I’m thinking of getting a dedicated 20 amp line installed. I currently have a shared 15 amp line with everything else in my living room and all of the outlets in my house are the basic ones the builder installed. Since I’ll be installing a new line I also was thinking about the outlets.
Have you found any sonic benefits from an upgraded outlet? I see some of you are using ps audio, fur tech and synergistic outlets. Any opinions on brands and sonic benefits would be appreciated. Thanks!
Yes.
Yes, in fact, I have a P5 in my office system with a shared 15 amp circuit, and a P12 in main setup on a dedicated 20 amp circuit. Top graph is P5, bottom graph P12. Pretty consistent .2-.3% THD difference.
Thanks but what I was referring to is once thine line was installed then using an upgraded outlet / receptacle instead of a standard builders grade one. For example, using a ps audio power port.
Well I’m not sure if that matters in my setup, but I have PS Audio Receptacles in the main system, and a high quality Hubbell in the office system.
Ultimately you want a good quality outlet that firmly grips the plug.
You are going to hear more improvement from a dedicated 12 amp circuit than you are from the different high grade outlets from the different companies. As long as you get at least hospital grade outlets, I think you shouldn’t worry about it too much.
But a regenerator, that’s a different ballgame. You can get substantial improvement in sound from a regenerator!! As netspecht-2’s graph shows, distortion level is almost reduced to zero!! How often can you see that from other power conditioners?
I have 2 power ports on a dedicated 20 amp circuit. I ran the circuit when I finished the basement. I installed the power port outlets about 6 months ago. I thought I could pick up subtle differences. Nothing like I’m hearing with the P12 I added to the system last week.
Great topic thank you for sharing guys…
I second @netspecht-2’s comment.
I use a PS Audio and I heard no difference. The improvement that I found was the superior clamping force.
The strongest clamping and best quality materials are Furutech NCF outlets. I use 5 of them as wall sockets and 3 in my NCF E-TP609 power distributor.
Thanks. Yes I already have a P15 but was thinking of going to a P20 with a dedicated 20 amp circuit. My P15 is currently on a shared circuit with the rest of my gear. Since I was planning on putting in a dedicated 20 amp circuit I was just thinking about if I need anything special with regards to the receptacle. Looks like the consensus is that, I just need something with good grip and it more than likely wont provide a sonic benefit.
I recommend Hubbell 5362 Heavy duty outlets. They have excellent grip, 20A, and much more reasonably priced.
I agree. If you can find mid-late 90s US-made NOS even better, they were better built, more solid construction and weigh more than the current. They have a death grip on the spades.
That’s why I like ours. It pains me when I see a saggy cable that doesn’t sit flush with the wall.
One of my friends who’s ear I very much trust SWEARS by the Furutech stuff. He says he’s very sensitive to the way different metals and conductors sound. Seems crazy but to him they make a massive difference.
Yeah, I’m a little ocd and I want my cables to look neat and firmly affixed.
(And I know that I can hear different conductor materials in cables. For ex, the OCC in my iconoclast IC’s was easy for me to pick as my favorite. I wish they had it available for spkr cables as so many mfrs do.)
It’s certainly nothing to worry about, but it is an easy recommendation to use something of better quality than basic builder grade. I have used PS Audio, Shunyata and Synergistic Research Black and Blue. The SR outlets were superior to the other two in term of sound stage, noise floor and bass quality (extension and definition) and Blue was better than Black. Now they’ve added Orange as their new top of the line. I have Orange fuses in all my components to excellent effect, but getting to these outlets is a PITA and I’m not inclined to change them because of that. Also, the Orange outlets do not have screw terminals which strikes me as a bad move, although apparently they did it to allow a “floating” ground separate from the ground strap in metal box BX or conduit situations.
Thanks for sharing your journey…
I have used a fair amount of Furutech parts (Power cable bulk wire, AC connectors). Very good stuff. Have some Furutech receptacles (copper) on order. Hubbell makes good receptacles too.
