I like the fact that most of these forums tend to be very scientific types - a good dose of skepticism is needed when dealing with audio equipment.

I was wondering if anyone here uses power line conditioners and notices any aural difference. I realize that they are a good thing to have (for equipment protection), but I'm debating the purchase of a decent Sentrex 12amp line conditioner for < $50, or something like a Monster HTS-1000, which seems to get good reviews, etc. - and runs a little less than $100. Just the fact that is marketed towards the "audio" market makes me skeptical. Kind of like how CD-Rs for music are 2x the price of CD-Rs for computers...

I have this idea that I could market an "audiophile candle" that burns with a "specially calibrated wax" that "will release a thin smoke to sweeten the resonance of the air surrounding the listener." I think it would cost something like $1500.

Any and all comments welcome...

The candle is a better idea than buying a power conditioner.
Now an air conditioner, that is a whole different story.

A good discussion on the matter with a lot of input by engineers:
http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=67909965&m=4750992875

Semi, that was a great discussion.
My favourite quote from that thread has to be:
"You keep going on and on about power supply design as if it's some esoteric science, at the same level as the search for the God Particle."
Driverguru

Yes, excellent discussion on the line conditioner nonsense; although long, well worth reading. I especially loved the statement from the conditioner proponent relating to the placebo effect: "I don't deny that the effect exists, but there's no way that it is such a huge factor as to be the cause of an entire industry". Noel Lee would be laughing his head off.

What about the tripp lite line conditioners that are more like voltage regulators? The LC-2400 can be found for under $100 used and will fill in any brown outs. I am thinking about getting one.

Wow. Hmm. Maybe I'll reconsider that LCR2400. However, separating entirely from the sound (for the moment, let us remove sound quality from the equation), would a line conditioner/surge protector/UPS _protect_ the equipment from power spikes, brown outs, etc? (I know, I know, we've been over this...)

Actually, the reason music CD-Rs are 2x the price is that some money from their sales is thrown at the recording industry. Before stand-alone audio CD-recorders (not the kind inside your computer) came on the market, legal battles resulted in a "royalty fee" to offset the piracy the music industry believed would take place.

Unfortunately, if you've got one of these recorders you have to buy music CD-Rs because data CD-Rs won't work in them.

The moral of the story is NEVER buy music CD-Rs for a CD burner in your computer.

Here's an article on the subject.

Well Stereophile just reviewed 2 line conditioners; one was a very high-end Monster unit, AVS 2000, which cost ~$1500 I believe. Chip Stern found that it offered virtually no net benefit to the amplifier; it was actually detrimental and restraining in some ways. However, he did find that it improved the sound of digital source components nicely.

Now that is a high-end line conditioner which basically regenerates the power signal to some extent. It provided very subtle results overall. I would look at it as something to prolong the life of your components if you have really poor power (deviating significantly from 120 V).

So what do you expect for $100? It's a glorified surge protector and probably does nothing to solve moderate power fluctuations. Forget about sonic benefits. Nevertheless, I may buy one of those Monster units just to get a little more protection from a big power spike. I won't lose any sleep over any subtle degredation of sound quality.

-Cooper

Thanks!

I knew I could count on someone here for some real EE knowledge. The thread you linked to was great. Like I kind of expected, power line conditioners may be fine for protection... but when you are rectifying AC current to DC, it really doesn't matter the "quality" of the AC input.

Thanks again!

Happy to help.

Here's the link to Alan Lofft's view on the subject: "in my judgement, power conditioners rank right up there with expensive exotic cable in the scam territory. They make absolutely no difference to sound quality, nor should they. Yet naive audiophiles, trying to improve the admittedly flawed illusion of stereo and home theater, will spend hundreds of dollars on power conditioners. Of course, if you believe strongly enough, perhaps you'll hear a difference, just like the gullible townspeople seeing the emperor's new clothes (when he had none)."