Symptoms of UN-CLEAN power

Fatiguing to listen to, glare, maybe muddy under some circumstances, lack of soundstage .I know this is not what you want to hear but when you add a good power conditioner, things will sound so much better! And you’ll know if it’s the right power conditioner, that also applies to power cords. You may want to audition a couple of different brands. Good luck they definitely make a difference. 

Based on this thread, I think most of you would have a heart attack if you saw the power quality in the average studio, and I don't mean the low end ones, I mean the high end ones. It ain't pretty, but they still make great music.

@kraftwerkturbo 

1. Breakers for each of the 20amp lines placed in different areas away from each other. Can't hurt if there's space and was a recommendation by other forum members.

2. Siemens was another recommendation, basically just to use higher quality breakers because again, can't hurt.

3. Ran the individual lines when I had a new panel installed because it made it much easier to do at the same time.

I don’t think I’ve posted to this thread yet. Stop me if you’ve heard this.

I’d start at the meter. Your power company can pull it for you. Are the contacts corroded? What kind of wire runs from that? What is your feed from the street "transformer"? Who are you sharing it with?

What does your main service panel look like? You can pull dedicated lines from it but I’d first check the power coming into it.

I ran a sub panel, once I sorted the main service panel, and took 60 amps for the system, far more than needed, for a big-assed iso transformer. That outputs via 4 gauge to the panel adjacent to the room, from which I’ve pulled a number of dedicated lines, using 10 gauge and Porter Ports. System sound fine.

I listened to it with "dirty power" vs. the iso transformer installed. Didn’t hear much difference. Frankly, the system sounded a little bright at first, but it could have been all the new wire. Or I adjusted to it. I changed cartridges, which made a big difference, but if you are concerned about "clean" power, don’t approach it with after the fact band-aids, sort the basics first, starting with the quality of power coming into your place.

@kraftwerkturbo it’s hard to tell whether or not your system is affected by the “dirt” in your AC.
There’s a lot to consider including power supplies and even the crap your digital components throw back into your power. Add to that appliances, etc.

Only way to determine if a power conditioner will make a positive difference is to try one. Running your source components into a power conditioner would almost always improve the overall noise floor. Amps are different beasts and I prefer running my amp direct without power conditioner.

I use Puritan PSM156 and it does help in reducing noise floor resulting in quieter background and therefore more details. It does help slightly with my amplifier as well when it comes to reducing noise floor albeit resulting in a slightly less dynamic presentation. So I run my amp direct.