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Power Conditioners: Audioquest Niagara 5000 or Shunyata Denali 6000S

I’ve been trying to decide which of these two power conditioners might make a better purchase. Do any of you own either, have chosen one over the other, or better yet, gotten to A/B them? I’ve found some, but not a lot, of information online comparing the two. So I thought I’d ask if any of you might know something more.

They both come in at $4000 retail which is my budgetary limit. The Niagara is active, the Denali passive. Some threads compare the Denal a little less favorably to the twice as expensive Audioquest Niagara 7000, for what that’s worth. I heard that the Audioquest Niagara 5000 may hum or buzz under some cirumstances. Anybody have that issue? I’ll probably never get a chance to demo them out here in the hinterlands so I’m hanging on your every word before I drop another wad of cash on one or the other.

There is also an Audio Magic conditioner at the same $4000 price point, but I didn’t quite understand it’s function in comparison to the other two. I’ll have to reread that product description.Someone else recommended a Richard Gray model that confusingly turned out to be a giant-sized surge protector.

Anyway I’d appreciate if any of you have any input on this somewhat obscure topic of power conditioners. I’m looking at one of these two power conditioners as opposed to a regenerator, or pure isolation transformer, or other type of line conditioner. If it’s of any import my equipment is a VPI Classic 2 SE turntable with an Ortofon 2M Black moving magnet cartridge, a Marantz SA8005 CD player, a Luxman 507uX Mark II integrated amp, and Magico A3 speakers all to be on a dedicated line and plugged into the conditioner. I am not interested in purchasing used.

Thanks for any input or advice. I hope someone out there knows something about these two.

Mike
skyscraper
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,901 posts
 
skyscraper

swapping cables and power cords is the best approach until you reach products that compliment your system. Take full advantage of your local AQ dealer, retailer.  Have fun!

Happy Listening!
rzado
175 posts
 
Hi Mike,

I have now had enough opportunity listening in my system to provide some comparison thoughts.  The below anysis is with respect to the Audioquest 5000 to latest Shunyata Triton only.  Please note I have no skin in this game, and ultimately elected to purchase neither product after auditioning both for about 2 months. In fact, I own and use an AQ WEL Signature power cord for my current power conditioner (a Purepower 3000).

In short, the Shunyata substantially outperformed the Audioquest in my system.  The Shunyata works well at reducing noise, presenting information with a lot of ease.  Instruments have a lot of tonal density and color across the stage.  Low level resolution is good.  Ultimate stage width and depth is passable, but not remarkable.  My biggest issues is in the lower midrange to midbass.  The Shuyata is, in my system, notably colored, with a bit of a caramel presentation and warmth in the range of the cello and bass guitar.  In many systems, this would work well, but my system is already a touch warm in this range, so the Shunyata is not a good fit.

In view of the above, I would recommend the Shunyata for those in the market for such a product taking into account its characteristics.  I would not recommend the Audioquest, which to me sounds like a typical active filtering power conditioner - you can get the same performance for less.


skyscraper OP
831 posts
 
Thanks for the input rzado. I'm hoping my recently purchased Shunyata Denali works well with my new system once my back ordered Magico A3's finally arrive in February, hopefully. I'll post my assessment then.  Sounds as if it should fit in well as you usually don't read the Magico's have a warm presentation. The Denali may vary somewhat from the Triton you demoed. so I'll just have to wait and see. How do you like your Purepower 3000 relative to the others. I'm unfamiliar with that make and model. I'll have to look it up. 

Mike
slaw's avatar
slaw
21,988 posts
 
@skyscraper,

You're now "on the train".
hamburger
132 posts
 
I tried both the Denali 6000s with its accompanying top-model fat but flexible powercord, and the Audioquest Niagara 7000 with my own Hi-Diamond 3 power cord for a month each.

The Denali 6000s was good, but music sounded "artificial" to me. And I noticed it only goes well with its own Shunyata cords.

The Niagara 7000 has a faint high frequency whirling sound, like a CPU fan, but I can barely hear it from my listening chair. According to some sources, the humming becomes louder with tube equipment.  I dunno.  My system is all solid state.

I bought the Niagara 7000 because it played music better... Musicality-Fulfillment!
Technically, the Denali was not bad, but it did not make me feel musical enjoyment.
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