Furman Upgrade to Niagra

@navyachts To be honest I’ve stayed away from boutique noise protection. I’m afraid if you want to know about the effectiveness of devices like that you’ll have to ask others.

What I can say is that series mode surge protectors excel in reducing noise because of how low a frequency they start working, around 3 kHz. That’s absolutely in the audible range. A lot of RFI/EMI filters don’t even do anything below 100 kHz, which is radio range.

What I do use is iFi power adapters and shielded power cords and interconnect cables.  The ifi supplies reduce AC noise generated, and the shielded power cables prevent pickup of noise after the AC power has been cleaned.

@erik_squires thanks as always Eric!

As noted Garth is the magic excellent engineer w EARS behind Furman, AQ Power products and also very importantly cables….. collect em all and win. 

@tomic601 I find the AQ products a bit on the pricey side. I am researching alternatives and will post my findings later. Thanks 

I’ll second @adasdad’s opinion that the Niagara line is worthwhile. Since I’ve been in this hobby, I’ve tried the Furman PST-8D, AQ Powerquest 3, and consumer-grade options by Tripp Lite and CyberPower. None of those units made much of a difference for me. It wasn’t until I picked up a Niagara 1200 and 5000 that I heard positive differences. I was skeptical that the 5000 was going to be worth the cost, but it made such a big difference that I consider it an essential piece in a hifi rig now.

I don’t know the guy, but there’s this small dealer on YouTube called OCD Mikey. He has said that power conditioners under 1k don’t make a difference. That statement is consistent with my experience. But Mikey is a big fan of Puritan, which is more affordable than most of the AQ Niagara products. I haven’t tried Puritan yet, but it looks like it works well too.

I currently use the 1200 for my TV and the 5000 for my separate stereo system. I don’t feel that power conditioners are sexy, but that they’re foundational. And I feel that I made sonic gains with conditioners I couldn’t have otherwise made.