AudioQuest Niagara 1000 or 1200 - anyone have one?

dragon1952

Has anyone who owns either the AudioQuest Niagara 1000 or 1200 measured the AC noise out of their outlets just to see how well it does? Kevin Deal from Upscale Audio did a Youtube vid where he measures a 16 out of the Niagara 1000 when his wall outlet measured over 400 (must have had a computer on).
I get a 17-19 reading out my my Furman PFI 15's amp outlets and 45-50 out of the other banks (which is weird since they have more filtering I thought)

VR3

The best power conditioner is one at someone else's house 😁

dragon1952

VR3 wrote: »

The best power conditioner is one at someone else's house 😁

Yeah, well the problem is that I have my audio system and computer both in my man cave so unless I have a dedicated line installed for the audio system I have to deal with a lot of line noise unless I turn the computer off for every listening session, which isn't that hard to do. But I use the computer a lot and would rather have it always available. Either way, I need at least 6 outlets at the stereo and I've only got a duplex outlet.
When the computer is off I have very low noise, like readings of 9-13 on my meter on all wall outlets where <50 is considered low noise. And the Furman outlet noise is about cut in half too.
So consider if I have a dedicated audio system line installed or listen with the computer off, what would your recommendation be for additional outlets?

VR3

A dedicated line is a far superior investment for similar dollars. I have three dedicated circuits and would never look back.

dragon1952

What about extra outlets then? I need at least 6 and not sure I'd want to spring for 3 audiophile duplex outlets.

VR3

Just have them install a 3 gang plate with 3 outlets or a 5 gang with 5 or a 6 gang plate.

One circuit I have has 10 outlets, the other two just have one each.

I use the pangea outlets, at 20 some dollars they work great

motorstereo

I also get lower readings out my high current outlets on my furman. It doesn't make sense but that's how it works here to. The furman also dramatically lowers the line noise on my 3 dedicated lines just by being plugged in. That doesn't make sense to me either but the Alpha meter doesn't lie.

mhardy6647

VR3 wrote: »

The best power conditioner is one at someone else's house 😁

I thought that was swimming pools...

dragon1952

motorstereo wrote: »

I also get lower readings out my high current outlets on my furman. It doesn't make sense but that's how it works here to. The furman also dramatically lowers the line noise on my 3 dedicated lines just by being plugged in. That doesn't make sense to me either but the Alpha meter doesn't lie.

Yes, I've noted that even with the Furman plugged in and off the noise measures much lower on all outlets on that same circuit. I'd really like to know why :^ /

dragon1952

VR3 wrote: »

Just have them install a 3 gang plate with 3 outlets or a 5 gang with 5 or a 6 gang plate.

One circuit I have has 10 outlets, the other two just have one each.

I use the pangea outlets, at 20 some dollars they work great

So on your dedicated circuits what gauge wire did you have run, 10 or 12?

VR3

All three are 12 awg, 20 amp

dragon1952

VR3 wrote: »

All three are 12 awg, 20 amp

Did you use 20 amp outlets or just 15 then?

VR3

All outlets are 20 amp

dragon1952

Thanks...appreciate the input.

motorstereo

It's a good idea to have an Alpha emi meter in the tool box I found. Depending on the time of day my lines normally measure about 40-80 on the dedicated lines and 3-500 on the other 120 leg. Imagine my surprise when I saw a steady 1980 coming out of the dedicated lines and about 200 after the furman. The other 120 leg was unchanged. Thanks to the furman that big spike in the line noise hadn't become noticeable on my rig other than interfering with my fm radio reception.

After a fair amount of digging around, wire and component unplugging etc. I found the culprit. It was an early led bulb that I bought many years ago when they were first coming out. The light had gone out and it was producing nothing but heat and was actually hot. This nasty bulb was also a good 75' away from my rig and dedicated lines but it was on the same 120 leg. I swapped in a new cheapo led bulb from Walmart and voila......... instant drop back to my normal low line noise. Yep a good pc does work but it still pays to check those lines occasionally.

VR3

So, my issue with power conditioners is they are a dynamic range limiter. I think everyones system reacts to these devices differently. For some it could be a positive difference and while others is a huge negative.

My findings are, the larger the space you are trying to fill, the more you hear stuff like this. If you are always running lower volumes or listening near field you may not notice it.

motorstereo

^^^^^^^^I'm wondering why you'd be using a pc with your amp or amps?

My pc is capable of running my mono's so I had to try it. I felt the same way about limiting the dynamics but it might've been more bias expectation on my part.

VR3

Even using it on a source or preamp, can't explain it, always experienced the same results... Just sucks dynamics away like a sponge