Since you have tried Nordost cabling with the Nordost power conditioner, you should also try the Audioquest Dragon power cord with your Niagara 5000 conditioner. I believe they were designed to be used together.
ozzy
Some observations from a former skeptic - and a question
I had been firmly in the camp that power cables made little difference. A few years ago, I purchased an AQ Niagara 5000 (very nice improvement by itself BTW) and had auditioned various power cables with it. Nothing too fancy but I found differences difficult to perceive so I just used AQ Monsoon cables. However, I continued to read how others felt power cables had the most impact which I found curious.
I recently decided to move the Niagara to a system in another home and was planning on getting another Niagara 5000. My local dealer (who carries both AQ and Nordost) suggested I try the Nordost QB 8 MK III which he claimed to be a notable improvement over the MK II variant.
I compared the Nordost and Niagara in home and found them different but not dramatically so. The Nordost I thought a bit more dynamic, the Niagara a bit “blacker” in background.
The same dealer was surprised and suggested we do an In-store demo of power cables going into the QB 8 (great move by the local dealer!).
And there it was. The benefit was clearly there in improved spatial cues - the better cables were more “open”. I tried the same thing in my system - and same result. Unfortunately, power cables do matter. I will note that the AQ Niagara - as much as I liked it (and it was the first conditioner that I heard that made a big difference) - was somewhat negating the impact of the higher end power cables (a nice benefit in hindsight).
Power cables don’t make as much a difference as interconnects or high quality digital cables (to my ears, in my system) but the benefits are there depending on your budget and appetite for going down the proverbial rabbit hole.
As an aside, despite Nordost’s claim otherwise, the dealer and I both found the cable from the wall to the QB8 the least impactful and the cable(s) from the QB8 to the amp and source most impactful.
My system now is mostly Valhalla 2s (interconnects and A/C from QB 8 to components. I never expected to get here given my previous experiences.
I need one more A/C cable to complete my loom - for my processor (part of my digital stack). I auditioned a Tyr 2 and it made a notable difference. Unfortunately.
My total expenditure in cables is now equal to the cost of the rest of my system which seems crazy on the surface, but the results have been really rewarding - and more audible than most component upgrades.
Which leads me to a question:
How does this group think an Odin 1 (several available on this website) would match with my Valhalla 2 loom? I’m gathering many users feel that Valhalla 2s are > Odin 1s.
I could just stick w/ Tyr 2 on that unit though the cost differentials are not that great between new Tyr 2 and used Odin 1, but Valhalla 2s are up there.
Thoughts?
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Thanks all for the feedback. It has been an interesting journey and I’m grateful there are experienced forum participants who can offer feedback in a collaborative environment. @ghdprentice - noted on purchasing pre-owned cables. I think I’ll steer clear, though I will note the Odin 1s are from authorized Nordost dealers who took them in on trade for Odin 2. @ozzy - fair point. I did not compare my Niagara 5000 w/ a dragon cable into it or out of it. But, I did try some Hurricanes and Tornados when demoing things and did not find them materially better like I did when I went upstream on the Nordost system. Since so many here report positive experiences with the dragon level cables, I’ve no doubt I haven’t experienced the best of that unit, but I’m also not wanting to reverse course to now go all in on AQ cables. But, it is an intriguing idea. The system at the lake home is much simpler: Sonus Faber Olympica Nova IIIs, and an NAD M33 integrated amp w/ built in streamer. It’s quite musical (particularly given the price point), but I’m not feeling like I want to add $20k in cables to it. (Yet). Kind regards to all,
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Power cables make a difference alright. Just not as much difference as an isolation transformer, which also protects your equipment from spikes on the AC line. I did the experiment, which I've detailed several times on this forum. Only trouble with isolation transformers is that they tend to hum loudly when they're doing their job, so they really have to be sited outside the listening room. A utility room is ideal. |
My sense of things, especially with components associated with power is that it takes an expensive and intelligently selected set of power components designed to function as a system to have power components make a major impact upon what we hear. Some Ops want to add one super Amazon PC to one component and expect to hear a difference. I found it to be very difficult to spend large amounts of money on power and I only did so because my salesperson encouraged me to return everything if it didn’t make a major improvement to my system. I never expected to hear a major improvement and I felt guilty for spending so much money on items that I previously ignored. It’s great to hear of your positive experience, but spending a lot on power is a big step for many of us. |
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