Is an isolation transformer better than a power conditioner?

Would clarify that Equitech is "balanced" power transformer. Not conventional transformer. Noise gets canceled by balancing power to +60/-60 instead of +120/0 (not a completely accurate way to describe it). Most of the noise affecting your system is produced by the reactive power generated by your own gear (depending how terrible your wall current may be). The  regenerators do nothing to mitigate that problem. Plus they limit current so you can't use it for your amps. You can (and should) plug your amps into the Equitech. Dynamic range is not limited (assuming you have the right size unit) and the noise floor is lowered dramatically.

I like to 'try new things' as much as the other audiophile, but I think when it comes to power it's best to ask oneself "what am I trying to fix". Let's start with the basic premise of power supply to our systems. It needs to be a stable sinewave. For us in North America, that means a 60Hz sinewave with as little distortion as possible, and no DC offset. For most people, this is indeed was is coming into your house, and it gets a bit muddled up from there, but maybe? So....I could write pages about this, but if you want to 'try and listen' please do - but it is so much better to start with a good power analysis (put a power analyzer on your mains and on the outlet(s) feeding your stereo. Start with that! I do have a power analyzer at my disposal and discovered the cause of much hum (mechanical, in transformers) was DC offset from my incoming power. Also, my voltage does drift (as most does) dpendant on time of day, and I would see moments of current distortion (iTHD) about 4%; my vTHD was typically <2% - all good, but could be improved. Start with something like that. I opted for a whole house surge supression system, a 20A dedicated line in MC (not Romex) and a large (3000VA) dedicated isolation tranformer with some EMI filtering included mounted near my breaker box. They HUM. If they are torroids, the might not, but standard laminated transformers will hum, and that's ok given my power issues. Result? remarkably quiet system in my music room. No hum (mechanical, audible, or otherwise) whatsoever. Dead quiet. Lots of transient ability in amps (the transformer is rated at 550A for 1/2cycle, 110A for 1sec, continuous at 25A, though my breaker/circuit is 20A). I'm very pleased with the result. THD is now <1%.   If you want a similar analysis, I would contact any electrical/power consulting company in your area; the engineer might be a bit perplexed at first, but I would guess he'd embrace a homeowner/hobbyist taking his power system seriously. If they don't, move on to the next one.

Started out with Richard Gray Power Products to PS Audio regenerators,

None of these things improved my listening pleasure in my 2 channel audio presentation. I wasted tremendous amounts of money on these things. Guess I paid for my stupidities.

For instance, do you know that some regenerators carry varistors in front of the high current outlets.

And don’t fool yourself, dedicated lines do not remove anything from the power lines, they may help to lower the impedance, but by how much at what price tag.

Even though, as I said, if you find an improvement, I can tell you it is not a bang for the buck.

The other thing, is most big-name manufacturer spends a large part of their on budget tank built structure, instead of implementing superior musical designs, and, not to mention the cheapest electronic parts like transformers, capacitor, resistors etc. that they fit in their products, you can buy better parts even at Radio Shack

I’ve never used a Power Conditioner.  Would any perceived improvement be affected by where one lives?  I currently live in Chicago but am contemplating retirement and moving to a sparsely populated rural area.

@mahler123 

It is definitely dependent on where you live. That said, for the vast majority it provides a very meaningful improvement in sound quality. Even more likely to produce a really meaningful improvement are direct lines.

OP,

Congratulations on your progress on your power. I look forward to hearing your system sometime… if the pandemic calms or goes away.