Which Line Conditioner?

Hi Bmccormick; I have a Tice Elite 4 (almost identical to E-3), and when I plugged my McCormack DNA-2DX (600 wpc/4Ohms) into it, music became much too bright. I called Steve McCormack about this, and he said the DNA-2 should be plugged directly into a wall outlet as it needs to source a LOT of current-- and that did the trick, the brightness went away completely. Since then, I have installed a dedicated AC system and dedicated ground, and my whole system again got too bright. It seems that with dedicated AC, stock power cords become the limiting factor; BTW Redkiwi verified this and helped me figure it out. Over a period of two months I added Synergistic Research Master Couplers to amp, pre-amp, DAC, and transport. This not only corrected the brightness problem but improved music quality/character in all respects-- especially noticeable was a decrease in background noise. Further, I now have all four major components plugged directly into the dedicated wall outlets. I agree with the above posts that recommend a dedicated AC and ground system, but be advised that if you add dedicated AC you will also need good quality power cords if you don't already have them. As for the Tice E-4, I now only have 3 accessories plugged into it and as you know it has 16 outlets!!! I think I'm going to move it to a TV/2nd stereo system. One thing I do regret, is that with major stereo components plugged directly into the wall, they have no spike/surge protection. I am considering the PS 300 for transport, DAC, and pre-amp. Best Luck & Cheers. Craig

Take a look at the PS Audio Power Plant units.

Monster HTS-5000 for $600, same design as the MIT's infact its the same designed who made both. He even admitted that its the same thing, except MIT charges a lot more.

HTS-5000 is as good as the Grey and Mit I tried. also don't use power amps with line conditions generally. They always limit current, even the ones that say its designed for amps and say high current. Just do an AB test. The non conditioned amp with more current will always sound better, unless you have A LOT of crap in your lines.