Worthwhile $5 Tweak

Of course you could have saved yourself $5 by simply disconnecting the grounds to your components outlets.

Perhaps not the safest recommendation, but you most likely would notice a definite improvement in your system's sonics as grounds have a way of injecting much noise into the AC.

Funny thing is, to realize even better performance after disconnecting all grounds, is to re-connect the ground only to your pre-amp. Not sure why, but this lowers the noise floor even further and really smooths out the highs as well.

-IMO

Ed_sawyer, as far as I know, everybody has roughly the same amount of dirty AC/dirty grounding issues. Unless, of course, one lives near power station, industrial plant, etc..

I'm using Foundation Research LC-1's and LC-2 dedicated in-line conditioners for each of my components which are purported by some (including me) to be one of the best conditioners in the biz. And they do not have the drawbacks found in some to many other power conditioners.

Needless to say, floating the ground still helps.

You could own a nice Porsche 911, but the gas, gas tank, and gas lines are still dirty, and hence you would still reap the benefits from a gas filter and possible fuel additives.

Even though some gas stations advertise how clean their gas is, every single internal combustion, gas-powered engine in this world reaps performance benefits from the use of a gas filter.

I view electricity in much the same way.

-IMO

Sean, some mfg'ers in the high-end do exactly that. But apparently they filter out the offending frequecies (the effects) rather than the cause. And then even an excellent line conditioner may sound inferior when paired with such a component.

I would highly recommend reviewing the bottom half of the below thread:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&1050555107

Specifically, look for MusicFirst's postings. He is the distributor for Foundation Research and has some interesting, even very keen comments about high-end components, line conditioning, and the execution thereof.

As for your other points, unlike you, electronics are not my area of expertise, so I really can't comment much there. I only know what I think works and then try it and/or buy it.

Sean, as for your last statement about profit and hype that drives the high-end industry, not performance?

Profit is what makes capitalism work. Ain't nobody doing nothing for free, right?

And yes, there are certainly some to many who create or ride the hype for what they can get out of it. I can think of some popular line conditioners and amps that are among them.

But that's human nature. Care to discuss political parties and/or affiliations?

But then again, there's a whole underground audio market with their honest performance-oriented engineering that helps keep things somewhat in check. I think.

-IMO

Hdm, sorry for the delayed post. I believe that some of the LC's do come with the ground disabled. I've purchased all of mine used. I happen to have two with disabled grounds and 1 that is enabled. Funny because that's exactly the way I have my dedicated lines connected as only my preamp is grounded for best sonics.

Sean, I don't believe there was anything in MusicFirst's posts that would indicate the use of several independent isolation transformers. Although it's entirely possible.

As to your speculation of this not being a new idea? Again, I don't believe that had anything to do with anybody's point s above.

I was simply pointing out the superior performance of the Foundation Research LC-1 and LC-2 in-line power conditioners.

For those who take line conditioning seriously, you might want to hunt down a the August, 2003 review on these LC's from Marty DeWulf of Bound for Sound.

Marty DeWulf is a bit of a nut for line conditioning and claims these to be the best he's heard. Sold his previous line conditioners and now owns the Foundation Research LC's in his 'big rig'.

-IMO