Do Audiophile Outlets Make a Difference??? - Which outlets are the "best"
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Do audiophile electrical outlets and receptacles make a difference? What are the best audiophile outlets?
Michael Fremer recently spent a lot of time heralding the wiring of his house for his audiophile system. He claimed huge improvements (for huge costs), but I don't remember him talking about the outlets. Could all that re-wiring still be connected to 10 cent outlets?
In addition, most audiophiles only focus on the "audible" difference, but in this video I dive deeper into other aspects that made a difference to me.
I will of course share my subjective impressions of audible differences, but this is a piece that has many metrics for which you can decide whether you want to upgrade or not.
Plus, you don't have to use "audiophile" brands to get better quality. Below are a few links to products I mention or reference in the video.
Leviton M8200-ILW Lev-Lok 15-Amp, 2P, 3W, Illuminated Face, Straight Blade, Hospital Grade, Isolated Ground, Modular Wiring Device Duplex Receptacle, White - amzn.to/3s1DBpa
Furutech GTX-D NCF(R) Ultimate Nano-Crystal Rhodium-Plated AC Duplex Receptacle -
amzn.to/3u6wzlC
Klein Tools RT110 Receptacle Tester for North American AC Electrical Outlet Receptacles -
amzn.to/34hxDIq
Klein Tools MM300 Multimeter, Digital Voltmeter, AC/DC Voltage meter, Current, Resistance, Battery Tests, Diodes, and Continuity, 600V -
amzn.to/3uaiN1q
This description contains affiliate links. If you click on one of them, I may receive a commission.
audiophilejunkies@gmail.com
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This all makes sense, it’s actually a no brainer, thanks for taking the time to make this video
I used to work in an electronics test lab that worked with military specifications. We did testing over a large temperature range (-55°C to +125°C). Temperature probes work by a DC voltage being produced from 2 different metals welded together. This voltage changes as the temperature changes. Any DC introduced on your power line can cause the transformer to create noise. I make my own power cables and use copper contact plugs and recepticals with all my stereo gear. Part of the reason why you may hear a difference if you use say a Rodium plug and keep the brass regular outlet, is the DC voltage produced, may create noise in the transformer that makes the system sound different. but is it better? Only you can tell, mayby your combination of gear likes a little DC. This noise may be even worse on cheaper equiptment because of the manufacturer using cheaper transformers that are more susceptable to DC. I use copper because it matches the wire and every dissimilar metal junction, adds to the DC voltage produced. Every connection has 3 junctions. Wire to receptical, receptical to plug, and plug to wire in the power cord then the same at the equiptment. I suspect that brass due to its high copper content may have a negligable effect. A type T probe is made of 2 wires copper, and copper nickel aloy. That junction at room temperature is about 2 milivolts. Theoretically depending on the different metals used you could see about 10mv DC getting into the transformer.
People want the science, this may be part of the science behind the difference. Just a thought.
Great video.
A great upgrade is to have a few dedicated 10 wire (30 amp) or 12 wire (20 amp) home runs from your breaker box to your outlets that you will plug your gear into. Too many light sources and other noisy electronics are tied into each other in most homes.
Also, I would look into separating your neutrals and grounds in the panel box. I’ve seen way too many homes that have a jungle inside their panel box, and many things tied together that don’t have to be. It isn’t “code” in some states, but of course, audiophile isn’t the first thing on a home builders mind at the time at least 👍🏽
You might enjoy the videos I did with the audiophile electrician more recently. We take a look at my breaker box and take measurements.. As well as some others too.
I am thinking about highering an Electrician to install a homerun circuit to my audio gear. Do you have any tops to share regarding what types of wiring & outlets you recommend I use? ..etc.
Thanks-
Before spending a lot of money on a new outlet, just realize that the wires feeding your fancy new outlet are possibly just pushed into the back of another cheap outlet further down the wall. Plus, that cheap outlet is often fed from some wires in a junction box which are poorly joined by a 10 cent wire nut. I've seen this arrangement in homes a thousand times.
Isolated ground receptacles are seriously misunderstood and misused in residential applications. If you are using type NM (Romex) cable and plastic device boxes, the only thing you will be isolating is the device strap which is a code violation. If you use a plastic plate, the screw heads are the only conductive parts exposed. Isolated ground receptacles are or were common in commercial/medical/industrial applications where the wires are fished into a metallic conduit. The conduit in many cases can serve as a ground path or sometimes an additional insulated ground wire is fished in, one ground wire connects to the ground slot on the receptacle only, and the additional ground wire grounds the strap.
Had to change the (3 weakest) wall outlets in my apartment, as the audio plugs were almost falling out of them automatically. So I'm sure that the better connection helped. Put it this way, it couldn't hurt.
- Also invested in a Best Buy UPS - Universal Power Supply. It had to be significant, as the AV Receiver draws 535 Watts. I had a $55.00 one at first that constantly buzzed. It was way too weak for the receiver.
Aliexpress Copper nut and screw , best upgrade to outlet. Amp use to cut out in higher volume prior and not anymore. Sounds more open fuller without magnetic parts.
Great Vid! Very informative & timely.
Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video brother thanks!
I have great results using my TrippLite Isobar plug in unit without a cable.
I bought it for
Awesome video I really enjoyed this one. I've been thinking about running dedicated lines and wondering which way to go with outlets hospital grade is probably the best bang for buck.👍🍿🎧😁
Glad you liked it. Yeah I think if you get the medical grade, you're fine. I linked the Leviton Lev lock version in the description that I think is superior and would be my choice.
Yep I agree
Great video…. Thanks!
Yes an inwall plug can easily make the sound worse, not because it necessarily is a bad plug, but because it is a bad mismatch of sound religion. Furutech NCF rhodium is overly aggressive and many people don't like it. And yes many people do like that type of sound. I personally find it horrible only playing music effects not music, while the Furutech gold and NCF gold is a lot better/balanced IMO.
The worst I have heard is Gigawatt which is rhodium/brass I think and 2x worse the Furutech rhodium, very very analytical sound which maybe some people like. If you don't believe in inwall plugs then try this one, this maybe makes the biggest change to the sound on the market. (it is very extreme)
The Viborg inwall plug is probably the very best value on the market only being around 50 USD and is crazy good maybe the best that Viborg has made, and then I would say that the Oyaide paladium, then the gold and then the silver depending on the specific audio system are most likely the second best value option. (Oyaide make perhaps the most intimate/musical inwall plugs) and then maybeon a third spot I would put Wattgate rhodium and then Audioquest which I have not personally heard but generally Audioquest make some of the best plugs.
One of the biggest reasons why Audioquest is so popular is because they make some damn good plugs, that is power plugs, banana plugs, spade plugs...
I generally suggest that once you get up to a decent system, and you feel that you are lacking style/character/musicality and even detail, that you put in a good plug.
But I also have to warn that some systems are so bad that a good plug makes the sound worse, and that especially the amp together with the power chords and even more so, the power cleaner decides how much you are going to hear.
Thanks for covering this.
I use Shunyata.
Probably a bit too expensive but they are very high quality.
I wanted to get a sample shunyata for the video, but the local dealer was out of them. Glad you like it.
Everything in the audiophile world is a bit too expensive, so it's just part of the deal nowadays.
@@AudiophileJunkie Yep. Well they are a small boutique company so they are not cranking out thousands of anything per day thus the high cost of manufacturing plus the R&D. Cool company though.
Very well put thxs keep up great work
Thank you for the video. I think your point on quality of construction makes a lot of sense. I was recommended by a HiFi store owner (Suncoast Audio) during a conversation on this very topic, to also upgrade the Romax to 12 or even 10 gauge and run three dedicated lines to the breaker panel with individual breakers - 3 as in one for source, one for preamp, and one for amp(s). I think this may be a point worth considering as well. Do you have any experience with upgrading the wall wire?
Yes..I had a dedicated line run and it can make a difference. As with everything. It will depend on the quality of what you have now and how sensitive your gear is to the change. The lower resistance and better ground can be worth it.
It's OK to add a dedicated circuit, maybe 30 amps (instead of normal 20 amps) for your audio gear, but it is better to have all your equipment on the same circuit in order to reduce the possibility of ground loops. Otherwise, you should connect all your components together with a common ground wire (for those components that have such a ground connection).
Yes...it's advantageous to have everything connected to the same outlet/ground in most cases.
Yes they do!!! But much better is a dedicated power line. I’ve mine since November and for this price it was one of my best upgrades in my system - after room treatment ;-)
What outlet did you buy?
@@AudiophileJunkie Phonosophie - but it’s a german brand.
From the same brand the main fuse holder and Supra power line cable with a shielding line on the main fuse holders side
Curious what did you experience before and after dedicated line?
I bought 2 Leviton outlets from your affiliate link, but they do not come with the “Mating wiring module”. I cannot install these without the adaptor. Do you have a link to the adaptor? There are several different modules on the Leviton website. Thanks!
It's mounted with the ground up so the cord can drop out without breaking off the ground pin inside the outlet incase of an accident
An isolated ground outlet does NOTHING unless you actually have a "separate ground wire" going back to the electrical panel directly from that isolated outlet!
Only good if using Mc cable
next thing we will have is audiophille electrians who wire your house! audiophille houses omg
You jest...but one of my friend's is an electrician and audiophile. He goes even deeper into the voodoo land than anyone I know with regard to electricity. Believe it or not...he has multi-thousand dollar power cords which shocked me.
I think some have gone off the grid like Danny Richie with GR Research and battery powered gear, so your prediction is actually already in process.
I doubt it will ever catch on or become mainstream because, as I mentioned, all the qualitative aspect you need is already established with hospital gear needing that extra overkill. It's just whether that minor sauce that audiophiles tout (ie. cryo, rhodium, quantum tunnelled, etc) will be worth the money or not.
Well-designed audio gear is immune to minor power noise issues.
Good review!
One note I believe the electrical code requires the outlet to be mounted with the ground on the bottom.
That's news to me. I wonder why that would be. I guess different locales may have different rules, but most hospitals do the opposite.
@@AudiophileJunkie It’s not in the code in residential, but the way you have it configured is considered a best practice. The consideration is if something conductive falls and lands on the plug in the outlet, it would land on the ground plug instead of causing an issue that may involve sparking, etc. Which is why it definitely is in the code for hospitals.
One cannot just purchase an isolated ground hospital grade outlet and have an isolated ground. There needs to be an additional ground wire run to the outlet. The bare wire grounds the box and the insulated green wire goes to the receptacle. 🙂. Also vacuum cleaner draws more power typically than a stereo system. 80 cent outlets are ok for clocks and lights.
The isolated ground symbol indicates a manner of construction. You obviously have to hook any outlet up right... No matter what cost or quality.
If you want to upgrade an outlet for a vacuum cleaner, that's fine. Maybe it will cut the time to vacuum in half :)
@@AudiophileJunkie No, it won't cut the time to vacuum. Vacuum cleaners and some laser printers may cause huge surges when they first start up, but only require normal power after that. When my laser printer starts from cold start, the voltage on the circuit drops 30 volts for a second or two (which I can see on my UPS display), but is normal after that.
Well, power outlets have been understood by hospitals as making a "difference" For many many years it's been known that dedicated power lines and copper rod grounding have been used by enthusiasts seeking an escape from dirty AC lines for more years than I can count
Another great vid, thank you 👍Personally I don’t believe that an outlet can make an audible difference although I did upgrade my outlets to Hubble hospital grade for durability.
That's a safe assumption with most gear and situations. You can't do much better than the Hubbell. I think a few of the "audiophile" brands actually use them. You can tell by the form and molding of the plastic.
I always here people worrying about hum I have zero hum my apartment only have one circuit lol yea I know hard to believe I am running a svs pb16 ultra sub 2 emotiva 2nd generation amps xpa2 and xpa5 xmc2 preamp processor oppo 205 bluesound node fridge be running window fan ac be running and I have zero his or sounds coming through my speakers I can turn the volume all the way up but nothing .I do have a high quality outlet which I grounded
Consider yourself lucky. Many people have ground loops due to a variety of factors, especially when cable TV is hooked up to their system.
@@AudiophileJunkie other than hdmi and optical all other cables are xlr
I wish you had some type of experience with electricity