Hi-Fi can be a funny thing. It is not always as simple as upgrading your amplifier or speakers to get big improvements in your system, some products that might be ‘under the radar’ to most can make huge increases in sound quality. One such product is the new Audioquest Niagara 7000 Noise Dissipation System.
The idea of mains conditioning is not new, but is becoming more and more important in modern hi-fi. This is mainly due to the increase in airborne and AC-line-transmitted RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) and EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference). Believe it or not mobile phones, wi-fi, satellite TV and digital radio broadcasting all affect your mains. This is why you might have noticed that your hi-fi sounds better late at night when less devices are active around your home.
There are already a number of good mains conditioners on the market, and because of this Audioquest knew if they were to design one of their own, they had to make sure it was both different and of exceptional quality.
With the Niagara 7000 Audioquest claim to have done ‘a complete rethinking of AC power technology’. It utilises a number of advanced and unique technologies including optimised radio-frequency lead directionality, run-in capacitor forming technologies developed by NASA, and AC inlet and outlet contacts with heavy silver plating over extreme-purity copper, the world’s first Dielectric-Biased AC Isolation Transformers, and the widest bandwidth-linearized noise-dissipation circuit in the industry. The unique passive/active Transient Power Correction Circuit features an instantaneous current reservoir of over 90 amps peak, specifically designed for today’s current-starved power amplifiers. Most AC power products featuring “high-current outlets” merely minimise current compression; the Niagara 7000 corrects it.
The first thing we noticed when we plugged in the Niagara was that all background noise instantly fell away. Suddenly the music seemed like it had been brought forward and was less like hi-fi and more like ‘music’. There was a fantastic sense of realism, it gave excellent tonal qualities to the instruments.
Not everyone is always a fan of mains conditioners because they can constrain the dynamics, this is certainly not the case with the Niagara. It’s incredibly large current reservoir means that it can easily handle virtually anything. For instance, we have been using it with our £165k Naim Statement amplifier with impressive results. That is the kind of level of performance that you get from this product.
Interestingly, we also found that simply plugging the Niagara into your mains system makes a considerable difference alone (before you plug in your components into it!). The unit works to clean the whole network and tackle unwanted interference from the core network.
We now have the Niagara 7000 on permanent demonstration. If you are interested in hearing for yourself what it is capable of then please get in touch.