Does power conditioning really matter?


I have a friend who is setting up a budget system with a nice hi def plasma (Pioneer PDP-5020FD) and an entry level receiver (either Denon AVR 1909 or Onkyo TX-SR606) who is wondering whether the Monster conditioner for $300 that the salesperson is pushing is really necessary over a plain surge suppressor. Will this make a difference in his system?
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Showing 1 response by flrnlamb

The AVS2000 Monster voltage regulator and power station is a completely different animal than the basic monster strips, for the record. You simply need to compare anything, and it's all relative, and "in context" that things must be judged...on their own merits, in YOUR own system, really. I've read reviews on the AVS2000, and the reviewers had mixed experiences, depending on system/application - but none had bad things to say, that I can recall.
I would say that you'll likely get favorable results simply trying some budget, and bellow, (yes, $300 is a budget piece, compared to what's out there) $sub $300 conditioners, and compare, if it were me. You can do it at your leisure and end up with whatever works best.
I once had a system next to a power transformer from the electric company, which came out at the wall with VERY HIGH voltage at night time. My system was running on 132+ volts some times - while at other times it was lower down to 123. I noticed that my systems sounded rather dull and dead when it was high at night, but sounded pretty darn good in the mornings/days, when voltage was low. In this case, I think some sort of power supply/regulator would have made my system work better.
My buddy lived in an area where his power was always on the low side - like around 118 or lower, voltage.
For whatever reason, my simple crossover design speakers were really picky about the power you gave them. Dunno why.
Again, I think you need to take into context all the variables, and simply experiment for truest results. The rest is just speculation.
Remember, "The crowd is always wrong"...so consider that when you are really looking for a correct answer.