Listening

Testing filters is pretty tricky. There is a need for continuous change and the fact is: the results vary greatly from system to system. One system benefits greatly from it; the other does not at all. For example, the Pass Labs: which sounds terribly bad via the Isotek Titan and the Audioquest. The whole thing gets hard, glassy… pushy. In short: doesn’t work.

Baseline

If we connect our reference system to an IKEA power strip, we almost immediately hear that the whole system collapes. But honestly: our listening room just has very bad power. Remember: the noise-meter displays MAX by default. That’s why we play via a Kemp Powerstrip 8plus by default. It does a good job, we now know. (you get used to it quickly). This is our baseline.

Then we connect the basis of the system again to the Kemp – the XP-12 and the Metrum Pavane – and connect one of the two Ambre’s to the Audioquest Niagara to see what the differences are in a good situation. The Bryston remains connected to the Isotek Titan.

From this situation we can transfer more and more to the Audioquest. Because honestly: testing with the set directly in the wall is no fun. And it just doesn’t show what the subtle differences are.

Punchy and smooth

What stands out between the two Ambre’s is that the Ambre through the Audioquest has a slightly more prominent middle area. We recognize that: the Kemp is pretty layed back. This is incredibly well audible with Adele’s song Love Song. Furthermore, we don’t hear much difference in the low end, but we do hear much difference in the higher areas. The Audioquest seems to present a bit fresher.

We take the album Back to Black by Amy W(h)inehouse. The MQA version of Tidal. (Both the high-res and CD versions are less well recorded…). Here too we hear the same differences between the Kemp, directly in the wall and the Audioquest. The Niagara 5000 puts the middle a little more prominently in the room. Compared to directly in the wall – the most logical comparison – the Audioquest brings a lot more peace and transparency.

When we move the Metrum Acoustics Pavane from the Kemp to the Audioquets, we hear a similar change. A little more mid, fresher high and little difference in the lower frequencies. What’s better? That’s a matter of taste and a match with the system.

To hear a better difference, we take the Metrum Acoustics Pavane ‘back to the standard: directly into the wall’. Damn… that’s not funny. Grainy, flat… Restless. Adele also clearly has a hiss on the voice. The character is gone….

Then back to the Niagara: yes… much better. Much more peace, insight and fluidity. Also a little more punch in the layer. But never too much.

Amplifiers…

Good: directly into the wall or the Niagara 5000 is a no-brainer for us: the Audioquest sounds cleaner and finer. There’s more music. The difference between the Kemp PowerStrip 8plus and the Audioquest is mainly timbre. The Kemp is a little more layed back. The Audioquest is a bit more up-front. Fresher… Both bring more peace and more insight into the music. But just in a different way.

But then: can the Niagara 5000 also control a power amplifier? We normally use an Isotek Titan EVO3 on our Bryston 4B. The rest of the system goes into the Kemp. Purely because the Titan is not for low-power products. The Niagara 5000 can do both.

The Titan is a beast: we just hear more dynamics than without this block of metal in the power chain. And well … that level the Audioquest Niagara 5000 simply cannot reach. But: we don’t hear any loss of dynamics. And that’s an achievement in itself. Because many filters make the power amplifier sound worse.

If we then put the Bryston directly into the wall and than switch back to the Audioquest, the difference is less than with the sources…. yeah. It’s a little better. But it’s not the peace we hear with the Isotek. Where the Titan brings more punch and – to your feeling – an extra octave at the bottom, with the Niagara we don’t hear any – silly wordplay – shocking differences. Anyway, nothing goes wrong. And that’s worth a lot, too.