Power Conditioner: Isotek, Audioquest or other?

coto37,
From what I've read, there are no power conditioners that will save your equipment from a direct lighting strike. Those that are distant can be dealt with. As to what constitutes distant, I cannot say.

All the best,
Nonoise

One thing I noticed after the inclusion of the Niagara 1200 was the tone control settings on my JBL 4319 monitors had to be adjusted. I had forgotten about them and the subtle effect they can have.

Well, with the Niagara 1200, those subtle effects became more pronounced. It turns out that even though the mid and high frequency pots were just a nudge from their flat settings, I had to reverse them just as much in the opposite direction to where it now sounds the best.

Even the slightest adjustment now elicits a noticeable result, and I mean the slightest. Having that lower noise floor is paying big dividends just about everywhere.

And I'm loving these speakers more and more. Their potential was being held back by the crud on the AC. Heck, I can probably say the same thing for every piece of gear I have.

All the best,
Nonoise

I’m keeping my Audioquest Niagara 1200. I took my time just plugging my Kinki EX-M1 integrated into it and all it took was one CD and I plugged everything else in as well.

At first it reminded me of my Marantz Reference PM 15S2b. It had more of that warmth but lost none of the detail, finesse, dynamics and soundstage that the Kinki has.

There must have been a very short break-in period because it wasn’t long before I found the sweet spot. Without the AC nasties highlighting everything (which I hadn’t noticed until they were gone) I found myself listening anywhere from .5-2.0db higher than usual.

Some say the sound is sweeter and at first I thought it couldn’t be but I can see why. they'd think so, There is a tonal fullness to guitars that reveal the whole body of the instrument. Never have they sounded so convincing. Same for vocals. Can’t overlook the piano as well. Even the softest notes have that majesty that only a piano has.

A great recorded CD like a Japanese pressing of The European Jazz Trio will leave your jaw on the floor. No kidding.

Like capatindidactic said, I can hear things going on before a musician plays, which had me looking for them on the stage before they started.

I didn’t think that there was that much crud on the AC lines and that what I had was good enough.
Boy, was I wrong.

All the best,
Nonoise

 I should be getting my Audioquest Niagara 1200 tomorrow. It's just what I need to see through my shelter in place predicament. It should keep me busy for awhile but I'll definitely post my impressions on it.

I've been looking at it for about a year now and just had to scratch that itch. Using some High Fidelity MC 0.5 passive conditioners proved that there are nasties residing on the incoming AC. 

All the best,
Nonoise