Audioquest Niagara 1200

Is this noise you can actually hear in the music or just a reading that bothers you because it's there.  I ask this in all sincerity as I think many of us get all caught up in things that don't really matter?  Having said that, I've read a lot of good things about the Puritan PSM 156.  For what it's worth.  Cheers.

http://www.puritanaudiolabs.com/products/master-purifiers/psm156/

I had the same issue with Niagara 1200. Although I didn’t measure anything per se, the degradation in SQ was noticeable. Music became flat and lifeless. Returned that sucker within 2 weeks. I’m now using Gigawatt Powerprime with good results. I’ve also heard good things about the Puritan PSM 156. Good luck.

Thanks for the input. I initially jumped down this rabbit hole because I had a buzz coming out of my phono preamp. Since then I upgraded my electrical panel and added a dedicated 15 amp hospital outlet. Problem solved. I suspect I had a bad ground. I guess I’ll continue using my Furman power strip.

Why don't you let the Audioquest break-in and listen to some music? 

My Niagara 1200 performed the opposite of what's been described. Quieter background, no restrictions in dynamics, lower noise floor, a very slight film/hash removed that I didn't notice until it was gone, resulting in a smoother, natural flowing sound. 

I believe it's completely passive as there's no transformers and provides surge protection as well. If anything, it sounds like it past on the troubles you had up the line that were beyond it's passive design.

All the best,
Nonoise

I have had the same experience as @nonoise with the Niagara 1200.  It's a great product.

After reading all of the positive reviews on the Niagara 1200 I too was surprised with the additional noise on the 5 Linear Filtered outlets.  I was not expecting the unit to provide any sonic improvements. What I was looking to do was send clean power to my components. I live in a New England farm house that was built in the late 1800’s. So, my wiring is a nest of stuff that had been added over the last 150 years. Hence the recent panel upgrade.  I was getting more noise from my preamp during peak electrical usage. I initially thought I was getting some DC power coming from the transformer on the street.  So, I purchased the Audiolab mains filter, and DC blocker. It hasn’t helped. But, I don’t think it’s hurt either. Again thanks everyone for the input. 

Been using the 1200 over a year now. No detectable improvement or degrading. As reported by others, seems to me just an overpriced surge protector. Question: a year ago this product was backordered everywhere and price was rising. Today price is falling and buyers seem disappointed or worse. What's the bottom line here, if anyone knows?

Some hear differences, some don’t.

If we don’t know basic facts about the electrical system (noise, etc.) and the audio systems being used, how can any comparative judgments be valid? The time spent writing and thinking about this seems like it would be better spent reading a good novel.

I wrote a post about this exact subject three or four months ago. I bought the 1200 and when I hooked up my Atoll IN300 to the it, I felt the life was sucked out of the Atoll. I plugged the Atoll into the wall and it came back. I bought an Equi=Core 1800 MKII and could not be happier. The 1800 created such a blacker background and opened up the soundstage. I’m looking to purchase the Deep=Core 1800 because I have some DC. We’ll see what happens. The 1200 is sitting under my couch collecting dust. Yay. 

Very pleased with my Equi=Core & Deep=Core combo. Had a bad DC problem, DeepCore totally silenced it.

@lowrider57 - and I got an Equi=Core and a Deep=Core to try to deal with an alarming amount of noise I was getting from this tube headphone amp I'd bought; I contacted the amp maker and he suggested trying these. I'm sure they work great with some people in some electrical setups, for me, it made no appreciable difference and I returned the amp. Still have the Equi and Deep Cores, though I'll probably sell them at some point.