Wall Sockets

Mike,

Digging through the archives I unearthed the legendary Petrik Outlet Survey . Hope this helps.

dD,

Kuma endorsed (sort of) the Wattgate...what's your choice?

regards,

dave

Too busy comparing circuit breakers to worry about outlets...yet

Kuma,

Girlfriend, I sure you've tried an Oyaide by now. What's the scoop...hi-fi or music?



regards,

dave

Dave,

The only reason I still use the Wattgate is I am less anal than fellow audiophiles than start listening to other outlets options and they haven't broken off as others I had.

The soundwise, I wasn't too enthused about it to be honest, but they did less harm than others I had on hand.

Don't assume more $$ means better sound. These uber Wattgates also soften the transients.
But lesser degrees than the PS Audio which was effective as 1$ ones.

I was tired of breakage. ( I still use some heavy duty power cords on non Naim kit )
I can live with them for now and I am too lazy to change them.

I haven't even done the 'plug sequence' routine.
Some claim that each plug sounds different and evaluate and use an appropriate socket. Sort of similar to the Wiremold plug sequence.

BTW, I've read an outlet *plate/cover* comparison article in a Japanese audio mag. Bat ear folks are claiming they can hear the difference in the plates.

Now this takes *anal retentive* to the max.

p.s. I've known about Oyaide products ( flavour of the month these days, eh? ), but I have not tried them.
I'm afraid once is enough for my outlet listening test. ( but the purple one is cool )
You try one and let us know?

quote:

You try one and let us know?

I'm with you...I know everything matters, but it takes away too much time from listening to music. The only reason I've bothered with breakers is because I had ten different brands lying about after completing various household wiring projects over the years. As well, I figured Messrs Dever and Koster would suffer the trials and tribulations and report their findings saving me the hassle;-)

regards,

dave

P.S. Thanks for the Wattgate warning. I see the "plate/cover" obsession is creeping into Audio Asylum.

P.P.S. I've chosen Cooper 20 amp hospital grade outlets after painstakingly strolling the electrical aisle at Lowes for nearly 6 minutes.

Hi Mike,

The upside of wall sockets that cost less then $2 is that for very little outlay you can experiment with virtually every wall socket on the market and even select between several different samples of the same socket. It is really up to you (and expensive) to include the "audiophile" variety in the mix, but it seems a reasonable and cheap assumption they would not add anything. A few people on the forum have done this type of experimentation and I believe the consensus is:
- Aim for the tightest gripping sockets with least excess metal bulk in the conductors and amount of metal ground bars, casing etc in general
- minimise amount and thickness of nickel plating
- avoid rivets in the terminal construction
- the very cheapest sockets (ie 49 cents or less) are unlikely to be the best sounding
- the most expensive sockets are unlikely to be the best sounding
- 20A is not necessarily better than 15A
- Also consider the gauge of your wire and how it will be attached to the terminals - screw/clamp versus the screwless type

After some trial and error I ended up with the mid-priced 15A Leviton square, "decor" type- with screw terminals partly because this directly accomodated, via screw terminals, the gauge of wire used. I believe the cost was around $1.50 so not the cheapest but not the most expensive either. I bought a few of these and chose the one that appeared to have the best grip on the plug. The more expensive hospital grade and commercial types that I tried did not improve on this one. Comparing the above criteria for what makes a good socket with the features/benefits advertised in the Audio Advisor catalog for PS Audio etc I decided it didn't make much sense to go down that road.

Jeremy

Sorry, but am I going mad...I could have sworn this thread started in HiFi Corner?

Not that it really matters, but do they sometimes get switched?

It's not something I've noticed before, but then I'm not a regular visitor to Padded Cell.

Gary

Threads about mains often vanish from hifi corner and re-appear here - I think it is the electric elves at work, or possibly Adam.

You could clarify with NANA or the company that makes the NANA approved power-strip,
if the receptacles that go into it are sold as wall receptacles as well.

All - Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the delay in acknowledging them - I just noticed that this got switched to the Padded Cell. Not sure why. I'm assuming that because it was a delayed switch, and was allowed to stay in the Hi-Fi Corner for some time, that my original posting looking for advice was not the cause of the switch (at least that's my hope ). Thus, obviously one of you folks said something naughty to get this moved!

I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do. If I decide to move on the new NANA power bar sooner, rather than later, perhaps I'll speak to that company for some recommendations. Otherwise, I might take a shot on one of the audiophile sockets - but not the really expensive ones - and see how it goes. It is tough to imagine that any of these would be worse than a $0.49 builder's socket, but I guess you never know. I definitely will avoid trying more than one socket, however, as I just don't have the desire to "demo" wall sockets.

Thanks.

Mike

Whilst accepting that electrical installation should be safe/efficient/enjoyable/maintainable/preferably not overpriced do consider advantages of switching-off current when not actually using it please. In UK many users prefer well-built old '15 amp' round pin socketry/pluggery etc ...