Niagara 5000 Vs Torus RM20 or PS Audio Power Plant 12

@gwng8 , just finished watching that video you linked - thanks for that, I enjoyed it. Good perspective. Without being an electrical engineer myself I do wonder if there are other ways of testing/sampling etc that might yield different conclusions.

If this dude is to be believed and all conditioners / regenerators are useless as proven by his measurements, then I am simply doomed to having poorer sound during the day! Or maybe I need to go back to my less resolving speaker cables and live in blissful ignorance….

If I’m ever buying a new home in the future, I can see myself saying to the realtor “Yes but what is the total harmonic distortion coming in on the AC lines”….

@nyev,

Yes, but those are technical measurements with some being out of the range of human hearing. Although measurable distortion readings, these readings may not be audible. I believe that if anyone has noticeable power fluctuations which impact the audio component negatively that power regeneration is a must, no matter the manufacturer. I agree bout the fan noise on the PS12…Get a used P10 or opt for the new P15 or  P20 f you want to go the PS audio route with no fan noise. 

To reduce AC distortion on the main lines use the Environmental Potential EP2050 surge, spike and line noise eliminator. This is an industrial originated product used in commercial industry, hospitals, server farms, large manufacturing facilities…it elIminates nasty line noise which degrade sensitive electronics over time. It’s about 1k. Your electrician can easily install into the electrical panel if you have two 120 volts slots free next to each other.

https://store.acousticfrontiers.com/products/environmental-potentials-ep-2050

I’ll look into that line noise eliminator. Some audio equipment vendors also have devices purported to do this (Shunyata has their inexpensive Venom Defender which simply plugs into a spare socket on the same circuit as your audio gear).

Regarding the Audiosciencereview video, he also tested bands within the audible range and presented it as proof that the PS Audio PP-12 actually makes the sound worse. I read another report he did “proving” that Audioquest’s Niagara 1200 was utterly useless, and even as a surge protector was not well-designed.

Regarding his theory that our brains trick us into hearing the improvements, well my initial finding of the Niagara 5000 with the NRG-1000 cable sounding worse in the mids and uppers hopefully suggests that I lean at least to a more objective assessment of the sound. I honestly don’t have any strong faith that the Niagara or Torus conditioners when paired with a high end Dragon power cord will do anything for me. I’ll admit I WANT them to work though!

Another example - I just recently realized that my Audioquest Diamond USB cable between my Innuos streamer and my InnuOS reclocker sounds inferior to the generic cable that came with the reclocker, with the generic cable sounding a tad more open and detailed! Note that without the reclocker and plugging the USB directly into the DAC, this is not the case and the AQ USB cable wins. But just goes to show that ears can seem to be objective in some cases too.

@nyev 

Agree with you on all points. Adding to the discussion regarding our ears and listening impressions with various devices. I bought a 1/2 dozen of Shunyata Sigma NR 2 power cables for my system. Well, too much is too much. I used Neotech hi-fi pure silver power cables on my amps. They are plugged into a PS20. Well, the Shunyata did not seem to have the life or zest that the Neotechs have when plugged to into my McIntosh MC2301s. I tried direct in wall and into the PS20, the connection to the PS20 always seemed better to me regardless of which cable I m using. The sigmas are on my field coil power supplies now. But, I might experiment with the Omegas with QRB technology which is supposed to eliminate the need for any conditioning. 
 

When I plugged the Neotechs back into the amps, I had that aha, there you are moment, the sound I was missing when I was using the Sigmas on the amps was back. So, I have discovered that as you said, our ears can become objective. 

@audioquest4life , I recently demoed the Sigma V2 NR and the Omega QR and commented in another thread. I found the Sigma to be slightly harsh in the upper mids, but only noticeable after extended listening. The sigmas were very “detail forward”. However, the Sigma demo had a 20-to-15A adapter as Shunyata didn’t have any 15A demo’s on hand, so I do wonder if that had a negative impact.

The Omega QR surprised me as it had a totally different presentation - buttery smooth, more refined, slightly warm, but still with all the detail.

Ultimately went with Audioquest Dragon HC not because I thought it sounded better (was more energetic/lively than the Omega - not better or worse, just different). But rather, because the Omega came with a yellow plastic tab to try to make the connection with my amplifier tight. It didn’t make a secure connection, and I thought that was a bit cheesy with the yellow tab.

The Dragon on my system is maybe a bit more rock and roll with more energized rhythm and bass, and with more forward but smooth detail (not as bright as the Sigma was). The Omega QR might be better for jazz, etc. But both would be great sounding with any music.

Regarding the conditioning tech in the Omega QR, it is very basic I think. It was not that noticeable at all, and even Shunyata told me a 3X Sigma V2 NR with a Denali conditioner would beat 2 X Omega QR with no conditioner for my source equipment. If you only need mild conditioning maybe it would be fine.