Audioquest Niagara 5000 and Dragon Power.

mantis

Hello everyone,
So I picked up a 5000 and Dragon Power cord and have been using it for some time now. It's something I was kinda planning on doing and another part of me was not. I own so many power conditioner from different companies and I have been happy with them.

I'm gonna go negative to start as there is a few things about this unit I don't like.
1) The front face plate is beautiful chrome and they stuck a ugly black plastic rocker switch off to the one side. I hate that. Why not put a badass super clean home lighted push button power button to keep it looking sexy? I think this witch takes away from the awesome looks.

2) No IP control or Outlet rebooting abilities. With todays electronics, thing tend to lock up or not work properly and then you have to give said device a reboot. I would have been
nice to have the ability to have an App or even just a Web log in to cycle each outlet as necessary. Also with that in mind have a place to label each outlet so you know exactly what is plugged into each outlet. If I need to reboot anything, I have to reboot the entire system but using the front ugly **** rocker.

3) No cable or Network surge protection. So my area lately has been hit with flash flooding, super crazy rain storms and just miles away from me a F3 Tornado hit and basically ripped apart a dealership and ran it's way to Lowes and killed the parking lot Sheds etc. It was a mess. Anyway surge protection doesn't just come over the outlets, it also can come in through a cable line or a network feed from your network. Now in my case , I don't use cable service and my network is surge protected before it gets to my family Room system. BUT if I still had cable service , I would not want to use this unit as I have seen so many systems get damaged from not having cable protection.

4) The rubber feet. Really? This is what you decided to put on such a high end surge protector? They are like ones you find on more entry level units. I hate them and want to remove them and get some much higher end stable feet. Terrible decision especially for that this thing costs.

Now on to the good stuff.

This unit is pretty advanced for what it does do. You can plug amps right into it and it has plenty of current to supply up to some badass amps.

It has 12 outlets on the back which I absolutely love. All my APC power units have 12 outlets and it's so nice. My Panamax which I replaced with the 5000 , only had 10 outlets and they where all used up and I had to use the front one as I pulled out my old Xbox to play some older games not supported on the newer Xbox.

It's not extremely heavy, it's like 38 lbs so hot horrible to install.

Instead of me going over all the things this thing does , I'll leave a link for anyone looking to get into high end Surge protection. It's impressive from a performance stand point. Your system will be as quiet and noise free as possible. This one thing I really like. Things are just dead silent.

https://www.audioquest.com/Niagara

SO onto the power cord.

I got the Dragon High Current power cord. I got it to long but I have options if I need to move the 5000 around. Overkill? Probably wildly over kill. But it's designed to work with High current units like the 5000 so it's a nice match. It looks kinda insane as it's really 3 full power cords working together is a Kimber Kable style weave. It's huge heavy and not easy to manage.

As some of you already know, I'm not a fan of the batteries on the cables. First and foremost they get in the way when your trying to wire manage and I personally don't think they are necessary. Who the hell doesn't use their system on a regular basis? And not to mention it takes seconds for the cable to BREAK IN after it sits for awhile. You can go read about that tech and form your own opinion. I never felt it was necessary. You don't have to agree with me.

https://www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-cables/storm-series/dragon-high-variable-current

sgmsmg

Great review!
I have debated trying the 5000 but the chrome faceplate ruins it for me.

pitdogg2

Yea I agree the mirror finished front is a no go for me as well.

Nice review Dan.
That is a very nice cord.

mantis

Looks like you have some nice power in both your systems. The 5000 would be something to re consider. The Chrome face plate , if your going for a certain look does look out of place BUT on it's own it's pretty nice to see something other then black and Silver

Clipdat

Did I miss the listening impressions?

mantis

Clipdat wrote: »

Did I miss the listening impressions?

The addition of the Niagara Power center and the Dragon High Current Power cord did make things quieter. With that said it made my Subwoofers louder and system overall play louder at the same volume. I thought I had it turned up louder but it was where I usually play it. I had to actually re calibrate my subwoofers ( Velodyne DD-10's , I use 2 of them ).

This thing delivers the current man. It feels like it adds to the overall power delivery from the wall.
I have a dedicated 20 amp circuit and this unit is also 20 amps. The High Current power cord doesn't restrict any current so all my amps are getting fed proper power.

So for wiring , all my power cords are audioquest. I'm basically fully audioquest power except the outlet. I currently have a PS audio Power Port 20 amp outlet in the wall which I have had for many years. I also have a audioquest Edison 20 amp that I have not installed yet. I plan on doing it at some point, don't know how much of any difference it's gonna make over the PS audio model which is very high end and well built. The Edison is what is also built into the Niagara 5000.

So with a dedicated line, 20 amps of power , all upgrade power cords and this monster of a power center I can safely say I have the very best power supply my money can buy.

I was considering going with a full Surge X system which includes a 20 amp branch circuit you mount down by your electrical panel. It feeds right off the breaker and into the branch circuit. Then you run the output to your system with a high end outlet like the audioquest Edison or PS audio Power port then you can use any other multi outlet device you like as you would be protected. Surge X is a damn good company and they make fine products. It was the way I was gonna go before I dug into this beast. Its stupid expensive and the 7000 is even more but if you have a system you want to protect and have it work as good as it can, I can't see why anyone wouldn't want to invest in power protection.

I'm gonna probably sell off some of my other power centers. I have many from Monster , APC and Panamax. They just sit here and they could go to one of you guys if you don't have something at least as nice as those. Hit me up if your looking for some power protection and voltage stabilization.

VR3

Do you run dedicated circuits?

pitdogg2

VR3 wrote: »

Do you run dedicated circuits?

I have a dedicated 20 amp circuit and this unit is also 20 amps. The High Current power cord doesn't restrict any current so all my amps are getting fed proper power.

Looks like it

VR3

Missed that

mantis

VR3 wrote: »

Do you run dedicated circuits?

yes I do

Clipdat

Thanks Dan for the listening impressions!

mantis

Clipdat wrote: »

Thanks Dan for the listening impressions!

Your welcome. It's a fine unit, expensive but very nice. It doesn't even come with a power cord for that kind of money, you have to pick one out which also was extremely expensive.