Does anyone own and/or have experience with the Audioquest devices (such as the 3000 and 5000)?
Thank you
i would also be interested to hear if anyone have a Niagara 1200 and 3000 comparison
There are YouTube videos reviewing the 3000, 5000 and perhaps the 1200. The aspect that interests me is whether there is an audible difference when using these devices.
Funny, I have just been thinking recently, people are willing to spend many thousands on AC conditioners, network or USB cleaners, and stuff like that, where there is debate about whether they have an audible effect, or if so, how noticeable it is. The Niagara 5000 is $4,000, apparently.
I just bought the RAAL-Requisite SR1a headphones which blew me out of my chair, stunningly good, no questioning about whether the change is audible, but people think $4,000 for headphones (with the required amp) is an outrageous amount of money.
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I have owned the 5000 for nearly three years. I saw a dem at a HiFiNews show where they went from no conditioner and then up the Niagara range. There was no difficulty hearing the differences. I had a further dem in my own home before parting with the cash. I don’t regret it. You know those days when your system just sounds a bit off? They never happen anymore, it delivers consistently excellent sound with an absolutely silent background. Obviously not cheap, but in the context of my system I considered it worthwhile.
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Thank you. Informative to hear. The discussions of the technology online is interesting. I plan to buy one of the Niagara’s.
Regarding “expense”: I was in a conference room quite some time ago, noting to another guy that I had a new power amp. Another guy near by (nice guy) asked what I paid for the amp. He just shook his head and said “do you know what kinda hunting rifle you could get for that sorta money?” He was quite correct. For him, spending any money on “something that plays music when you have a radio in your car”, is simply foolish.
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I’m similarly interested in any experiences with the Puritan Audio products, e.g. the PSM136. They came recommended by a dealer whom I trust and my email exchanges with the company owner have been very helpful. Would be interested in comparisons to the Niagara 1200.
Based on slight background noise with headphones and a transformer hum caused by DC offset, I suspect that either my power is particularly poor or my Hegel amp is rather fussy about its power.
Sure. We all have our priorities. Why buy a camera when your phone has one?
Although I was staying within the field of audio.
I in fact have a PSAudio regenerator. But I got it because the power in my house is particularly bad, I had noticed significant problems. So I don’t argue against that, if there is a real problem.
Had not heard of the brand. Thank you. I have some Audioquest products, and I did enjoy/respect what the engineer said on the review by Upscale Audio. That is why I narrowed down to the 3000, 5000 etc. I wondered whether those that had them and similar products felt that it represented a good option.
I’ve certainly been very impressed by the Audioquest power demos at shows but I also like the idea of supporting a smaller company that seems to take a lot of pride in its products (and is pretty transparent about what’s in them).
It’s a kind philosophy to support those with smaller/startup/boutique shops. I see Audioquest as a large machine. I have power cables from a small cottage company. I bought them on resale by someone who owned them. Could use a few more.
I suspect that the Niagara (or similar) is strongly need in our home. It is a complex environment.
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I have the Niagara 1200 and it made a big difference in my main system. The noise floor lowered substantially and sounded more holographic. I’m thinking the current in my home is terrible. I added an isotek strip and it cleaned up my headphone home office area as well.
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The wiring in most homes was not created with a nod to more than powering toasters and lamps. Our homes are not great candidates for clean power to audio devices.
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Niagara products are well acclaimed, but in this price range I would recommend checking out the Inakustik AC-3500P.
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Audioquest provides the best technology currently on the market. Also the 1200 is a great entry and the 3000/5000 are outstanding. Also comparing them to PS audio, Isotek,… they outperform them.
Though what is important to have in mind - get a Thunder High Current for the Niagara and a NRG-Z3 or higher for your components. That way you take full advantage of the technology. To perform even better you could also use a wall socket by Audioquest or Furutech.
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I own a Niagara 1200; of all upgrades I have done overtime this is the one improved the sound quality the most.
Music is more lively, probably as reduction of floor noise. Imaging has also improve significantly.
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I would interested in knowing about the rest of your system to understand how the addition of the Niagara impacted the sound.
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My setup is NUC (Ubuntu Server) with Roon Server & HQPlayer ==> RPi4 with RoPieee ==> Chord Qutest ==> Cambridge Audio CXA81 ==> Dali Rubicon 6.
All except the NUC is connected to the Niagara 1200.
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Thank you. That’s quite a nice system. Mine is in my profile. I have not found that any addition has altered the sound of our system (speaker, power, USB cables). We do need a central power management device such as the Audioquest since we are (ugh) using a powerstrip currently. I know that Audioquest is very well marketed.