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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?

 

 

nyev
nyev OP
1,031 posts
 

@ozzy yes I recall reading that in your post, which is why your post doesn’t help predict in my case how the sound will evolve, since it’s a different scenario.

Question for you on the 7000? Do you hear the dreaded buzzing coming from the box when the music is off? AudioQuest acknowledges the buzzing sound that some may hear in their manual. I’ve heard that for people that have the buzzing in the 5000, it’s even worse in the 7000.

This morning I noticed my Niagara 5000 demo was buzzing and could be heard from my couch when the house was quiet and the music was off. It was barely noticeable but definitely audible. As there is usually some sort of household background sound, it’s acceptable to me but I could see it being problematic for others. If the buzzing was any louder I would have an issue with it, which is why I think the 7000 is out of the question now.

Beyond that, the system is sounding better every time I listen to it. The benefits outweigh the small buzzing of the unit which again you can only notice when everything around you is ultra quiet.

No one has complained about a Torus buzzing though. I think my choices are now between a Torus RM20 and a Niagara 5000 - the 7000 is out as it’s almost a certainty the buzzing will be louder from what I’ve read.

Just to reiterate- the Niagara 5000 is really starting to sound great, despite the very mild buzzing which I don’t think will be an issue.  Any louder and it would absolutely be a problem.

The breakin improvements seems to be going faster than the r improvements I observed with my amp’s Dragon HC.  I think maybe because this Dragon is supplying power to the Niagara which is powering my entire system including sources.  Also maybe because with the Niagara, my amp and all devices drawing current through it, there is more current and breakin is faster.  Just my theories.

 

 

 

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,499 posts
 

nyev,

You know it’s funny. I did have a buzzing sound originally that was driving me crazy. But what I found was that I had applied some Perfect Path Tech goop on the leads going to my breaker and discovered that that lead had turned black. After cutting out the bad section of wire the buzz went completely away.

Today, there is absolutely no buzz or sound coming from the Niagara 7000.

You may need to play with the items that are plugged into the Niagara and change their locations if necessary. Keep digital together and amps and preamps in the High current section.

ozzy

nyev OP
1,031 posts
 

@ozzy , with my streamer, USB reclocker, network isolation switch (which all together is absolutely sublime by the way), I don’t have a whole lot of choice.  My Gryphon Diablo 300 is an integrated so it’s the only thing plugged into the high current socket.

Checked with my dealer and unfortunately there is no way to test the 7000 first.

I’m going to email AudioQuest and get their advice in this situation. 
 

The buzzing aside which I can live with, I am really liking the sound now.  It’s definitely not the same as the “pure” amp connected to the wall sound (when AC noise is low late at night), but it’s extremely good in other ways - including during the day now.  If I’m happy with the sound in a few days I might just go with the Niagara 5000 rather than risking the unknown with the Torus.  Unless AudioQuest can convince me that the 7000’s buzzing won’t be an issue after I contact them….

yodogyodog
14 posts
 

I just got a 7000 from U.S. audio mart or whatever.  It came like brand new.  I’m here to say there is zero buzzing sound when no music is playing.  A Rotel Michi S5 power amp is connected to it and it seems to be handling the demand sufficiently.

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