Results with Audioquest Niagara 5000 / Dragon HC
So my second Dragon HC cable finally arrived and I’m retesting the Niagara 5000 demo that my local dealer loaned me. They had loaned it to me before and I found it made the sound veiled. At the time I attributed it to the low end NRG-1000 cord they loaned with it, when I was plugging my Diablo 300 amp into it using a Dragon HC.
Turns out I was right. Sounds fantastic now, with a Dragon powering the Niagara 5000 and a Dragon powering my amp. I have Hurricanes connected to the conditioner powering my sources.
Nordost’s support (I have Valhalla 2 speaker cables) warned me that every conditioner, filter, and regenerator alters tonal balance in some way that is unpredictable because the effect is unique to each system. This seems accurate. The Niagara 5000 definitely adds more bass groove, slam, and overall solidity to the rhythm. The midrange may be very slightly brighter. But overall I like the effect vs my amp plugged into the wall. It is possible that it is NOT actually impacting tonal balance and rather the “power correction” is correcting my power and thereby correcting my tone. I guess there is no way to figure out what is actually the baseline tone and whether the Niagara is affecting it, or simply achieving the actual baseline tone through power correction.
Nordost recommended I look into Torus for neutrality. Others report that going Torus leads to a “open, unrestrained mids and upper frequencies”. Torus is different than the Niagara in that it’s just a big isolation transformer (RM20).
While I know I like what the Niagara 5000 does now, my considerations are:
-Buy a Niagara 7000 (is it worth it over the 5000 for significant added cost?)
-Buy a Torus RM20 (I don’t think I can get a demo), which is less cost than a Niagara 5000 and WAY less than a Niagara 7000. And supposedly achieves an open, detailed, free-flowing sound.
I’ve found it’s system dependent but I’ll ask anyways: have people found the Niagara 7000 to perform better than the 5000? If so in what ways? And, does anyone have experience comparing Niagara against Torus, for amps, and/or sources?
Why not try something like this instead? Read the reviews and I think you’ll find it does the things you’re looking for, and at less than half price used if it doesn’t work out you can likely just turn around and sell it for little/no loss — kinda like a low-risk, in-home trial. Anyway, just another potential option FWIW, and best of luck. https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649868626-audience-ar6-tssox-power-conditioner-wpowerchord-se-i/ |
I loaned my PSaudio PP10 to a friend with who has modded and tuned his system amost to perfection. It is a low power tube system and the amp has an awesome power supply. He has had the PP10 a week and isn't sure he likes it. Very similar to what you report. Our theory is that he has tuned his system to perform best with the power supplied to the outlet and would have to retune it to the clean power. This is just a theory. I'll be getting it back and putting it back into my system critically. When I first installed it I made a lot of mods at once. It will be interesting to put it back in and listening critcially. I must say that I am not finding my system at all deficient without it. I believe it does indeed make the clean power that it claims and provides plenty of power to the amp. There is no loss of dynamics of bass. I'll try to better understnd the differences. The PP10 is an 80 lb rectifier/inverter system with tremendous power capabilities. I beieve the Niagara is similar. I am always skeptical of the passive cleaner devices like the one recommended above. The PP10 also has an oscilloscope built in and analyses the power coming in. Contrary to popular opinion, power does not get cleaner at night. (my theory is that systems sound beter at night because there is less ambient noise and the listener is more relaxed). Jerry |
Well, I own the AudioQuest Niagara 7000, 1200, and 1000. But no 5000 or 3000. The 7000 is powered via a Dragon high current. I do not have any AudioQuest power cables on my mono blocks due to the length needed and the cost, but they are plugged into the 7000 high current outlets. I have found that adding Dragons (source) to my Lumin X1 to be a great revelation in sound purity. Perhaps that is what is missing in your system. Have you tried a Dragon source on your front-end equipment? BTW, I know it is expensive, but I have made many mistakes buying something because it was cheaper only to later on end up buying what I originally wanted. Thus, costing more upgrading. And, I have owned or tried many power conditioners. To me, the Niagara 7000 is the best! ozzy |
@ozzy , I totally believe Dragon Sources would help but I’d need THREE for my digital chain (streamer, reclocker, network isolation switch)….. Plus, my system is everything I want it to be after 11:30pm each night, with NO conditioner. All I really want is to hopefully enable this performance in the day - nothing more. The reason I’m interested in Torus (RM 20) is that everyone who has tried it seems to say it improves the sound EXACTLY in the ways my sound improves late at night - more open, more unrestrained, more detailed, with a soundstage that opens up to be “holographic”. It is super frustrating that I get this sound at night but not during the day. While I really do like what my Niagara 5000 demo is doing, no doubt, it is NOT making my system sound like it does at night. So yeah, upgrading my Hurricane Source cables to Dragons would be awesome, but I know it shouldn’t be necessary to get that sound I’m looking for because I already do get that sound late at night! As I’d actually need four including a turntable I’d eventually get, I think an upgrade to Firebird Sources might be slightly less crazy money at almost half the cost of Dragons. But still crazy money…. After listening to the Niagara 5000 late last night and not getting those qualities I get at that time with NO conditioner, I am starting to lean towards a Torus RM20. The Torus is a different approach to the rest, as it’s not a “conditioner”. It’s simply a massive isolation transformer, and nothing more.
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