At the risk of raising a stink, here is an extract from my newbie comment posted the other day on the thread comparing Equi=Tech and PS power conditioners:
As I started my retirement project of finally building a good hifi system, I learned how much things had changed from when I first got interested back in high school in the mid-1970s. In those dark ages, people just hooked up machines to wall outlets and Radio Shack provided the cable.The good news back then, however, was that magazine reviews were critical endeavors using laboratory tests to check manufactuers claims. Unfortunately, that rigor seems to have gone out of style. Magazines such as the Absolute Sound pander to their advertisers. Shumyata stands atop Mount Everest even if the their power conditioners seem to ignorant me to be little more than overpriced shunts to ferrite sand.
First, I apologize for mispelling Shunyata. I should also add there is nothing wrong per se with shunting. In that regard, the new Shunyata ground shunting system (intelligently reviewed in TAS and discussed in another thread) looks to be a major advance in the war against noise. That grounding system -- including cables -- starts at considerably less cost than the higher towers of no power.
Some will opt for the brass ring version featuring a unique cabling topology of braided mysterium and asymetrical unobtainium. Sarcasm aside, why not sell what the market will bear? It's good business and the profits can support the high end audio press we need.
I should be less snide and more grateful.
Neil