Below is what I posted on another thread on the Accesssories Forum but Hi Fi forum members may find it useful or strange:
Sorry for this long post..... Did a bit more research this afternoon and some people say mains conditioning (apart from "cleaning" dirty mains supply to remove as much interference from other properties nearby and any electrical applicances in the house etc), also lowers the "noise floor" and gives more "headroom". Vague concepts to me! And that if one already has fairly "clean" mains to start off with, then mains conditioning may not necessarily make the music sound too different in terms of tonal balance, soundstage, detail etc, and it may only make the music sound a little more dynamic.... so far so good. Those who have read my earlier posts know that I live in a quiet village and I believe I have fairly clean mains because I cannot really tell any difference between my old Tacima mains condiitoning extension block (rrp £30) and my "ebay special" Isotek GII Mini-sub (rrp £550) after two evenings of A/B testing. (note - the Tacima did make a difference compared to my old cheapo extension block so I was comparing the Tacima with the Isotek).
After doing the above research, I tried the A/B testing again to see if I notice more "dynamic" music with the Isotek.... Well, was I surprised !! I didn't really notice any better dynamics (which is a pretty vague concept to me anyway), but what I noticed was something I was not expecting or indeed looking out for -- using the Isotek resulted in better sound than the Tacima:- tighter, punchier bass, more details in the mid-range and sweeter treble, but not a huge difference. Then I began scratching my head because the difference was noticeable, especially in quieter passages in Dians Krall's piano ballards, and I wondered why I did not pick up the difference in the last two evenings <---- a clue here.
Then !! I identified the only material differences between the separate testing sessions -- whilst I had the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher running in the utility room this afternoon, and neighbours were cutting grass, using pressure washer to wash cars etc, none of these things were happening during my evening test sessions. So why did the music sound better with the Isotek this afternoon when it should really sound worse with the outside ambient noise and electrical appliances working overtime? The only conclusion I can draw from this paradox is that the Tacima can only "clean" so much electrical noise (say for example up to 2 on a scale of 1 to 10), but the Isotek can do it up to say 8 on the same scale. And when the mains noise levels in the evening test sessions were lower due to absence of all the above electrical appliances or people nearby using lots of electrical equipment, the Tacima can cope and did just as well as the Isotek. But when the mains noise levels were, I imagine, materially higher earlier this afternoon, the Isotek stepped up to the plate while the Tacima did not do as well, hence revealing up noticeable differences in resultant sound quality between the two!
The above ties up generally with what some posters were saying on another thread as to why music appear to sound better at night - less electrical noise being one factor. I will post this on that thread as well. That is my two penny's worth as they say, YMMV!!
PS. Before other posters tell me it is all snake-oil/placebo effect and I am deaf, let me just say that I am someone who would not normally express an opinion (or dismiss other people's opinion) on something unless I have had personal experience of it, or experimented with it. In other words, I do not normally express an opinion based on "objective theory", I always try to base it on personal experience. I shall now run and hide.....
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram