On the surface your request sounds reasonable, so any kind of snarky reply would tend to sound UNreasonable. In fact, perhaps I SHOULD try some expensive power conditioners in my system....
But that assumes that it's not all just
observer bias. That'd be hard to prove, since the improvements you're citing -- -- these improvements, unfortunately, are not measurable. They're entirely subjective judgments -- which is the very
definition of "observer bias."
Listen, in order to approach a subject like this with any kind of intelligence, one would have to articulate a MECHANISM by which the perceived improvements could be happening.
Take the case of "healing crystals." Yes, certainly, people who lay on bamboo mats with healing crystals on their chakra points undoubtedly feel the power of the crystals flowing through them. From a purely experiential viewpoint I'm sure devotees of crystal therapy DO experience greater calm, less pain, more focus, whatever it is that crystals are supposed to do for you. Does this make the power of healing crystals "real"? Well, it certainly feels "real" to the patients who experience these
subjective, observer-bias, benefits.
But drill down a level, and science will tell you that it's all
placebo effect. There is no scientific mechanism by which rocks of a crystalline structure can affect bloodflow, nerve impulse propagation, or any other bodily function. The body simply does not run on "crystal vibration frequencies."
That does not mean the effects of crystal therapy are any less real. Practitioners can point to dozens, hundreds, thousands of testimonials from patients citing increased energy, stamina, sex drive, concentration, feelings of peacefulness. But because these results cannot be scientifically measured -- and also
because there is no scientific basis for explaining the results -- the field of crystallography remains a "pseudoscience."
It's the same with a lot of audio woo, including elaborate PCs.
The concept is based on some real observations: yes, the AC mains coming into your house are polluted with lots of UHF noise in addition to the 60Hz alternating current. But here's where science comes in -- your audio equipment does not run on 60Hz 120 volt AC. All audio equipment steps this line voltage down, through a series of transistors, ICs, capacitors and resistors to provide the +5 volts DC, or +17 VDC, or
50v tube grid voltage, or whatever it is that your equipment runs on. Running the source voltage through all these step-down processes filters out all the UHF hash that was present at the plug. If it didn't the results would be obvious and measurable -- not just observer bias.
But let's imagine, for the sake of argument, that component power supplies didn't do a good job of filtering the AC power. Let's say some UHF hash made it through to the final audio (or video) circuits.
Would this result in the symptoms people claim to experience?
Take Bob's video example. "Greater picture
clarity,
sharpness and
lack of grain." Are these characteristics that would be affected by noise in the power supply? All three are functions of pixel size, pixel density, pixel dynamic range, and response to changes in the incoming picture signal. The design of the screen determines the pixel density and size. The dynamic range is a function of the voltage swing available to the pixels. The amount of grain is a result of the resolution of the incoming picture signal (horizontal lines, vertical lines and refresh rate, to greatly oversimplify). If noise in the power supply were present, it would manifest itself as high frequency humming,
hash on the TV screen, unwanted lines, random dots, snow. These may be present on an unfiltered TV -- but the effect apparently isn't severe enough to be noticeable before you put the PC on the line. Therefore, the effect -- if any -- is entirely subjective.
Besides which, distortion in picture quality derives
almost entirely from the picture signal, not the AC mains coming in. In other words, the "healing crystals" aren't even connected to the bloodstream. AC filtering addresses the wrong system.
Theoretically maybe you could get a cleaner signal from your cable provider or your Blu-ray player -- and certainly HD and 4K signal sources do this -- but filtering the AC mains is pseudoscience.
It's the same with audio. "
Listener fatigue" and "
better sound" (by which I assume you mean greater detail, higher resolution, less noise) is a function of the signal path -- not the power supply. If you have a problem with noise coming through the power supply it's going to be audible in the output. If you don't hear it until you filter the AC mains, then the difference you're hearing is perceptual, or subjective only.
Placebo effect.
Observer bias.
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