short one.   Never experimented with it thought.   

As to speaker toe in, KEF states in their owners manual for the KEF Reference to not toe the speaker in much.  They claim that their speaker design doesn't need toe in like many other speakers.  I've played extensively with this over the 2 years I've had these speakers and I agree.  When I used Monitor Audio speakers they responded well with pointing the speakers at ones shoulders as someone suggested. 

While I'm new to a dedicated 2 channel set up, I've had many very high end HT processors over the years.  Lyngdorf MP-50, Lydgdorf MP-60 2.1, and now a Datasat LS-10.  I've also had some very nice amps including 3 BHK 300's that ran my front speakers.  The issue that I kept running into with the amps is nothing really sounded better than my current ATI amps.  A Mcintosh MC207 was the worst amp I've ever had in my system.   Now with the Luxman, I am seeing a nice improvement with things.

I did order a Shunyata Triton V3 with an Alpha HC PC.  I should have that possibly tomorrow.  It was between the Shunyata and the Torus I'm going to also order some sound panels to take care of the first reflection point.   I live in the City of Chicago, so I have a hard time believing my power supply is clean.  We will see, if the Triton doesn't do anything for me, I'll sell it.  

@audphile1 That is what I intend to do.  It's like Audio Science Review, if the site owner can't measure it, then it doesn't matter.  Problem with that theory is most of the stuff that guy suggests as great due to measurements, sounds like garbage.  

Pulling my speakers out into my room has helped to broaden my soundstage and create more air around individual instruments.  The problem is, this isn't a dedicated music room.  I could pull the speakers out another foot, but it would ruin the function of the room.  

I'll soon find out how the other things improve or don't improve things.   

Thanks for all the advise and suggestions! 

@jl1ny   I have a JL Audio Fathom 113V2.  At first I was only using it with the Datasat for HT.  A few days ago I used the pre out on the Luxman to see how it would integrate.  Let's just say it is still connected to the Luxman.  

While the KEFs have nice bass, the addition of the 113 just made everything so much better!  

@nyev  My Shunyata Triton V3 arrives tomorrow, along with a Shunyata Alpha XC PC for the conditioner.  I will soon see if there is any black magic with a conditioner.  Seeing that I live in Chicago, and 3/4 of a block from my house is a busy main street for my neighborhood.  I have a hard time believing I have clean power.  

While I don't have any auditable noise coming out of my speakers.  I do from time to time get transistor hum from my amps.  The McIntosh amp was the worst, my ATI amps it's rare and the Luxman never makes a sound.  Either way I'm sure there is room for improvement. 

@markiew Thanks for the tip on the TA-102 tape! I’ll give it a try!

The Shinyata Triton and Alpha XC PC arrived today. I’m going to let it play for a while before I have an opinion on it. But so far I do think it is an improvement.

I also contacted the Cable Company on power cord choices. They asked what else I was running. They said my DYI cords are fine for now. But they did not like my combo of interconnects and speaker cables. They said the two couldn’t be more different and the synergy between them was probably poor. So I have some new cables on the way.

@thyname I was checking out GK Acoustics today. I like their products better than Acoustimac, that is where I have bought my treatments in the past.

@nyev I did't order a new USB cable.  That one is going to have to wait.   This is what was said to me regarding my signal cables. 

"My advice would be to bypass power cord auditions for now and try a loom of a brand that has a more balanced approach than the split personality you're running now. Nordost is all about speed, transparency and leading edge transients. Transparent blunts all of that, rounds off the edges and warms things up. However, these two together don't make anywhere near as balanced a whole as you might hope and I'd encourage you to consider listening to signal cables instead. You've got to get the signal side right before you start playing with the power side."
 

I ended up ordering an Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II XLR, and Acoustic Zen Hologram II speaker cables- Bi-Wired.  Nice thing with The Cable Company is if I don't like the sound, I can swap for something else.  However I've read a lot of people say how well both Luxman and KEF sound with this combo.   I'll soon find out. 

I bought them.  If I am not happy with the sound of them, I will return and then go down the lending library rabbit hole!   

I have an unused family room in my house that I have been thinking about converting into a dedicated music room.  Ha, as other have said, I can only go so far in my current room before I start getting push back.  For example, I've received a little pushback on acoustic panels.  They need to be "art panels" that look "nice".   This is not a real issue other than "art" panels cost significantly more.   Also pulling the speakers out more, which would be beneficial, would make it difficult to walk through the room.   

For me the real issue with moving the music equipment upstairs is lugging it all up the stairs.  Taking a speaker that weights 110 pounds isn't a one man job!  I may pull the trigger on that idea though, as I could do anything I want up there.  

@ghdprentice   Good call on doing one thing at a time.  I'm very guilty of doing many things at once and then not knowing what exact item caused the improvement.  This is more an issue with my boat but I can see me doing the same thing here, now that I've decided to finally it get a 2 channel system up and running. 

Cables have arrived- So the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II XLR and Acoustic Zen Hologram II bi-wired speaker cables.

I bought these out of the used inventory of cables.com so these should be broken in. I was told to let them "warm up" for a few hours before critical listening. That said, here are my initial impressions.

The first song I played was Dire Straits Iron Hand. I immediately noticed the decay was better. These cables are also brighter, but in a very good way.

Next I played Norah Jones, Don’t know why. This is my goto song to test brightness. With the Boulder 866 this song was painful to listen to as Norah’s voice went from soothing to shrill. The Transparent cables her voice was great, with the Hologram/silver reference combo, it became just that much better. Her voice was more textured and the highs were more detailed. The Transparent’s were just a bit to rolled off for this set up. Honestly the Transparent’s would have problably made the Boulder 866 more enjoyable.

Vavaldi's Four Seasons Spring 3 (Max Richter) This is now the best I have heard this song from my room.  Violin clearly placed in front of the orchestra.  Now I've heard better (clearer separation) in dedicated music rooms but this is largely an untreated family room.  For what it is, it really sounds great. 

The soundstage may have improved slightly over the transparent/ Nordost Red Dawn XLR combo. My speakers have always disappeared into the room. Now there may be just a touch more layering and separation between instruments. I still don’t have that 3-D layered effect but I’m getting closer. I have sound absorbing curtains on the way for the windows that are in the back of the room. I have six large windows, and I think that is the first thing that must be tackled. I already have bass traps in the corners. Next will be dealing with first reflection point issues.

With all that said, my stereo certainly sounds better than it ever has at this point. Nothing has been night and day, but I can tell you the sound is a lot better than it was 2 weeks ago when I started this post!

Thanks for all the tips and advise so far!

@paul_lindemann   I'm beginning to think the same thing.  I've added many things over the past month, and the over all improvement is small but improved in regards to layering.  I think the biggest improvement was swapping out my interconnects and speaker cables.  I'm going to pull the power conditioner when I have time and see if I can hear a difference with and without it.   

When I demo'd my Luxman I used a $20k Aurender Streamer, so I suppose it is hard to expect a $4k CD player/DAC to give me the same sound.   Either way, I do have it sounding really nice now.  All of the little improvements have made a noticeable improvement over the past month.  

For now I am sitting tight, but a Bricasti DAC is on my "to try" list.