Audioquest NIAGARA 7000 User Manual

N

Low-Z Power | Noise-Dissipation System

iagara

7000

Owner’s Manual

EN

ES

FR

ZH

JA

Instructions in English are available at the link below.
Las instrucciones de instalación en el español se encuentran disponibles en el enlace que

se indica a continuación.

Les instructions d’installation en français sont disponibles au lien suivant.

安裝說明請詳見下列網址連結.

日本語 のインストールガイドは下記リンク先でご覧いただけます。

www.audioquest.com/Niagara7000/manual

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Niagara 7000 Features 4

Introduction 4

Installation 6

Unpacking 6

Safety Information/Warnings 6

Servicing/Return to AudioQuest 6

Power Source 6

Placement 7

Connection to Audio/Video Components 7

AC Cable Routing 7

High Current/Low-Z Power Banks 8

Ultra-Linear Noise-Dissipation System/Dielectric-Biased Symmetrical Power Banks 8

Suggested AC Connections 10

Operation and Continuous Use 12

Power Switch/Circuit Breaker and LED Power Indicator 12

Rear-Panel Power Correction Switch/Niagara 7000 Current Draw 12

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) “Test” Button/Momentary Switch 13

Extreme Voltage Indicator 13

XFMR-1 and XFMR-2: Front-Panel Circuit Breaker Reset Buttons 13

Break-in Time/Continuous Use 14

Specications 15

Trouble-Shooting Guide 16

Warranty 21

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Niagara 7000 Features

¡¡ Dielectric-Biased AC Isolation Transformers: AQ’s patented technology greatly reduces non-

linear distortions that have previously plagued even the nest magnetic-based systems, all the
while increasing the bandwidth and eciency of the transformers’ noise dissipation.

¡¡ Transient Power Correction: Provides over 90 amps peak instantaneous current reservoir with reduced

line impedance for current-starved power ampliers, whether they incorporate linear or switching power
supplies.

¡¡ Ground Noise-Dissipation System: AQ’s patented technology vastly reduces ground-borne noise

without compromising safety or creating low-level ground loops.

¡¡ Ultra-Linear Noise-Dissipation Technology: Ensures the most consistent and widest bandwidth

noise dissipation possible, without the inconsistent results that typify minimalist, multi-node
resonant peaking found in many AC power conditioners.

¡¡ Ultra Low-Z NRG Series AC Power Inlets and Outlets: These inlets and outlets not only feature

a grip with far lower resistance (utilizing far more mass than conventional or audiophile-grade
designs), but they also include a heavy Hanging-Silver plating to ensure the lowest impedance at
radio frequencies, enabling superior noise dissipation.

Introduction

The science of AC power delivery is not a simple one; it demands focus, and the devil is in the details. In fact, the
great increase in airborne and AC-line-transmitted radio signals, combined with overtaxed utility lines and the
ever-increasing demands from high-denition audio/video components, has rendered our utilities’ AC power a
somewhat antiquated technology.

Where Alternating Current (AC) is concerned, we’re relying on a century-old technology created for incandescent
lights and electric motors—technology that was certainly never meant to power the sophisticated analog and
digital circuits used in premium audio/video systems. To properly accommodate the promise of today’s ever­increasing bandwidth and dynamic range, we must achieve extraordinarily low noise across a very wide range
of frequencies.

Further, today’s power ampliers are being taxed for instantaneous peak-current demand, even when they’re
driven at modest volumes. Although we have seen a substantial increase in dynamics from much of our audio
software, the loudspeakers we employ to reproduce them are often no more ecient than they were two to
four decades ago. This places great demands on an amplier’s power supply, as well as the source AC power
supplying it.

Our systems’ sensitive components need better alternating current—a fact that has resulted in a host of AC power
conditioning, isolation transformers, regeneration ampliers, and battery back-up system topologies. Through
dierential sample tests and spectrum analysis, it can be proven that up to a third of a high-resolution (low-level)
audio signal can be lost, masked, or highly distorted by the vast levels of noise riding along the AC power lines
that feed our components. This noise couples into the signal circuitry as current noise and through AC ground,
permanently distorting and/or masking the source signal.

All sincere attempts to solve this problem must be applauded since once the audio/video signal is gone, it’s

gone forever…

For AudioQuest, honoring the source is never a matter of simply using premium “audiophile-grade parts” or relying
on a proprietary technology—common approaches used within the audiophile market. For years, we have all been
witness to the same, seemingly endless audiophile debates: Valves versus transistors. Analog versus digital. Can cables
really make a dierence? The debates go on and on. While we, too, can brag about our many unique technologies,

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we realize that true audio/video optimization is never a matter of any one secret or exotic circuit. When it comes to
noise dissipation for AC power, many approaches can yield meaningful results. However, these approaches may
also impart ringing, current compression, and non-linear distortions that can render the cure worse than the disease.
The Niagara 7000 uses our patented AC Ground Noise-Dissipation System, the world’s rst Dielectric-Biased AC
Isolation Transformers, and the widest bandwidth-linearized noise-dissipation circuit in the industry. Our unique
passive/active Transient Power Correction Circuit features an instantaneous current reservoir of over 90 amps peak,
specically designed for modern current-starved power ampliers. Most AC power products featuring “high-current
outlets” merely minimize current compression; the Niagara 7000 corrects it.

Though it’s easy to boast, it’s quite another thing to create a solution that is consistent, holistic, functional, and
that honors veriable science. It’s not enough to reduce AC line noise and its associated distortions at just one
octave, thus leaving vulnerable the adjacent octaves and octave partials to noise, resonant peaking, or insucient
noise reduction. Consistency is key. We should never accept superior resolution in one octave, only to suer from
masking eects a half-octave away and ringing artifacts two octaves from there. This is the principal criterion for
AudioQuest’s Low-Z Power Noise-Dissipation System.

The Niagara 7000 represents over 20 years of exhaustive research and proven AC power products designed
for audiophiles, broadcast engineers, and professional-audio applications. Every conceivable detail has been
addressed: In the Niagara 7000, you’ll nd optimized radio-frequency lead directionality, run-in capacitor forming
technologies developed by Jet Propulsion Laboratories and NASA, and AC inlet and outlet contacts with heavy
silver plating over extreme-purity copper, assuring the tightest grip possible.

A great system is built from a solid foundation, and that foundation starts with power. With an AudioQuest Niagara
7000, you’ll experience for the rst time the clarity, dimensionality, frequency extension, dynamic contrast, and
grip your system has always been capable of delivering—if only the power had been right!

We welcome you to experience the Niagara 7000 and hear rsthand the remarkable results of highly optimized
power management: startlingly deep silences, stunning dynamic freedom, outstanding retrieval of ambience
cues, and gorgeous delineation of instruments and musicians in space. Once you’ve experienced it, it may seem
so elegant, so logical, and so easy that you nd yourself wondering why it hadn’t been done before.

—Garth Powell, Director of Power Products, Engineering, AudioQuest

5

Installation

Unpacking

Before unpacking your Niagara 7000, inspect the carton for any obvious damage to the boxes and internal
protective materials. If internal damage is likely, contact the carrier who delivered the unit. If shipping damage
is evident on the product, then please contact your shipping carrier. Please save all shipping and packing
materials. Should you move or otherwise need to transport your Niagara 7000, these packing materials will
ensure the safest transportation.

The double box set should contain the Niagara 7000 (120V North American Edison Duplex AC Outlets), two foam
inserts, owner’s manual, quick-start sheet, front-panel polishing cloth, and warranty registration card. Registration
is recommended. In the event that your original ownership documents are lost, your registration can be used to
establish whether the unit is within the warranty period.

Safety Information/Warnings

Before operating the Niagara 7000, please read and observe all safety and operating instructions (or, at the very
least, the quick-start sheet). Retain these instructions for future reference.

¡¡ Do not disassemble or in any way modify the Niagara 7000. There are no user-serviceable parts inside.

¡¡ Keep away from moisture and avoid excessive humidity.

¡¡ Do not allow liquids or foreign objects to enter the unit.

Servicing/Return to AudioQuest

Servicing of the Niagara 7000 must be performed by AudioQuest, and is only required when:

¡¡ The Niagara 7000 has been exposed to rain, ooding, or extreme moisture.

¡¡ The Niagara 7000 does not appear to operate normally. (See “Trouble-Shooting Guide.”)

¡¡ The Niagara 7000 has been dropped and sustained considerable physical damage.

If sending the Niagara 7000 to AudioQuest for servicing (or shipping it for any reason), please use the factory­approved packaging materials. If you have lost any of these (double carton, two foam inserts, one poly bag),
please contact AudioQuest for replacements. We will provide replacement packaging materials for a nominal
charge; shipping costs will be paid by the individual or company requesting the packaging material. Please do not
rely on other methods of packaging, including those provided or suggested by packaging/mailing stores. These
methods and materials could seriously damage the product, as well as its nish. Even the loss of the thick polybag
is enough to permanently damage the nish during transport. If you have lost the original packaging material,
please request replacement materials from AudioQuest.

Power Source

Ideally, the power source to which the Niagara 7000 is connected should be adequate for use at 120V single-phase
nominal voltage, 20 amps (current capacity RMS). However, the Niagara 7000 will operate very well with a 15-amp
service outlet. If the maximum current capacity available is 15 amps, and the system exceeds 15 amps RMS current
capacity, it is possible that there may be nuisance tripping at your electrical service panel. This is not a safety issue;
the electrical panel’s circuit breaker will trip if the maximum current capacity is exceeded.

For proper operation, the Niagara 7000 requires a safety ground (supplied via the power utility AC wall outlet).

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Placement

The Niagara 7000 is manufactured with four rubber textured polymer feet for safe, secure placement on any
table, cabinet, shelf, or oor. When rack-mounting is required, these feet may be removed with a standard Phillips
screwdriver. The Niagara 7000’s design obviates the need for compliant or high-Q isolation feet. Although many
audio/video products benet greatly from these devices, the Niagara 7000 does not.

Placement or proximity to other components is not critical, and, under standard use, the Niagara 7000 does not
produce any appreciable heat. The Niagara 7000 may be rack-mounted in a standard 19” rack by attaching the
optional Niagara Series 3-RU rack ears. To attach the optional rack ears to the Niagara 7000 chassis, rst remove
the three Phillips athead screws from the front portion of both the left and right sides of the cover assembly.
Next, mount the rack ears ush against the back of the Niagara 7000’s front panel. Finally, secure the rack ears into
place by installing the rack-mount kit’s Phillips pan head SEMS screws.

When tight installations do not provide adequate room on a shelf or cabinet, the Niagara 7000 can actually be placed
on its side. Such placement will pose no safety or performance compromises, but we recommend placing a soft
towel or carpet under the unit to prevent the chassis and front panel from being scratched or marred in any way.

Connection to Audio/Video Components

AC Cable Routing

Once the Niagara 7000 is placed, an appropriate 20-amp-rated AC cord must be connected to the rear panel AC
inlet (IEC-C20) connector. The AC cord must have an IEC-C19 female end connector and a grounded male 120VAC
Edison/NEMA plug for use in North America or Taiwan. We highly endorse the use of any AudioQuest NRG Series
20-amp-rated AC cord, but the Niagara 7000 will function properly with any appropriate AC cord that meets the
aforementioned requirements.

When facing the Niagara 7000’s rear panel, the IEC-C20 inlet is located on the unit’s lower-left side. The AC input
cord must be connected to an appropriate AC outlet (see “Power Source,” page 6). Though a conventional AC
outlet will function safely and yield high performance, for the very best sonic performance, we highly endorse the
installation of the AudioQuest NRG Edison 20 (or NRG Edison 15, if the electrical panel will only accommodate a
15-amp RMS service).

Whenever possible, it is best to keep at least three inches (approximately 7cm) between AC cables and any signal
cable. When this is not possible in a practical layout of system cabling, crossing the AC cables to signal cables at 90
degrees is best to minimize induced noise.

Connecting AC cables to the Niagara 7000’s NRG Edison AC outlets – WARNING!

The AudioQuest NRG Edison AC outlets feature the strongest grip of any commercially available AC outlet in
history. There are many reasons this was done—lower impedance, superior transient current delivery, and vastly
reduced noise, to name a few. However, there is a price to be paid for superior performance: It will take some time
and patience to both insert an AC cord into and remove an AC cord from these receptacles.

We have made every eort to exercise these receptacles during testing and nal inspection, but they will still
require slow and careful “wiggling”: When either inserting a plug into these receptacles or removing an AC cord’s
male plug from the receptacles, gently move the male AC cord’s plug from side to side while providing an even
forward or backwards pressure. If you nd it is simply too dicult to insert an AC cord’s male plug into one of
the outlets, it may be that its male prongs are slightly oversized due to either its design or generous quantities of
plating material.

7

This is not a reason to return the Niagara 7000 or abandon the use of such an AC plug! Typically, the outlet
in question can be slightly opened up by gradually exercising it with an AC plug. For this, we actually do not
recommend an AudioQuest or any other premium brand of AC cord or male plug. For exercising the outlet, obtain
from an electrical supply house or hardware store a generic three-prong 15-amp-rated AC cord or plug that
aords a generous and secure area to handle. Any will work, but the best will be those with three brass (un-plated)
prongs so that if multiple insertions are required, no nickel plating from the generic AC plug will nd its way into
the AudioQuest NRG Edison outlet.

High Current/Low-Z Power Banks

There are two High Current/Low-Z Power banks (labeled “1” and “2”) with two AC outlets each. The outlets feature
our Transient Power Correction Technology, and are designed to enhance the performance of power ampliers
via our circuit’s low-impedance transient current reservoir. Power ampliers, monoblock ampliers, integrated
ampliers, powered receivers, or powered subwoofers should be connected to these four outlets. The primary
mono, stereo, or multi-channel power amplier(s) should be connected to Bank 1. This enables the standby sense
circuit, which requires the current draw of a power amplier connected to (and only to) outlet Bank 1. In terms of
sonic performance, there is no dierence between outlet banks 1 and 2. If the standby sense circuit is not utilized,
and the sense circuit bypass switch is set to “Enabled,” any outlet on the two banks may be utilized.

For systems with only one or two power ampliers, the two uppermost outlets of banks 1 and 2 will provide
slightly superior performance due to their closer proximity to the AC outlets’ radio frequency noise-dissipation
circuit. However, the outlets located directly below will certainly aord exemplary performance!

Regardless of class of operation or circuit topology (valve, solid-state, digital, or otherwise), the Transient Power
Correction Circuit will not compress the current of any power amplier. Quite to the contrary, it will improve the
amplier’s performance by supplying the low-impedance current source that the amplier’s power supply so
desperately needs.

However, the other four AC outlet banks (Ultra-Linear Noise-Dissipation/Dielectric-Biased Symmetrical Power), are
not appropriate for power ampliers. They have been optimized for line-level audio preampliers, DACs, universal
players, turntables, and video products that utilize constant current voltage amplier circuits. These circuits never
suer from current compression, but their lower input level and higher gain require a more robust means of noise
dissipation. This is key to the Niagara 7000’s discrete AC power banks, in that not every circuit is treated the same,
but rather isolated bank by bank and optimized for best performance.

Ultra-Linear Noise-Dissipation System/Dielectric-Biased Symmetrical Power Banks

There are four banks that utilize this technology within the Niagara 7000. Further, the rst two banks (3 and 4) are
100% isolated from banks 5 and 6. All four of these are in turn 100% isolated from the High-Current/Low-Z banks
1 and 2. This oers a great advantage in controlling the complex interactions of RF (radio frequency) and other
induced noises present in the AC power supplied from your utility, the noise that will be present on and in every
AC cord, and the noise that is produced within your system’s components and that “backwashes” into the Niagara
7000’s output circuits.

Though it would be simple to recommend putting the digital or video components into banks 3 and 4, and the line­level audio components and turntables into banks 5 and 6, the quest for optimal performance is more complex.
This scenario will work, and likely work well, but a certain amount of experimentation is best given the fact that
no lter or screen can eliminate 100% of all noise, the size of many of these RF-induced waveforms is as small as
the edge of this paper you’re reading, and the interactions are complex. So long as the power ampliers are in
their appropriate banks, and the other components are in banks 4 through 6, you should experience exemplary
performance. Still, for the audiophile with patience, the reward will be system performance with the highest
possible resolution and lowest possible noise.

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