Quote:
Now the salesman says I really need a Line Conditioner due to rf interference in my house and lines.

How's he know what's at your house? Has he been there or live next door? If not, he can't know. Line conditioners can offer improvements in performance of a system. They can also inhibit the performance of a system. Read the archives of the forum for information on both sides of this question. Ask the salesperson just how you can tell whether the conditioner is effectively doing its job. It's much easier to detect the downsides of a line conditioner than the positives. If you experience decreased dynamics and smaller soundstaging with less precise focus, you shouldn't keep that conditioner in your system. If you decide to buy a conditioner, make certain you buy a unit that does all the things you might require in the way of surge/lightning protection, under/over voltage protection, ground fault and line filtration. You might need one or all of those functions in your location. Some conditioners also offer separate outputs for digital and analog devices.

Ask for a demonstration in his shop and then an audition period in your home. If the salesperson is confident you have problems his unit can solve without degrading the performance of the audio/video components in any way, the audition should be made available with no more than a credit card deposit. The store takes your card number and does not process anything until you tell them to continue after an agreed upon audition period. If you can't convince yourself at home that you need this component, there has been no transfer of funds and the deposit receipt is destroyed when you return the item to the shop.

My humble opinion is, take the $ your 'SALES'man wants you spend on a PC and go buy a ton of new music so you can enjoy your new system.

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I finally purchased my NAD components and Monitor Audio speakers. Now the salesman says I really need a Line Conditioner due to rf interference in my house and lines. Are line conditioners effective at cleaning up the power to my amp? Will there be a noticeable sound quality gain?

Thanks,
Derek

Ultimately only you will be able to answer your last question. That said I would suggest that there is no need to rush, if you need extra outlets for your new system just pick up a cheap power strip and start listening.

Get very familiar with the sound, learn what you really like about it, dislike (let's hope nothing) and make note of anything that you feel could be improved upon.

Once you know your system like the back of your hand then you could start experimenting a bit. For a power line conditioneer I suggest starting modest, something like a Monster HTS 1000 or similar competitor products.

Many of the electronics outlets, e.g. Future Shop here in Canada, have no questions asked return policies that allow you to home trial a PLC at no risk. Failing that a used Monster or similar can be had pretty cheap from eBay, etc.

Great post BJH,
I had basicly followed the same advise in the past. I used a surge/power strip for some time, & I ended up with a PS Audio Duet. I noticed a postive change as soon as I powered up my gear with the Duet plugged in.
-Z

zfreiman,

Thanks!

Your mention of noticing a positive change on your PLC upgrade is, I forgot to mention, really the important thing about going slow.

It seems to me that one of the joys of being an audiophile is experiencing improvements in our sound systems. You won't get this starting off with a fully tweaked system.

I suppose for the user that is more strictly speaking a pure music lover the full service optimized/tweaked system approach is ideal but the audiophile in me wants to tinker and discover things first hand... for me that's a not insignificant part of the hobby!

Best,