I take it, from your post, that you have a Hydra and are looking to improve upon its performance, yes? For what it's worth, I have two Hydras in my system (although not the newest models, as they keep changing them every couple of years and doubling the prices in the process!) I can't offer an opinion as to whether the new Hydras (the Alphas, the Talos and the Triton) are better than the latest offerings from PS Audio or others because I haven't heard them. But what I can say is that my Hydras were, to my ears at least, an order or two magnitude better than their competition at the time I purchased them.
One upgrade option for whichever model you have is to upgrade the power cord--though that can be pricey itself. If you own your own home and haven't already done it, however, the most cost effective tweak I can recommend is to have an electrician install a dedicated line (or lines) for your gear... dedicated meanthing that earch line has only one wall outlet and nothing besides your condition is on that line. It/they should be grounded at least 20 amps. I have two of them--one overrated at 30 amps (for my amplifier, connected via a Hydra 2) and one 20 amp for my source components (via a Hydra 4).
The cost for this will vary, depending on the distance between your outlet and the fuse box, and local electrician fees. But it will still be small compared to buying a really good new conditioner. (My 30 and 20 amp lines cost me $250 and $200 respectively).
If you live in a rental and cannot do this, you could at least still upgrade the wall outlets (and yes, it does make a difference, especially if your gear is highly resolving). With or without a dedicated line, I'd defintely suggest doing the outlets. Prices for "audiophile" grade outlets seem to run anywehere from about $30 to $300. I've tried the PS Audio outlets (at around $45 and the Shunyatas, which are cryio treated) at $75 and settled on the latter.
Hope this helps
One upgrade option for whichever model you have is to upgrade the power cord--though that can be pricey itself. If you own your own home and haven't already done it, however, the most cost effective tweak I can recommend is to have an electrician install a dedicated line (or lines) for your gear... dedicated meanthing that earch line has only one wall outlet and nothing besides your condition is on that line. It/they should be grounded at least 20 amps. I have two of them--one overrated at 30 amps (for my amplifier, connected via a Hydra 2) and one 20 amp for my source components (via a Hydra 4).
The cost for this will vary, depending on the distance between your outlet and the fuse box, and local electrician fees. But it will still be small compared to buying a really good new conditioner. (My 30 and 20 amp lines cost me $250 and $200 respectively).
If you live in a rental and cannot do this, you could at least still upgrade the wall outlets (and yes, it does make a difference, especially if your gear is highly resolving). With or without a dedicated line, I'd defintely suggest doing the outlets. Prices for "audiophile" grade outlets seem to run anywehere from about $30 to $300. I've tried the PS Audio outlets (at around $45 and the Shunyatas, which are cryio treated) at $75 and settled on the latter.
Hope this helps