Best upgrade ever: cryo outlet for my refrigerator


This is the weirdest thing that has happened to me in all these years in audio:

I won a Dutch auction for a 20 amp silver plated, cryoed ACME receptacle. I decided to burn it in by running my refrigerator through it--fine. So I went on and replaced the old outlet, thoroughly cleaned the leads and ground wire and applied some Pro Gold.

When I listened to my stereo I could not believe the improvement in the sound! It was so powerful, three dimensional and w/ such a quiet background it was spooky. How could this be? I had cleaned the leads leading to other receptacles in the circuit and my equipment was being fed through a brand new PS Audio Power Port! Without a doubt this has been the most noticeable upgrade in my system--ever. Even when Deano came w/ his spare class A monoblocks did the difference in sound was this huge. The same goes for adding a top notch Clear Image T4 line conditioner I got recently--not even close.

I asked the maintenance guy and he told me what I had cleaned before were the return wires and receptacles in the circuit. It turns out the fridge goes first and my power Port is two receptacles downstream...

The bass was MUCH deeper, the musical presentation way more relaxed and the high frequencies detailed and w/out a hint of harshness. This is freaky.

Can anyone out there explain this?
psychicanimal

Showing 1 response by twl

Motors are notorious for throwing out hash, and they have large power swings during cycling. There may be 2 motors in your fridge working at different times.

Poor contact on the fridge outlet could cause increased draw or even small arcing. Smooth power delivery to the motors in the fridge can cause the motors to run smoother, and maybe put less hash on the line.

I don't know exactly what was happening in your case, but it is clear that the fridge was affecting your powerline negatively, by some kind of outlet contact flaw. Perhaps the fridge is cycling less often, and it will not affect the audio system when the motors are off.

If you like this kind of upgrade, you should try battery power. Battery takes the whole power feed thing into another level entirely.