I prefer hospital-grade power cables (due to higher standard) and devices with inbuilt power cables.
Blizzard = Articuno
Thunder = Zapdos
Fire = Moltres ?!
Flagship cable? Check out the Arceus.
AQ Blizzard or Thunder?
vinylshadow, why should I sell my AQ Niagara 1200 line conditioner and get one from P.I. Audio? https://piaudiogroup.com/ |
So the Thunder is designed for high current applications such as power conditioners and amps. The Blizzard is multi purpose and can be used for High Current & source components. The thunder is solid core strands vs concentric packing. I am not an engineer & I don't believe that measurements alone can tell you what a cable sounds like. I do believe in design application so the Thunder would be the correct choice for your Niagara. I would suggest finding a dealer that uses a Thunder for demo & see if they would sell it to you on loan to try it out & listen for yourself if that is possible. |
Hello, These cables all make a difference. That doesn’t mean a good difference. AQ cables are really good on the right equipment. In my opinion you don’t throw AQ dragon on a streamer. Some cables are made for amps and some are made for sources. Their is even a sweet spot for preamps. I have tested a lot of this. The best power conditioner for the money is the Puritan PSM156 $2300 with their Ultimate XX power cable $925. If you try this you will buy it. I tried this on a whim coming from a $2000 20amp Furman. No matter what your music media choice is you will hear the difference and buy it. The Hifi store in the Chicagoland area will let you try before you buy. It does come with the Puritan Classic power cord unlike AQ which makes you buy it. A couple of concerns. Only 15 amp available, demo a burned in version due to it takes 12 days to burn in, 6 outlets, but they are totally separated in almost every aspect from one another. You can get a y adapter for each plug if you need more outlets. I recommend you put your TT with your phono stage or your DAC and Streamer together since they share cables anyways. Try before you buy. If I am full of it you have full permission to say I am full of it. Here is a store that lets you demo in your house or try before you buy: https://holmaudio.com/ I hope your local stores will let you try it. Also, When you borrow: 1. take a listen to three tracks without it 2. put the Puritan PSM156 in your system 3. take another listen with same tracks 4. 12 hours later listen again. 5. Pull Puritan PSM156 out 6. go buy Puritan so you are not sad 😩 |
@mskochman, in my system the AQ Thunder power cable was a significant upgrade from using the Blizzard with my AQ Niagara power conditioner. Thnx |
I own Audioquest (AQ) power cables in my system. I’m using a Thunder for my Niagara 3000 and (2) more for my mono block amps, and (2) Blizzards for my preamp and DAC. I haven’t swapped out the power cord from the wall to the Niagara 3000 to confirm any change in sound quality. AQ advised me to choose the best AQ power cable to connect from the wall to the Niagara 3000 since I didn’t want to spend money on Thunder cables for everything in the chain. They recommended I feed the conditioner the cleanest current with the best cable I was willing to purchase, then the rest of the gear could use equal or lowered tiered power cables in the AQ line. I definitely hear the improvements with the Thunder connected to my amps, which are plugged directly into the wall. IMO, the Thunder is the sweet spot in the AQ power cable line. |