The FIM is based on a standard Woodhead receptacle (about $10) and I don't have any experience with it, nor am I in the market for $65 US receptacles. In my experience, the Arrow Hart 8200 is a great sounding hospital grade receptacle, available for about $8 and better than the Hubbell 8300 (which I have and cost almost 3 times as much), and far better than the P&S 5262, which sells for about $7. In their literature on the Power Port, PS Audio states clearly (which I was not aware of when I bought my Arrow Harts) that the Arrow Harts were the best sounding standard receptacles that they had heard and use(d) them in their Power Plants. They now have their Power Port, which I would imagine (at $49) is in the market to compete with the likes of the FIM and may be based on the Arrow Hart (the 20 amp model, not the 8200 which is a 15 amp receptacle), but I'm not totally sure from reading the literature. None of the receptacles mentioned in my post have built-in surge protection.
Hubbell hospital grade outlets w/ surge protection
Alot of people have talked about the benefits of Hubbell hospital grade wall outlets. I have discovered that Hubbell makes a version of these hospital grade outlets (20 amp with isolated ground) with built in surge protection.
If power conditioners (w/surge protection) limit the dynamics and power of some amplifiers, would this Hubbell outlet be a good way to protect your amplifiers from power spikes, etc, without the downsides to a power conditioner - potentially at a reasonable cost? Many have suggested that their amps sound best when plugged directly into the wall outlet. The surge protection version is identical to the std. hospital grade-isolated ground outlet in evert way, it just adds a measure of surge protection. Could this give the best sound AND protection, for significantly less than $100?
If power conditioners (w/surge protection) limit the dynamics and power of some amplifiers, would this Hubbell outlet be a good way to protect your amplifiers from power spikes, etc, without the downsides to a power conditioner - potentially at a reasonable cost? Many have suggested that their amps sound best when plugged directly into the wall outlet. The surge protection version is identical to the std. hospital grade-isolated ground outlet in evert way, it just adds a measure of surge protection. Could this give the best sound AND protection, for significantly less than $100?