Audioquest NRG Z3 power cord

[Nakatomi63]

Z3+Niagara 1200....excellent marriage

[paul.oorbeek]

Niagara 1200 here with AQ-Blizzard to the 1200 and also to Dev 220. Enjoying it very much.

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

[zoran_pavlovic]

Hi guys,
many thanks for your replies and advice. Highly appreciate.
@BoyScout: yes, that's exactly what I've heard that in some setup's Niagara 1200 is not capable to deliver enough current and can somehow spoil the sound. But in some setups.
I will try at my home how does it sound.
@Johnnydev: many thanks for the help. Let me ask you about the Monsoon cable. Where is Monson but where Z3 attached in the "chain" : wall socket --> power cable --> Niagara 1200 --> power cable --> Devialet?
@Nakatomi63: I see that you utilize Z3 as well. Let me ask you: do you have two Z3 cables - from the wall socket to Niagara and further to Devialet, or you use another power cable in that chain? btw, I see you use Orea Graphite - did you place them under Devialet?
@paul.oorbeek: so, you utilize blizzard with Niagara? did you try Z3?

And let me ask you another question: how's about a wall socket? at the moment my Z3 cable is attached directly to the wall. And the wall socket is some $5 plastic socket. Did you try with some brand-name wall socket? I realized that Furutech is highly recognized in the hi-wi world, with wall sockets. Found some model, FP-SWS (G), with the price of ~ $100. The price doesn't hurt, but don't know does it help?
thanks guys once again and have a great weekend and enjoy the music

[Nakatomi63]

Hi guys,
many thanks for your replies and advice. Highly appreciate.
@BoyScout: yes, that's exactly what I've heard that in some setup's Niagara 1200 is not capable to deliver enough current and can somehow spoil the sound. But in some setups.
I will try at my home how does it sound.
@Johnnydev: many thanks for the help. Let me ask you about the Monsoon cable. Where is Monson but where Z3 attached in the "chain" : wall socket --> power cable --> Niagara 1200 --> power cable --> Devialet?
@Nakatomi63: I see that you utilize Z3 as well. Let me ask you: do you have two Z3 cables - from the wall socket to Niagara and further to Devialet, or you use another power cable in that chain? btw, I see you use Orea Graphite - did you place them under Devialet?
@paul.oorbeek: so, you utilize blizzard with Niagara? did you try Z3?

And let me ask you another question: how's about a wall socket? at the moment my Z3 cable is attached directly to the wall. And the wall socket is some $5 plastic socket. Did you try with some brand-name wall socket? I realized that Furutech is highly recognized in the hi-wi world, with wall sockets. Found some model, FP-SWS (G), with the price of ~ $100. The price doesn't hurt, but don't know does it help?
thanks guys once again and have a great weekend and enjoy the music

Of course I use two Z3 cables: wall -> Niagara 1200 -> Devialet 220 Pro. This way I avoid degrading the virtues of the Z3.
Regarding your second question, I use 4 Orea Graphite to isolate the Devialet. They provide some improvement in the sound (separation of details and wider sound scene) and with the bonus of an improvement in the visual aspect.
As always, it is best to test for yourself if possible.

[markush]

Definitely go for the Furutech wall socket. I tried Niagara 1200,3000,5000 and they all perform great in their price range. Also listened to Z3 all the way up to Hurricane. But the Z3 is really providing some outstanding performance for the price.

[Johnnydev]

@zoran-pavlovic.

I will try to answer as completely.

Since the Z3 was released in Europe, I have had several AQ cables at home for a long time. At that time with a somewhat better power strip.

First from a furutech gold and later furutech gold NCF wall socket.

When the Monsoon and Blizzard came out, I bought them all twice or more to be able to try them out here at home for a longer period of time.

The experiences were already that the more expensive in my installation was not always the better.

The moment the Niagara 1200 and the powerquest 3 were released in Europe, I immediately bought them.

The powerquest3 for modem and router.
The niagara 1200 for my music system.

From that moment until now I'm about settled.

To me it sounds best like this:
Blizzard from wall socket to Niagara.
From niagara 1200 with Z2 to TV, with Monsoon to Farad super 3 > Etherregen. and with two Z3's to my phantom golds.

A powercable is already attached to the powerquest 3, which is comparable to the monsoon. from that powerquest 3 i go with monsoons to 2x farad super3 to modem and router.

Recently tried everything out again and come to the following for me:

From wall contact door to niagarara 1200 the best choice is the blizard, followed by the monsoon and finally the Z3.

From the filtered connections on the Niagara 1200 to the Farad super 3 > etherregen, the Monsoon sounds the best, then the Z3 and the blizzard the least.

from the filtered connections on the niagara 1200 to my devialet phantom golds the Z3's sound the best, followed by the monsoons and really the least the Blizzards. (strange, but really in my situation ;-)

from the powerquest 3 i go to 2x farads super3 to modem and router, the Monsoons sounds here the best.

I have put a lot of time and costs into trying it out, but of course this can work out differently at your home. Power is and will remain difficult.

It should also be noted that the power from the meter cupboard to the wall socket now looks like this:
Gigawatt G-C16A circuit breaker in meter cupboard and gigawatt wall socket  G-044 with my installation.
See: https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/...tt-part-1/

I have also successfully using 3 pieces of furutech NCF clear line- AC power suplly optimizer.

It should also be noted that both the Niagara 1200 and 3000 do not have power-limiting outlets.
It is important, as Audioquest also puts in its manual, is that you have to expirimate what is the best outlet for the device in question. That can also give quite a difference in SQ.

It should also be noted that i have a separate and good earthing system in use and have made all devices and connections in such a way that earth loops are not possible.

hope it helps you?

Sorry for my englisch.

[zoran_pavlovic]

Hi guys,
again, very much appreciate your assistance, and thanks a lot!
@Nakatomi63: thanks for the info. I asked about 2 Z3 cables since I read that some users here reached great results by putting Monsoon from the wall socket to Niagara and then Z3 from Niagara to Devialet. As for Orfeo, yes, I think I will go for it.
@markush: thanks man, I will take one Furutech and give it a try. It is not so painful (~ $100) . And yes, I am really surprised and satisfied with the difference Z3 made in regards to the original AQ cable shipped with Devialet.
@Johnnydev: I do really appreciate the time you spent writing such a thorough answer. Pretty sure it will help some other/new customers of Z3 as well And yes, I found here in Serbia one authorized reseller of Audioquest and I will take one Niagara and try it at my home. Have to say also, that your experiments with different power cables are impressive. Not too many people are capable / interested to make such experiments. And you englisch is great. Am besten Dank

[docvale]

so...
in order to second the upgrade itch (that, with the Devialet platform, is intrinsically limited in the opportunities), I decided to experiment with cables.
My Expert 120 came with a thin, unbranded power cable and I decided to try the Z3 after reading the enthusiastic reports here.

Not to ignite a flame, but I have to say that, if any, the improvements provided by this cable are minimal. After few days of use, I re-installed the old cable as I believe it gets easier to recognize a negative effect on quality of sound after you got acclimated with improvements: sadly, the sound was just the same (very very good in both cases, BTW).

I'd consider to keep the cable as the $$ I put there don't break the bank and I like its solid appearance (I know, I'm being shallow), but unfortunately what I got from this "investment" is that my cable-skepticism is now supported by some experimental evidence.

[zoran_pavlovic]

so...
in order to second the upgrade itch (that, with the Devialet platform, is intrinsically limited in the opportunities), I decided to experiment with cables.
My Expert 120 came with a thin, unbranded power cable and I decided to try the Z3 after reading the enthusiastic reports here.

Not to ignite a flame, but I have to say that, if any, the improvements provided by this cable are minimal. After few days of use, I re-installed the old cable as I believe it gets easier to recognize a negative effect on quality of sound after you got acclimated with improvements: sadly, the sound was just the same (very very good in both cases, BTW).

I'd consider to keep the cable as the $$ I put there don't break the bank and I like its solid appearance (I know, I'm being shallow), but unfortunately what I got from this "investment" is that my cable-skepticism is now supported by some experimental evidence.

Hi @docvale, 
Thanks for sharing your experience. Well, many hi-if and high-end enthusiasts will tell you that you shall listen to and like, what best suits to your ears  
Anyhow, I noticed the difference between original cable came with Devialet (Audioquest Y) and Z3 and am satisfied with the purchase.
If I may say, It is pretty strange that your Deviale 120 came with thin, unbranded cable? I thought that Devialet comes with Audioquest cable by default. 
Regards
Zoran

[docvale]

I think the AQ power cable became a standard with the Pro series.