I always like TrippLite for basics. If you get cheaper protectors, you need to replace annually. I like their UPS - they have one that has 900 whatevers, and will handle over and under voltage, has an led display for about $100. And plain power strips with surge protectors for dirt cheap.
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I’ve been swapping power cables with my RebelAmp, as it doesn’t ship with a cable. Yes, the cable does affect its sound. Some cables are brighter, while others filter the highs. However, in my case I’m plugging all of them into a power strip. The same current comes from the power station and into the wall, and then gets pre-processed by my power strip. The last 1 to 2 meters of dedicated amp cable would serve as a choke, filter, or RFI blocker? Correct? Greater or lesser resistance?
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I’m not an expert by any means, but as far as I know, many of the options you mentioned are possibilities. One thing I’ve learned (and experienced) is that noise in your system (from whatever source) can cause a false sense of brightness or even resolution by raising the noise floor. Here is a post by Rob Watts (designer of the Chord DACs) about it.
“You then get rewarded with a brighter SQ (conning you into thinking it’s more transparent), a wider soundstage, an artificial etched quality and of course more listening fatigue - all due to more noise floor modulation and increased small signal amplitude errors.”
All that is to say, don’t necessarily assume that brighter is better. However, another thing to watch out for is that too much resistance (impedance) can choke your system when it needs bursts of power, and make it sound super clean, but more dull. For more on that, I’d suggest watching some of Paul’s (of PS Audio fame) YouTube videos on power and power conditioning.
The ideal state is eliminating as much noise as possible while not raising impedance (which is what some conditioners do). Like you, I can pretty clearly tell the differences the cable makes, so I think you’re on the right path in trying to clean up that part of your chain! 
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Noise and interference, yes. That was my first motivation, as I have many cables in the same area. I bought and soon returned one massive cable because it was too short and stiff for my application. It was intended for high current speaker amps, but it was overly smoothing, cut the highs, and drew attention to the bass.
This is leading me to speculate that the best approach may be an adjustable power conditioner coupled with standardized “adequate” cables that have known electrical properties. I’ll look at the PS Audio stuff.
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I could use some advice on the benefits of, say, the Niagara 1200 in my current system:
Chord Hugo TT2
Chord M-Scaler
Ampsandsound Kenzie Ovation
Lumin U1 Mini
Parasound P6 pre-amp
Parasound A21+
Roon Nucleus
Because of the placement in my music room (serves multiple purposes), I might need two of the Niagara 1200 units.
I do not discern any noise in any of this equipment nor in the overall sound. So I’d consider this not so much for noise elimination as for the benefits I hear many, though certainly not all, tout improved SQ (though perhaps that improved SQ comes from the elimination of noise?).
There’s a limit I’d want to pay for this, and certainly that’s the case when I might need two units. With that in mind, does anyone have advice as to whether this’d be worth the investment?
I’ve heard everything from “this provides no value” to “this is life-changing,” so I thought I’d throw this out to a group that I rely on. Thanks for any thoughts you have.
The “this is life changing” crowd sure do know how to hype and overstate crap in this hobby. They are so bad and notorious at it, the phrase is an immediate red flag in my book.
That device is a noise filter for dirty AC. Plain and simple. Ignore the hyper aggressive marketing BS. Based on what you’ve said, I would wager dollars to donuts you would not benefit from this.
Two $60 Triplite IsoBar strips would probably perform just as well.
If you want to have actual power regulation and conditioning, which might actually improve sound, try the PS Audio PowerPlant 3.
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Thanks - nothing like definitive advice from a trusted source to turn your attention to other opportunities…
I like the idea with cables, power conditioners, tubes, acoustic paneling, etc. is for me to try it before knocking it.
(Not that I’m saying anyone is doing that here.)
I’ve been very surprised what worked and what didn’t. Very case by case. Especially when friends of mine had exact opposite results. The biggest tweak for me has been room treatment with2 ch. and actual amp/preamp/source upgrades in headphone listening. I do own a Niagara 1000 and like my Shunyata research PC more but also would be happy with just using a simple power strip like the ps audio Juice bar.
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I don’t know much about Niagara, but I can vouch for PS Audio’s Power Plant tech. I was and am skeptical of claims that high end power conditioners, cables, etc can alter sound performance, but hearing is believing and I absolutely hear a difference with Power Plant 3. It’s subtle, but it’s undeniably there. You can even easily toggle the multiwave function off and on for comparison.
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Paul from Ps Audio has really great YouTube videos. Very fun and informative!
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I’m surprised that you would say that for acoustic treatment since the room is pretty much the biggest cause for distortion. Then again there’s a lot of misinformation out there online and most people are treating their rooms incorrectly (ie. not thinking about the rate and level, absorbers in the corners, very thin panels, building insulation, etc…).
As someone once told me, “‘Snake Oil’ is much less common than you think, but that doesn’t mean every product makes sense for your setup or will improve your setup.”
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Room treatment - depending on room can be a significant changer of sound. Cheaper and even more critical is proper placement of speakers - which can be a bit of an experiment. I would posit that the equivalent of room treatment for headphones is pad rolling. Far less costly in physical terms than making drastic changes a la Vincent van Gogh.
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What part are you surprised of? Room treatment has been one of the biggest upgrades in my two channel Set up when I compare it against other upgrades like power conditioners etc.
I feel like we are agreeing then, no?
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I wholeheartedly agree with speaker placement. I’m more or less saying when I had my setup dialed in. Adding room treatment was the best upgrade. Above other tweaks but that is only when my speaker placement was dialed in already.
You know what, I guess I read that incorrectly and misinterpreted slightly. I got the wrong idea, my fault!
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That’s what I thought. Sorry if I didn’t describe it clearer. Room treatment is awesome and I’m still working on it to. (For the last few years.) It’s fun trying different things with it.I would put power conditioners definitely under room treatment in my setup.
The main thing I wanted to add to this discussion is what I thought and what I learned was very different when going into things like power conditionering, room treatment, etc.
I feel in my situation it’s a very case by case experiment to find out if it helped me personally or not.
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Justin talking about power conditioners on Facebook:
Is anyone here concerned that the ‘hifi power cables’ on Amazon aren’t UL rated? Some YouTube video mentioned it was because of the extra shielding making heat dissipation an issue, which makes it harder to get the rating. I bought a couple anyway because I will only use them with a DAC and headphone amp (i.e., low current).
Not worried. I never bought any aftermarket power cable not counting outdoor extensions for holiday lights.
UL ratings mean that you pay UL for certification, which low volume product makers can’t afford, scam artists making snake oil crap actively avoid, and foreign manufacturers don’t care about because UL is a US thing.
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