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Power cords, speaker cables or power conditioner?


John Gallup

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  • 1 month later...

Glad that you will get them soon.  BTW, if anyone wants a new Niagara 3000, they are running very low on those also.  I'll be getting my cables from AQ on Monday.  Can't freaking wait for them.  The two Hurricane's I sent to have terminated for the 20amp M5-HPA's won't be here for at least another week.  AQ has nailed their cords and cables.  Garth is a genius.  Can't wait for the end of the year when his new line of interconnects should be available for sale to the public.  

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They are a long ways off and that's why I bought the Fire balanced interconnect. If/When I add a preamp, I'll still have my 1m length of WEL for it.  I can't see how they will be THAT much better compared to the difference of the cords and speaker cables.  They are in a different atmosphere than the older models.  I think you will LOVE the Water.

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I wasn't the biggest fan of Sky. I originally got the Niagara's (new) over Sky.  That happens at times with cables as we've all seen.  It's not always the more expensive one being the best match.  That said, I have heard the AQ cables and cords in so many systems since the new lines came out.  I ended up getting the WT silver (bi wired) over Thunderbird that is considered the next level up.  I liked the Silver better.  I also liked the Robin Hood Silver better than the William Tell copper (that I purchased).  I didn't realize the RH Silver was better or I'd have purchased that over the WT originally. 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Hello! Let me tell you about my experience with cables and power conditioners. I use AQ Rocket 88 with my Treo CTs. They just work great. I had MITs but the AQ is better.

I have AQ power cords for all of my equipment, except the amp --Rogue ST100--. The major impact with a Blizzard cable was with the preamp --Zesto Leto 1.5--. Great improvement. Other power cables I'm using are Monsoon and Tornado. They all help with the sound. But when I tried these cables with my amp, I didn't like the sound. It became a little dull and constrained, and not much of an improvement in any area. My amp works better connected to the wall.

I also tried the AQ Niagara 3000 and I did not like it. It changed the sound in a way that was not of my liking. Again, it limited the dynamics and the texture of the music. It became a little lifeless and flat. This surprised me because I thought it would be an improvement. As many people say, power conditioners are very much system dependent. I'm sure the Niagara is a great product as most of AQ products, but not very useful in my system. 

Then, I tried the power conditioner from Isotek, the Aquarius. This was a great improvement for all of my sources, but not the amplifier nor the preamplifier. So I have the amp and preamp connected to the wall, and my DAC, phono preamp, streamer, and turntable connected to the Isotek. Everything is detailed and clear. The bass is tight and punchy. I love it.

I just wanted to share my experience with cables. Happy listening!

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I just ordered a Tornado High Current to go from the AQ wall outlet to my Niagara 1000.  And a Tornado Source (20a) to go from the Niagara 1000 to my ARC REF 6. 

These are replacing NRG-10 cables. I expect a nice upgrade. Any opinions on burn-in time? Any other feedback on the NRG-10 to Thunder switch?

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On 5/11/2021 at 10:50 AM, Pilrem said:

I just ordered a Tornado High Current to go from the AQ wall outlet to my Niagara 1000.  And a Tornado Source (20a) to go from the Niagara 1000 to my ARC REF 6. 

These are replacing NRG-10 cables. I expect a nice upgrade. Any opinions on burn-in time? Any other feedback on the NRG-10 to Thunder switch?

I think that the AQ cables that have the 72v DBS don’t require a burn-in time. The Tornado is a great cable and you’ll enjoy them from the very beginning. 

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On 5/14/2021 at 11:12 PM, GAD Global said:

I particularly think power cords have an advantage over speaker cables and power conditioners.  Do check out:

GAD Global

Hello GAD Global.  This forum is specifically set up for Vandersteen product owners and their direct experiences with cables on their Vandersteen based system.  Your posts appear to be spam with no direct Vandersteen experience.   If you wish to continue linking your website here, please share your experience about your power cords and speaker cables when connected to a system featuring your Vandersteen Speakers.   Please also submit a photo of your system as requested during registration.  Thanks.  Admin.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Maybe you can or maybe you can't.  Many of us are close to where we want the room to be and what components we want in the system.  Many of us have decided to upgrade cords and cables to get as much out of the system as we can.  I have found the Niagara 'conditioners' and their new cords to make a large difference.  To my ears it's a full component upgrade.  Same for the new William Tell Silver speaker cables.  You dont' need to spend nearly what many of us have spent to get better sound out of our components.  It's a personal choice of where to spend the money I guess.  

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  • 4 months later...

I believe that a power conditioner with an isolation transformer makes sense if you have dirty power off your local pole, back to the transformer, or gear that is lacking "something" in its power transformer area to clean it up.  

Where does one draw a line?  The house wires pick up interference.  Remember those "use your house as an antenna" devices, back in the day??  

I have a neighbor that has 'junk' in his house that makes noise, when on, on my battery powered GE Superadio on AM. We share the same transformer on the pole outside, along with a few others.

Incidentally,  a small AM tuned between stations below 600 kHz on the dial, can find issue areas in your house, like a laptop or PC, electronic appliances, etc..  

Just walk around.  Put it by your main breaker panel for a lot of noise!  AM is not forgiving.

 

 

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On 11/9/2021 at 8:47 AM, DC-93 said:

Incidentally,  a small AM tuned between stations below 600 kHz on the dial, can find issue areas in your house, like a laptop or PC, electronic appliances, etc..  

Just walk around.  Put it by your main breaker panel for a lot of noise!  AM is not forgiving.

AM radio—imagine that! I remember reading that a good way to find out which circuit a particular outlet is on was to plug in a radio, turn it up loud, and then pop breakers until it goes off. Problem is:  I don't have a radio that plugs in anymore. Or even a radio, for that matter:  got a beautiful old Sony receiver in the bedroom but it's too big to schlepp around.

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On 12/15/2020 at 1:32 PM, Steve Edwards said:

I use a power conditioner, but it is an Equi=Tech 2RQ (Grants Pass, OR).  As funds permit, I intend to go with more AQ products.  Will probably start out with speaker cables, as I have found they produce (at least in my experience) the most significant difference / improvement.  Then interconnects, then power cables, then  ................

 

Neat system!  I second the Equi=Tech recommendation.  I have a 2Q on my system with the Quatros, and a 3Q (which requires a 220V supply) for another system.  I'd recommend doing that before you experiment with cables.  It will make your cable experiments even more audible.  I found that out purely by accident.   I lent the 2Q to a friend, and he wound up buying a 3Q for himself and had a 220 line run for his system.

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1 hour ago, Moose said:

Neat system!  I second the Equi=Tech recommendation.  I have a 2Q on my system with the Quatros, and a 3Q (which requires a 220V supply) for another system.  I'd recommend doing that before you experiment with cables.  It will make your cable experiments even more audible.  I found that out purely by accident.   I lent the 2Q to a friend, and he wound up buying a 3Q for himself and had a 220 line run for his system.

That Equi=Tech actually looks like something that has “goodness”… their spec even says -30db >  100 kHz.

Where did you get it from? (I didn’t see dealers)

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I had the Equi+Tech, and I liked it. But, I was a bit concerned by how flakey the owner was (Mark something- who eventually sold the company to Underwood Wally). As well as how a few Audiogon members would tweak their units.

As a result of lost confidence, I switched to an Audioquest 1200 for my low power equipment. -Amps go direct to wall.

Bob

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16 hours ago, GdnrBob said:

As a result of lost confidence, I switched to an Audioquest 1200 for my low power equipment. -Amps go direct to wall.

Bob

GdnrBob, that brings up another interesting element.  I have both my PSE mono's plugged into the Equi=Tech.  One of my fellow audio nuts suggested I try them direct to wall.  But, it's been my thinking that I'd be eliminating the protection from a surge.  Guess it's a question of priority; protection or possibly a sonic improvement?

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