My advise would be to talk to AudiogoN member Albert Porter about his "Porter Ports". A cryo treated Hubbell 8300. Having tried only a couple of the others on your list, as well as a few other "green dot" hospital outlets, the Porter Port at 36.00 each is money well spent. Every system outlet in my listening room is equiped with them. |
Or you could go here:
http://www.takefiveaudio.com/mall/AC_Connectors/hubbell_ac_connectors_hbl8300hi.html
and buy the same thing as the Porter Port for approximately half the price. I currently use the Hubbell 8200H (same receptacle as the 8300H without the 20 amp T-slot) cryoed in the same facility that Takefive uses and can vouch for the efficacy of the cryo done there. In the past, I've also used World Power cryoed Hubbell 5362 as well as a Hubbell 5362 cryo treated by Acme Audio Labs.
The Hubbell 8300H is a very good receptacle and I prefer it slightly to the 5362. I would absolutely avoid the PS Audio and its heaps of nickel plating, believe the Wattgate to be grossly overpriced, & would not choose the Acme unless you prefer a very upfront, forward and aggressive presentation (it may well be a good match in a laid back, or tube based system, though). Skip the Home Depot idea.
I've read nice things about the Furutech. I would guess the FIM to be overpriced, but it's just an educated guess. The Oyaide is all the rage right now and if I was going to switch, that's what I'd switch to, but $100 is just a little too difficult for me to swallow, especially when I'd probably end up wanting 3 of them.
But if you've got the money, popping for the Oyaide may be worth it. Otherwise, the Takefive's above are by far the best deal in receptacles (in my opinion, of course) and I've done my fair share of experimenting with receptacles. |
If you're going to upgrade the circuits, where will you stop?
Not being funny, but really, what about the line out side and the BIG line all the way to the local utility? Those are the lines that pick up a vast majority of "noise" that poorly designed components can not filter out. Also,
I would imagine if you had to use some type of power conditioner, your equipment could be lacking in engineering talent expertise in the power supply design.
I think money could be better spent elsewhere for a better return on your dollar.
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02-05-06: Hdm,
Thanks for your input. Budget is always a factor in purchasing any component or addition to my system, at this time I am looking to tweak my system to obtain a little more sonic purity. I have read up on the Oyaide series, and yes their price is not the cheapest. I will be needing 2 receptacles. If $200 can give a jump in performance, they may be under consideration. Have you had any experience with these? Thanks |
200.00 on a outlet is grossly overpriced. What can make it worth that kinf of money?
Pass and Seymour make very good Industrial outlets, have out preformed hubbels in my system. |
Proclaim, I have not had any experience with the Oyaide, but have certainly read a lot of favorable remarks about these receptacles. Unfortunately, there do not seem to be many people who have compared the Oyaide to, say, a cryoed Hubbell 8300H or cryoed Hubbell 5362. The one person that I know of who has both the Oyaide and the cryoed Hubbell 8300H (from Albert Porter) is Audiogon member Maxgain. I believe he just recently acquired the Oyaide and am not even sure whether he has done a "head to head" comparison with the cryoed 8300H, but it may be worth doing a member search here for him and e-mailing him with a few questions. He tends not to post much here anymore, but I'm sure he'd be happy to give you his impressions and some valuable info. If you are using stock receptacles, I would be pretty shocked if you would not receive a pretty decent performance boost with the Oyaide and certainly believe strongly, from experience that you'd definitely get a performance boost from either the Takefive's or Alberts 8300H units as well.
One thing that I would suggest to you, particularly if you are buying new cryoed outlets is to make sure they are fully burned in before inserting them into your system. As difficult as this is to do (being anxious to get them into your system right away when you buy them to enjoy them), I'd recommend installing them on a fridge or chest freezer (if you've got both those items and you've got two receptacles, you're all set!) for between 4 & 6 weeks, switching the plug from the fridge/freezer about half way through this burn in period from one half of the receptacle to the other. The high current draw from the compressor kicking in on these items will give you a much more effective burn in than any you can create running just your system on these receptacles and it will allow you to hear them at their best when you then slot them into your system. All receptacles (IMO) require burn in, and cryoed units can be particularly strident in the burn in period, although they may well be better sounding in some areas than those you've replaced. |
The outlet offered by Take Five audio is not exactly the same model as mine, nor has it been deep cryo treated at NASA, like the Porter Port. Please note this on their web site too: Duties, taxes, brokerage, and all other fees levied by the destination country or carrier are the sole responsibility of the purchaser/receiver. We will not submit false customs documents, please do not ask. This item comes from Canada and prompt shipping to USA is quoted at $16.75. Duty charges may or may not apply and unknown if US Customs would hold the item. Shipping for Porter Port is via FedEx and each buyer gets a track number. I charge $6.75 for up to 3 outlets with insurance and home delivery (if needed). Bottom line, about $4.00 difference. I will say, if an Audiogon member lives in Canada the Take Five offer would be excellent. No customs hassles and much less delivery charge than getting from me (here in the USA). |
Albert: The Takefive outlet is EXACTLY the SAME as yours, the slimline 8300H with non-plated contacts, and anyone can special order it at any Hubbell distributor. I perhaps should have made it clear that it is not cryoed at NASA, which was why I pointed out in my post that (again, IMO) I could not hear differences in the cryo applied on the World Power receptacle (Cryogenics International which has a very good reputation) or the ACME treated Hubbell 5362 I own relative to the cryo done by Bayson Heat treating for the Takefive outlet.
There will be no taxes or duties on 2 receptacles shipped Expresspost from Canada to the U.S. Other countries I can't comment on. Two receptacles from Takefive shipped = $58.65 Cnd. At current exchange rates that's about $51 U.S. Two from you = $78.95. A $28 or 35% difference. That's a far cry from $6. At 3 receptacles, the price differential jumps to about $45. |
I will enthusiastically endorse the Porter Ports. I ordered and installed them skeptically and heard an instant and dramatic improvement in an already excellent high-end system. Highly recommended and reasonably priced. |
I recently added three dedicated circuits using 10/2 romex on 20 amp breakers and the Wattgate 381's. It seemed a bit expensive at the time However you can pick them up for around a $100.00 or less used. IMHO there was a immediate improvement in my ystem. It cleaned up the ground making the system quieter, darker and more detailed. I must admit that I no longer feel a need for power conditioning. My only mistake was pulling three (3) circuits instead of four (4). I followed the basic rule of one circuit for the amp, one for digital (CD) and one for analog (tube pre). My problem now I added a turntable and tuner so I am tapped out waiting to get another circuit puuled. Other than that life is great. I can't comment on the other devices as I have not used them, and Wattgate is probrably over priced but it is the only receptacle that is patented for audio that should be worth something. You definitlt don't want off the shelf home depot.
Happy listening. |
Mapleleafs3 NO ONE said anything about $200 outlets. The gentleman was referring to buying a number of outlets the total of which is about $200! |
Uppermidfi, that is correct. The Oyaide's price per receptacle I believe is not quite $100 per. I am also interested in learning more about the Porter Ports. If $200 is spent on receptacles, regardless which ones and the improvement is noteworthy then is it not worth the investment. We sometimes give more attention to true high end components and spend much more $$ for maybe a slight improvement. My goal is for a purer sound and I do not have any to A/B compare except fot the standard ones.
Answering to the response to the outside line feed I have chosen to draw the line at the wall receptacle fed with romex 10/2. Again your advise is much appreciated. |
I have bought several cryo outlets from Alan at AudioExcellenceAZ, and can't speak more highly of the product or Alan. Having tried the PS Audio Power Port, I had talked with Alan about how bright the PS Audio made my system. I got a mini-education in the difference that nickel makes to the sound. I went with the Hubbell 5362 in my wall outlet and in my PS Audio Ultimate Outlet. He does an extended cryo treatment and then cooks the outlet as a sorta burn-in process. The 5362 gave a more detailed presentation wherein the increase of blackness was shocking, and due to the lack of nickel, the sound was very smooth and quite musical. Check it out at:
http://audioexcellenceaz.com/acproducts.htm
Good Stuff! |
I have a few (4) P S Audio outlets, and I think they are easily worth the $200 cost, but if I had it to do again, I would get Porter Ports based on what so many of his satisfied customers have said. I'm not sure I got anything more with the PS Audio, but I certainly spent more. |
Another satisfied Porter Port customer here too! |
Shouldn't those be called wall 'outlets'? |
Let me add the IsoClean to your list. I was shocked at the improvement it gave over the others I have tried, which include the Furatech, Sound Application, and Acme. But this was before the Oyaide. Has anyone else heard the IsoClean or compared it with the Oyaide? |
Porter Port bested my old Hubbell something or other. Highly recommended. |
