AC Outlets

"Don't confuse me with the facts, My mind is made up." Herbert Spencer's mother-in-law.

Elizabeth is right on the Levitrons. Their heavy duty outlets may be well made for running a vacuum cleaner but they stink for audio. I was shocked (not literaly) by the Audio Magic outlets, which appear to be based on these same Levitrons. I was able to take power treatment out of the lines I use for my amps using these AM outlets. They are also much better than the PS audio outlets. I have not tried the Porter Ports. I suggest you give one of the Audio Magic nanoplex outlets a try.

Look, I am by nature a skeptic. By education and profession I am a scientist. I'm a pretty good problem solver, as attested by 6 patents and a few publications in scientific journals. I don't easily buy into audio tweeks that invoke metaphysical explainations. What I do is run experiments. I can understand why a 40 year old spec grade outlet that obviously is loose might be a problem. It's pretty cheap and makes good sense to replace those with new high quality outlets. Its a little higher hurdle to spend 50 bucks on an outlet, but, there are a number of people around here who swear by them. So, I bought a PS audio outlet a few years back and gave it a try. I really didn't notice anything, so I didn't go any further. About a year ago, Audio magic offered a "good" price on their nanostreamed outlets, and I have had good luck with their stuff, so I decided to give it a try again. As I said in my previous post, it made a huge difference. I was so surprised that I doubted my own ears, so I actually put the old outlets back in and switched them back and forth several times. I can't explain why they made such a huge difference, but they certainly did. There are things we experience that aren't consistent with our expectations. All I'm saying is run the experiment with unbiased ears. Sometimes people hear what they expect to hear. That cuts both ways. Don't exclude yourselves from a tweek that might make a huge difference. Run the experiement. If it helps great. If not, well, it was only a $50 experiment.

Peter,
I would shoot Audio magic an email. Jerry has usually been pretty fast in getting back to me. I got my nanoplexes straight from Jerry. He ran an add for them a while back and sold them direct. Another option would be to contact Audiogon user Fork, who is an Audio Magic dealer. As I said I was not expecting much, but I was just stunned. One thing I would mention is that they sounded great straight out of the box, but after a few hours they went through a period of a few hours where my amps didn't sound so good. I left them on for a while, maybe a couple days, and that seemed to do the trick and they were back to sounding super again.

If you look at my system page you will see I am using other Audio Magic gear for power treatment. It seems to really be working well for me.

Rok2id. Everything has a cause, but I dare say you cannot explain every phenonenon that occurs. Last I checked, there was still a debate about what "causes" gravity. I don't know of anyone who walks around claiming there is no gravity, or says, "I'm not going to believe in gravity until it can be fully explained."

Rok2kid,
You are correct about the effects of gravity. It is predictable, even if the bases on which our predictions are made are wrong.

When are things ever so clear cut with audio.? I can spend 30K on another amp or preamp and no one can predict a priori how it will sound in my system. My point with outlets is that this is an inexpensive experiment. In my case, a $40 outlet fixed a problem that was only partially rectified by a much more expensive power treatment device.

Finally, high end audio is based on the marriage of electrical engineering with art. The designer must know the physics, and he must have an ear for music. There are companies out there that have consistently demonstrated they have both elements in place. Though I have a background in science, my background is not in physics. My approach to audio tends to be empirical, not theoretical. Questions are answered after the fact by music, not ab initio based on presuppositions.

Wow! I think this is about all anyone who wants a clear answer could ask for. I agree on the burn in time though. My AM went through a nasty sounding phase for a few hours.

I would urge some caution in making broad sweeping generalizations based on the results. If, on the one hand, a group of listeners can detect differences in outlets, that demonstrates that under certain circumstances, the effects of outlets can be audible. It does not imply that all listeners will here differences under all circumstances. On the other hand, I'm not sure that failure to obtain a statistically significant result in the test means that it is impossible for such audible differences to be heard under any circumstance.
With respect to the test itself, If possible, I would prefer the listeners not hear the tests collectively. It is difficult to ensure people are not being influenced by others. I would proceed first with a quick A/B, (better, worse, no/little difference, then proceed with A/C. C/D, C/E, etc retaining the preferred choice for each A/B comparison. As one proceeds through the test, roll back into the A/B a rejected outlet to see if the perceived preference is retained.
Whart offers good comments about comparing outlets that are close. That would require more extended listening.
My experience would lead me to expect that there could be obvious problems with the cheap outlets, but perhaps less obvious differences between outlets prepared and marketed for audio use.

Peter, I would leave the cheap outlet in the test. In my case, there was an obvious problem with my new, $3.00 heavy duty Levitons. I am quite sure that most people would have heard the difference immediately. I think the thread has been about "Can a $50 outlet and a $3 outlet sound different." Not, "Can two $50 outlets sound different?"