Symptoms of UN-CLEAN power

VERY interesting reading sofar. 

Before looking for solutions, is it recommended to first find out what TYPE of 'dirt' my power carries so I can select the right remedy?

The remedy for dirty power is depending on a) the time of the day b) your system itself (they are noise generators themselves and cross contaminate throught the grid) c) the rest of your household equipment d) tha hood you are livin in. If you have a lot of wall warts and computers for example on the same spur as your stereo, you can start with placing them on a separate spur and filter them also. They are spitting out a lot of RFI and harmonics. Clean power is not a one stop solution. A good filtered power bar with DC correction will do wonders. But don’t forget good quality cables and connectors, cable dressing (separation) and correct phasing of your equipment as a starter.

Dirty power can be better described as suboptimal power. The quality of the power supplies in every system vary. So some, people hear great differences, some will hear improvements in de last %.  Some power supplies have better noise blocking capabilities and filtering qualities when rectifying AC to DC. I don't believe in golden ears BTW. Maybe there is a difference in sensitivity of one's hearing capabilities but mostly it is experience.

Two caveats prior to responding. I really don’t know how clean my power is out of the wall compared to your situation. We just built and moved into our house. So, the power distribution is new. Our neighborhood was farm/ranch land until the last few years. We have a neighbor that raises camels. Secondly, your equipment throws noise back into the power line, so not all noise comes from your house/utilities power distribution.

I made a major change in power to my system, pretty much all in one go. I was floored at the difference, but to quantify the difference is a challenge. The presentation was more detailed, with more air, silence between notes and better imaging. Everything was just more musical. Listening was less tiring.

For me, power upgrades involved adding a Shunyata plug, Everest conditioner and a Sigma power cord to my integrated amplifier. I had a three pack of Venom and some old power cords… so my power upgrade wasn’t really in one step. Later I added Venom NR to my subwoofers and replaced the remaining power cables with Sigma NR. I purchased items with a sixty day return privilege and my salesperson let me just trade up without any loss of funds, even after the sixty days. So, more money spent on power than any other one component. I intend to add a dedicated circuit, but my current power distribution is from a garage on the opposite side of the house. My listening room is over the second garage, so will need a long run to second panel.

I believe that addressing power is the single biggest improvement to my system. Other changes, balanced analog interconnects and speaker cable were more nuanced improvements. Digital cabling (AES/EBU and Ethernet) improvements were the second largest cabling improvement seen on the digital side. Room treatment is probably up there with power as an important component of good musical reproduction.