[mbriant]

jude:

After teasing you about your recent lunatic fringe purchases, I just came across 3 Hubbell receptacles on Audiogon for $12 each.

Since the old house I'm living in has some sloppy, loose wallplugs in it, and what has been said about a good contact area, I decided why not.

$12 seems much more palatable than $49.95 for the polished unit you purchased, so I jumped in and bought all three.

It seems this audio malady is catching.

Hopefully the $12 price makes me only 25% as crazy as you.

 

[jude]

I ordered the PS Audio PowerPort (see first post of this thread) on July 11, 2001, and received a confirmation e-mail stating that I'd receive another e-mail to tell me when it shipped. When I didn't receive the shipping e-mail after a week, I wrote them two e-mails to cancel the order. I'm sure it was an honest oversight on their part, but it appears my cancellation e-mails were disregarded, and the PowerPort finally arrived today (August 2), but just a bit too late (I just bought my own hospital-grade Leviton receptacle). Anyway, I called PS Audio today, and they kindly apologized for the inconvenience, and it appears they will be taking care of the return (they were very nice, and I'd deal with them again).

Anyway, it's here now, and I had a chance to cursorily compare it to my Leviton receptacle (see pictures below to see both), and here are my opinions based on just a very brief, not-installed observation (the Leviton is installed):

PS Audio's PowerPort is a very nice unit. Based on the packaging, I believe it is essentially a Hubbell hospital-grade receptacle customized to PS Audio's specifications, with special plating and branding (there may be other customizations not immediately visible to me). One of the things that PS Audio says it specs is a fancier, hand-polished multi-layer plating to improve contact area -- admittedly, the plating in there does look good, and shinier than in my Leviton.

I decided to try inserting my hospital-grade cord, as well as a few other power cords, in the PS Audio PowerPort to see how hard it gripped the plugs, and it doesn't feel to me as though the PowerPort grips any of the plugs any harder than the Leviton. This was one of my primary concerns, because the wall outlet I was previously using came with my house when we built it in 1996, and had such a feeble grip on my Brick Wall's plug that I questioned the integrity of the contact.

There are actually some things about the Leviton I like better than the PowerPort. First is the face plate -- if you look at the pictures below, you'll see that the Leviton has a smooth face, designed that way so as not to collect dirt and debris. If you look at the pictures, you'll also notice the sides of the Leviton have what Leviton calls an apron barrier to prevent accidental contact between terminal screw heads and metal box -- notice that the terminal screw heads on the PS Audio PowerPort are closer to the unit's edge. I also like the Leviton's groovy orange color better (though my interior designer wife is probably glad it's under my desk and covered by the plugs). Finally, the Leviton can be bought at Home Depot stores and, at $13.61, cost me $36.64 less than the PowerPort (priced at $49.95 plus shipping).

It's very important to note that I did not have the PowerPort installed (since the Leviton was already installed), so I didn't listen to my system with it. My observations above are merely from physical inspection of the PowerPort.

Okay, like you, I can't believe I wrote quite this much about AC receptacles. But, hey, I'm a tweaker-type now. So this stuff means something to the likes of me. And, yes, I ProGolded the Leviton before it was installed, and also the plugs that are plugged into it!

So, mbriant, I am now only as crazy as you.

And, Neruda, JMT, chych, flashbak, Tides, joelongwood, and MacDEF, stop rolling your eyes!

Leviton 5362-IGS (the orange one)

PS Audio PowerPort

 

[jude]

Was just browsing Audio Asylum archives and noticed the following post from some time back:

WattGate's $160.00 Model 381 receptacle is based on Leviton receptacle

Here's a pic of the WattGate receptacle:

Compare it to the pic of my orange Leviton above.

According to Ray Kimber (as quoted in the above linked Audio Asylum post), the WattGate receptacles are based on a Leviton product. As you can see by comparing the pics of the WattGate 381 above to my orange Leviton, the resemblance is obvious (including the apron barrier, square notches on the face sides, and the smooth face surface). The WattGate does, however, have far fancier plating -- a three-layer plating over brass base metal, consisting of oygen free copper plating, electroless nickel plating, and 24 karat gold plating versus the Leviton's brass base metal with only nickel plating. Still, the Leviton one costs $146.39 less than the WattGate version, so I think I can live with my nickel-only plating.

NOTE: There may be other differences between the Leviton 5362-IGS and the WattGate 381 other than those I listed above, but these are the only ones I've found at this time.

 

[mbriant]

How come all these plugs have a green dot AND a green triangle on them while my Hubbells only have the green dot?

Does this mean the Hubbells will sound inferior?

 

[bootman]

Jude quick question: Do the outlets have isolated grounds? (I think the orange one does) If so did you have to have any additional wiring done because of it or did you wind up joining the grounds to preserve the grounding for other outlets down the line?

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by bootman Jude quick question: Do the outlets have isolated grounds? (I think the orange one does) If so did you have to have any additional wiring done because of it or did you wind up joining the grounds to preserve the grounding for other outlets down the line?

bootman,

First of all, I'm sorry I didn't reply to your question until now -- didn't see it until now, man. Anyway, the existing ground wire was used.

 

[Tides]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbriant How come all these plugs have a green dot AND a green triangle on them while my Hubbells only have the green dot? Does this mean the Hubbells will sound inferior?

Get a green magic marker and draw a green triangle yourself. Just so it looks good

Tides

 

[mbriant]

I just might do that Tides.

Then I'll get one of these.

 

[Tim D]

I'm pretty sure wearing a pair and renting out a small empty white-padded room for a couple of weeks is bound to make music sound much better once you leave!

Perhaps you could make a business out of it and call it an audiophile resort.

 

[chych]

So Jude.

This raises a vey important question to me.



[size=large]How do they Sound???[/size]

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by chych So Jude. This raises a vey important question to me. [size=large]How do they Sound???[/size]

Well, here's the thing....I can't really say. You see, at about the same time all of this was going on, my Max was upgraded, which also had simply positive effects -- so it's hard to know which did what. The only thing that's easy to compare is the AC cord, as it can easily be swapped out. When I swap the Quail cord with the Max's standard power cord, I can hear a difference in sound, but it's so subtle to my ears that I wouldn't feel too confident that I could blind pick them reliably. It's not surprising to me, though, if there is a difference, as the hospital-grade cord grips both the Brick Wall and the Max with more verve than the Max's stock power cord.

The effect of the outlet I can't confidently comment on. Any changes would likely be very subtle. The reason it's so hard for me to comment is because the change (if any) is so subtle that it's hard to detect, and it's not easy to swap out with the old, crapply receptacle I was using.

The Brick Wall's effect was significant (you can see my comments about it in another thread -- try a search for "Brick Wall" if you can't easily locate the thread). That I can say for sure, and it is definitely for the better.

And, as I also mentioned in another thread, I'm definitely interested in giving balanced power a go.

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

jude said... The effect of the outlet I can't confidently comment on. Any changes would likely be very subtle. The reason it's so hard for me to comment is because the change (if any) is so subtle that it's hard to detect, and it's not easy to swap out with the old, crapply receptacle I was using.

Probably a silly question, but why can't you just use a different, old-style outlet instead of trying to swap?

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by dhwilkin Probably a silly question, but why can't you just use a different, old-style outlet instead of trying to swap?

There are no old silly outlets by my desk, man. I guess I could try plugging it into a power strip and comparing the outlet to that, eh?

 

[darrylnz]

Quote:

Originally posted by jude Videoshielded, You definitely steered me in the right direction with those Markertek/Canare mini-to-mini cables. So the Vibrapods, eh? I'll definitely consider them. What has had me most intrigued are those half-spheres of sorbothane -- you ever play with a slab of sorbothane before? It's great at absorbing forceful impacts -- its effectiveness with small vibrations is something I have to find out more about.

Hi Jude,

Check out these urls (isolation products) ...

http://www.tivolihifi.com.au/merchan...atid=42&step=4

Also, http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/db07.htm and

an alternative to vibrapods, the SD ; http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/sonicdesign_e.html

Cool huh !!

Cheers,

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

jude said... There are no old silly outlets by my desk, man. I guess I could try plugging it into a power strip and comparing the outlet to that, eh?

Well, hop to it, man! You know, in the interests of science and stuff...