is anyone using this - keen to know if good results are obtained with Naim equipment?
Power āconditionersā are not well regarded on Naim, mostly reports of softening the sound, a much used phrase in the sound is āsat uponā.
Do you have a specific problem with your power supply that you need to address?
not specifically - but seems the niagara isnāt a conditioner or a surge protector - seems to provide lots of HF filtering in the MHZ and maybe GHZ frequencies?
found a mains extension in my garage which I completely forgot about - with neons.
replaced it, and the improvement (well - it seems soā¦ ) is the my main rig sounds ā¦ welllā¦ more musical. I noted also an immediate improvement in high frequencies.
I had no idea a mains extension with neons in it placed in my garage could interfere with the performance to this extentā¦ hence my query about the niagaraā¦
Very interested in this thread. I am aware that PowerConditioners and Naim are not an āideal coupleā, nevertheless I see more and more Naim dealers here in BeNeLux advocating Nirvana 3000 or 5000 with Naim. Never heart or tested it so very interested if somebody has experienced the sound.
Iver
I heard it in a Kudos speaker demo with active Linn, did not sound bad, i am just not a Linn person. Could not say if it improved things or notā¦or why they were using itā¦it was at Audio show east a while back.
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OK but beware of the bad reports about neon lamps. It might well be true of the little warning lamps from years back, but these days they can also be LED, a different animal altogether.
Looking inside the Niagara(s), they have a lot of components that might well filter high frequency hash, but the main components such as chokes & capacitors are common & differential mode filters & these are the basic components in all power āconditionersā.
Anyhow, Iām waiting for a forumite post on actual experience. Are there any mag reviews ?
I agree with you - in this case these are genuine neon lighted mains extensions which I though I had managed to get rid of - just the hidden one in the garage was left.
yes the Niagara 5000 has a lot of components.
Audioquest do say for the high-current sockets (for power amps) in the lower range ones (1200) there is not much filtering - apart from a DC blockerā¦
Also KJ west (one of the 3 statement dealers in UK) do recommend the top of the line niagara with the statementā¦?
Do you already have dedicated mains with separate consumer unit and earthing? That should eliminate potential issues from stuff elsewhere in the house. As I understand it, unless there are specific mains issues, any form of filtering on the supply for the Naim is best avoided. The only time I tried filtering, the effect was really bad, but that was only a very basic filter within a four way mains plug.
where I live this is not possible. If I could do it I would have done for sure.
I recently got a Shunyata conditioner. So far, improvement in all parameters. Also experimenting with different power cords. I question the Naim wisdom of only use their stuff with their gear. In the US, several dealers I know of recommend and demo with conditioners and aftermarket cables.
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Iāve had the Niagara 1200 for about 8 months. My SN2 is plugged into the high current plug. Iāve not noticed things going bad. I donāt know if it made a big difference for the better either. Iāve made changes to cables and equipment since, itās hard to tell without removing it, may do that some day, but in no hurry. Itās a nicely built and not too expensive item.
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The Niagara is an outstanding product range. Various technologies are included there. I compared it against Isotek, PS audio etc and as many other also said goes out of the test as best overall solution.
Itās just to have in mind using also a NRG-Z3 power cord or higher which completes the technology and provides best results.
The 3000 and up have additional power reservoir for current peaks.
I very much recommend testing 1200 or up to 5000 depending on your requirements, you will immediately hear the difference.
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thanks, whatās your naim system?
Was testing with a SN2
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Can you elaborate on your findings. I am ver interested.
What would you like to know?
Iād be interested how the sound was affected by bringing in the conditioner. I have a 252/SuperCapDr/NDX2/555Dr/300Dr and consider to audition a 3000 or 5000. I want to be 100% sure that that wonāt cause loss of dynamics and PRAT. Try to understand what I am up to, if I take that demo (long distance driving, etc)
I have been testing with power conditioners / filters etc. for about 20 years. And as you mentioned unfortunately most of them are not recommended. Even though they improve a few things they worsen other important areas like dynamics.
I am very happy that AudioQuest made a great step with their power cables and Niagara products. You will definitely not regret deciding for the demo! Itās really amazing to see what the Niagara along with AQ power cords will do to your system. From the 3000 up there is added dynamics, better rhythm, soundstage getting wider and deeper and everythingās got more flow/energy.
Love to hear your impressions after doing the demo.
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BTW if you would like to ādive deeperā into the topic āPower Demystifiedā is a really interesting read I just found on the website.
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I use a Niagara 1000 with a SN2 and an NDX2. No loss of prat or dynamics. It improved the sound quality by lowering the noise floor and allowing more details through.
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