Upgrading wall outlets


Curious if anyone has found much difference in sound quality upgrading wall outlets.
eagleman6722

Showing 3 responses by shadorne

Br3098,

Some of the high end audio equipment is so unreliable that almost anything can cause a change in response. In fact some equipment probably never sounds the same twice ever anyway. In this case, every change including the material used in the cover plate on the wall socket to the minutest change in listening position ,volume level etc. will make an audible difference, sounding slightly different every time a critical observation is made.

As you correctly point out, some types of equipment are specificially designed (manufacturers go to great lengths) to ensure they are largely immune and largely robust to significant changes in the operating environment.

So it really depends what equipment you are referring to or what you prefer to use. Some folks will shun robust equipment as being unresolving and favor something that is highly setup dependent (resolving). For some, setup sensitivity to a variety of factors is good proof that the equipment is highly resolving. (If a mere wall socket changes the response then said equipment must surely be able to pick up even finer details in the music than most)

It is a difference of philosophy.
But sales of expensive amplifiers depend on the audiophile's belief that quality/expense of any component is correlated with beautiful sound.

In most amplfiers the single most expensive item on the BOM will be be the beautiful thick brushed steel face plate. The control knobs are often the second most expensive item. The same goes for speakers - the woodwork and veneer is the most costly item. So nice high end gear is indeed truly expensive becuase teh actually are more costly to make.
But what, exactly, constitues this "unreliability" of high end audio power supplies that you mention? And how would simlpy changing a household power outlet cause a significant change to the sound (via a change in output to the speakers) from said high end audio equipment?

There is no exact answer but many designs are less than adequate and response drifts both over time and due to sensitivity to operating temperature. These design issues create the mystique of burn in and and keeping equipment always on or warmed up. It is possible to design equipment to minimize these issues but that would mean some folks dismiss the gear as "unresolving".

On the outlet side - the countless number of ground loop issues due to poor design, equipment incompatibility and the wide use of RCA (unbalanced) alone explains why unplugging and plugging something back in will often change the response.

In my philosophy, when equipment performs unreliably you should change it. Whilst others see differences in performance as a sure sign that the gear has resolving power. Sales people will tend to propagate the opposing philosophy to what I hold - naturally, rather than admit that something performs a little inadequately (and perhaps take it back) they suggest instead that the buyer consider to purchase an expensive power cord or upgrade the home wiring because the gear is so resolving it requires it. (In other words, there is nothing wrong with the gear you just bought - look for your problem elsewhere. Rather a convenient an attractive philosophy for a sales person.)