For the past three months or so I've been using a FELICIA balanced power conditioner with excellant results. More about the Felicia can be found in the lab here
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=18441, and a constructor's thread is at
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=18443. Much thanks goes out to audiocircle members Occam, Josh K, and Tianguis who worked on the creation and evolution of this balanced power supply. Extra special thanks go out to Occam, who spent a long evening helping me construct a three unit Felcia.
While I never felt the power was terrible in my NYC apartment, there is certainly always room for improvement with electricity in an ubran enviornment. Of course, the Felcia (or any other balanced power conditioner) isolates the source components from each other, a plus in keeping digital hash out. I had a chance to hear the Felcia vs. the Audience power conditioner (not balanced) in a very resolving system, and prefered the Felicia. The Audience was enjoyable, though I felt it may have colored the sound a bit (though not in an unenjoyable way.) The Felicia felt more "honest" to the source.
In my own fairly resolving system (see below), the Felicia's effect is quite apparent. That well-used euphemism of "blacker background" is indeed rearing its head, though not at the expense of top end (read: "air"). I had tried some ferrite attachments on my interconnects once that did make things seem "quieter" and the background "blacker", but at the expense of the very high frequencies (those filters were sent back promptly.) Not so with the Felicia. Everything seems pretty balanced, subtley improved. Low level details become more notable. Also, unlike some power conditioners, dynamics don't get squashed. Percussion, horns, skronking loud electric guitars, symphonic bursts, all have their momentum maintained, all have the proper "snap", "attack" or "biff, pow, bam!", if you will.
A caveat: I am using Chris Venhaus' diy cable (flavor 2) to feed the input, and a quad of outlets so I can keep using my diy Venhaus cables I like, instead of the Volex cables (which seemed to work fine as well, but I had to tweak and try something else, can't help it.) The other thing is that I have not yet tried the latest "upgrade", the .01 Auricap bypass. The caps are on order so I can give that a whirl.
Bottom line: what do you have to lose? This unit is so inexpensive to build with the surplus Signal transformers that it would be criminal not to give it a whirl. I would not think about listening to my system without it.
Again, thanks to Occam, Josh K and Tianguis for helping to create this wonderful audio device.
System:
Speakers: Innersound Eros electrostatic/transmission line hybrid with latest Innersound crossover amplifier
Preamp: Transcendent Sound Grouded Grid tube preamp with Auricap upgrade.
Amplifier: Innersound iPower 330 electrostatic amplifier.
Phono Stage: Audible Illusions Mod. 3 with John Curl step-up Goldboard, using line out to feed signal to Transcendent Grounded Grid, but I am building a Hagerman Cornet tube phonostage with upgraded parts.
Turntable: Redpont-Galibier Quattro table, high mass design with outboard battery powered motor. Arm is a tricked out RB300 with Denon 103R cartridge (amazing cartridge for its price)
Digital source: Sony ES555 SACD player with upgraded op-amps (have thought about upgrading someday, but spend way more time listening to vinyl anyways.)
Cables: DIY Venhaus Pulsar interconnects, Pure Silver Sound interconnect between phono stage and pre. Will also give a whirl at Venhaus' DIY silver cables. For speaker cables on electrostatic panels, switching off between Innersound Coax speaker cable and a friend's Synergistic Research active shielded coax cables, trying to decide which I like better (and trying to source Belden 8213 coax cable in an amount much smaller than 500 foot spools!) On the Innersound woofers, it's a DIY tribraid of teflon and silver coated copper Aphex Jr. wire. Power cables are DIY Venhaus flavor 2, original cable on the Sony SACD player so as not to void warrenty (a year or two left), and besides, I opened part of the player up, and it looks like a major pain in the tucas to change out the cable. Maybe when the warrenty expires...
