Who Tried Power Conditioners Over The Years and No Longer Use Them Today, Any Why?


Been thinking back to when I started in Audio and how good the system sounded with no power conditioners or fancy power cords. Then in the '90s slowly they both became a huge profit market for stores and manufacturers of them. If you used one on front end gear only or whole systems I will be interested in your real-world experience you could share with us all. I have a few so I am not against them, but I do at times have questions. 
128x128phillyb

Showing 5 responses by jerryg123

As @ebm said it will depend how resolving your system is.

I have dedicated 200 amp service and I am isolated from the rest of the house. Only my system is on this circuit. I also have Signal Cable power cords and interconnects on my system.
In the past I had several different power conditioners on my system and now I have my AH X200 direct to Hubbell IG5362 Duplex Receptacle and my other components pulling power from a Furman SS-6B-PRO with the NFC Line Conditioner. Thinking of upgrading the Furman looking at the iFi or AQ1200 Will buy where I will have return privileges..
@wrm57 Yes not sure I would need the AQ5000 only have 5 components and AH X200 is not that huge of a power hogg.
Does any one here have direct knowledge concerning the type/brand of power conditioning that hi-end component manufacturers use?

Pretty obvious that PS Audio uses their house brand. I’m asking about brands such as ARC, Pass, Boulder etc.


Not sure I would put PS Audio in that crowd, just my opinion.
Pretty obvious that PS Audio uses their house brand. I’m asking about brands such as ARC, Pass, Boulder etc.
@barts I would look at show reports as it may be listed there. Reading between the lines at the CAS in the ARC room they are using all
Nordost supplied the system’s Odin II cables

So I would say it is their power conditioner also (reading between the lines.

Good question on what Pass, McIntosh, Mark Levinson. ARC, Solutions, Classe, and on and on use on their gear when they design and voice it, what power cords, what conditioners. Excellent question. The answer for most zero
@phillyb I would disagree and would say they would make recommendations to their dealers for showroom setup as they would also use them for events like CAS... They may not outright endorse a third party but I guarantee they use them or something in their test beds when collecting data for their published specs.
I could hear no difference so I returned the unit. Then I bought a couple of Furman Elite 15's. With this I could indeed hear a difference, but it was clearly negative. My Rowland amps sounded harsh and nasty so they went right back into the wall. It took me a little while to realize what was happening to the rest of the system: flat, lacking dynamics
@markmuse. I have never liked plugging an Amp into a power conditioner. Interesting though the negative effect on the CD transport.