Drubin, the weather this time of year in Texas is pretty humid. Even though it was a couple of days travel for the outlets to arrive after treatment, they were still cool to the touch.
Possibly some condensation formed, and the Hubbell factory cardboard box may have sluffed off some debris during shipping. There is no harm in using Deoxit or ProGold to make them look nicer. I have even heard of manufacturers using food grade spray silicone to dress up product before shipping. |
Anytime I purchase any audio item new or used I clean the contact points with Kontak.
Since most of you don’t have a cable-cooker I suggest running a house hold fan in your outlets for about 30 days to help break them in and get rid of the harshness. Listen to them on occasion to hear how they mature. That’s why I prefer to purchase mine from a place such as http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/ after cryogenically treating them they will use their cable cooker for several days on the outlets. This process will make the outlets sound the way they should, or only require one or two days of use for them to mature fully.
At any rate I hope everyone hangs in there, they will sound better. Have a great Thanksgiving.Remember the USA, home of the free and the brave! |
Day two.
Much better than yesterday. After 24 hours of burn in with as much listening as I could tolerate(not much) and the rest of the time running fans as Lak had suggested and leaving the equiptment running , the sound has relaxed quite a bit. Much of the dryness and shrunken soundsatge is gone. The extension is improved. There is still a bit of hardness, grit,slight edge, mid bass congestion,and the low bass is still poofy for lack of a better word. Even with these warts,I am, able to get a better picture of what is to come. There seems to be an improved clarity emerging and a richness that I like very much. Stay tuned! |
I’ll bet when the cryoed outlets finally break-in, whatever component you plug in {to the outlet (s)} will sound as if they got a shot of steroids (which should be a good thing in this case)! |
Lak, I hope you don't mean that all the vocalists with have an accent like Arnold Swartzanager? |
Boy! I never thought of that:-) |
Day three.
Things have setteled down quite a bit with 36 hours of the fans and or the equiptment running. At this point I have to say that they now are starting to show their stuff. They already sound better than the old ones in many ways. The change in sound is similar to what happened when I put the aftermarket PC on my CD. The space seems to be opening up with lots of dimension and precision.Harmonic richness seems wonderful and there is a relaxed feel about the pace. The low bass still is missing in action(still poofy) which makes the mid bass seem a bit thicker and clogged(I tried turning up the woofer level a bit which may have made things worse in this regaurd). Highs may still be a bit cropped on top as well but there is a nice delicate texture and decay to what is there. The harshness is reduced to a point I can tolerate and not much more than the standard Levitons that were there. Not bad after this short period of time. I am sure that they will mature nicely from this point like a good bottle of Bourbon. I'm glad I put them right in so I can get the full experience. Anyone else with any thoughts? As always, you are welcome to tell me I am nuts if your findings are different from mine. |
Doh! Day three is 48 hours of burn in, not 36. Unless one of those days way only 12 hours for some strange reason. I know that the days are short up here in the frozen north, but this is one of my right brainer math screw-ups. Let's see 2+2=? Anyone? Need help here! |
Day Four.
72 hours of burn in with the fans and or equiptment running.(I used a calculator this time!) Good news, the bass is coming back, not fully yet but getting better all the time! What else is happening is a 3-D sound that, hell may be 4-D! They do blow away my old outlets now. May be, just a hint of grain or roughness, but I won't call it harsh anymore. I can't wait to hear the next phase of burn in. The textural subtlties and delicate spacial cues are starting to come through like never before. I hope some of you other guys are burning yours already. I want to hear what you think. I am going to leave the fans running 24/7 for a while yet. |
First, Thank you Albert Porter for working with everyone in getting the "Porter Port". Or maybe the "Al-tlet"?
Thanx Maxgain for your daily updates, I look forward to reading them. I have had mine in for about 24 hours, it replaced a stock outlet. Right off the bat, much better than stock. There is a harshness about it, but I can already hear better dynamics and soundstage. Looking forward to going through the burn-in process to hear it keep getting better, until it is s-m-o-o-t-h!
Matty |
Listen to the Psychic...
USE YOUR REFRIGERATOR!!!
Make a jig with an electrical box and run your fridge through each receptacle at least four days. The fridge draws a lot more current than a fan and each time it starts it sends a decent spike. |
Day Five.
96 hours of burn in.
Now we are getting somewhere! The system seems to be able to negotiate complex passages better than ever. Everything is more focused than before and can sort things out that blured together with the old outlets. Extension of the high end is back to normal. I can hear more breath of the vocals and more decay of ambiance. Imaging is locked in with more specific space for individual instruments and voclas. I am hearing a gain in transparency that connects me to the space the music takes place in more than ever. These improvments are letting me get to the emotive, affective aspects of the music like never before. The low bass still lacks a bit of weight though. The bass in general doesn't yet have quite as much punch and the mid bass is still a bit "poofy" compared to the old outlets. I am beginnig to think that this (the bass) will be one of the last aspects of the burn in to fall into place.
As I listen the changes are getting more subtle as time goes on. This may be the last of the 24 hour interval updates. I will keep reporting as things happen. I hope the rest of you have as much fun with these as I am having.I hope to read some of your findings even if you don't hear it as I do, as always. Thanks again to Albert. |
I have been following Maxgain's reports with some interest. We had our outlets installed at roughly the same time and my experiences have been roughly parallel. I have left the 2 channel system alone. I intend to give it a week to break in.
I have instead concentrated on the HT. Day 1, the bass was very muddy. Day 2 and 3, I noticed a great deal of pixelation coming from the satellite. This has now smoothed out rather nicely. The sound continues to get tighter and more focused. I agree that the bass will probably be the last thing to settle down.
Once they are properly broken in, I plan to run dedicated lines. |
Day six.
120 hours of burn in.
Happy to report that my friend, the low bass is returning nicely now and things are smoothing out in the mid bass as well. The good things I mentioned before are becoming even more pronounced. Sounds sort of super charged! Very precise with amazing clarity, focus, and detail! Can't keep writing,I need to shut this damn PC off and listen to another tune quick! |
I let it run a few hours while I was gone with the CD on repeat. As the bass comes back, seems so is a bit more of the harshness. I hope this is a short phase that may be gone even tomorrow. |
Ok, tonight it sounds different again? great in the mids, woffy, poofy, wooly bass, and smoother highs than this afternoon? This is a real thrill ride like a roller coaster of up and down. Perhaps some of it is that the new outlets let me hear the real quality of my AC better than before which explaines the different sounds at different hours of the day?(it always seemed a bit better at night before anyway)
Albert, anything you can add? You have been through this, what comes next? perhaps getting on the contraption that spins me around till I toss my cookies instead of the roller coaster? At 6'4" I hope I'm not tall enough to get on that ride! Don't get me wrong I am confident that things ARE getting better overall. It's just that they seem to be toying with me at times, by giving me something then just before I grab it they snatch it back! |
I resisted commenting because I wanted to give other Audiogon members an opportunity to post their results without my input. I had a huge head start on this project as my outlets were installed months ago when my sound room was completely rebuilt. It was about 45 to 60 days when my outlets showed NO additional changes in break in.
A few years ago I cryo treated the transformers in my Soundlab Ultimates. The break in period took over 7 months. At one point I completely gave up on the project. I ordered two new back plates from Soundlab in anticipation of having to dispose of the cryo treated ones. Just as I was ready to pull the plug, in the weeks that followed, changes came about in the function of the crossovers where they literally blossomed to life. There was almost unbelievable transparency and balance and the bass finally came back. If not for all the members in my audio group hearing and agreeing with this sudden change, I would doubt myself, especially after all that time.
Considering the benefit received from my cryo outlets, in a (relatively) short break in time of 45 days, they may be the biggest bargain in my system. Equal in some ways to expensive cables and power cord swaps.
Your experience with break in is not out of line with mine and your comments may benefit those who face break in of other cryo treated products. I know of no product that cryo treating does not screw up at first, regardless of type or application. The worst ever was a Benz moving coil phono cartridge. That experience would be a thread in itself.
It will be worth it, just needs a little more burn in time. (Luckily not 7 months). |
Day seven.
A week has passed. Todays update is late due to a fun plumbing chore. Today is better than yesterday, not as bright. Overall quite pleasant. The bass is slowly coming back. What will tomorrow bring? |
Day eight.
Today it is wafer thin, all of the low end gains are gone. No deffinition at all, just mud! Top end is darker but not bad and the upper mid is gritty as sand. The mid bass is clogged as bad as my drain! Talking power snake here, but not the Shunyata kind. The balance now is more like my LS3/5a's, rather than my full range/sub set up. Sort of a fake mid hump and no real bass, laid back and sort of polite throught the top.Mids sound as hollow as an old Beech tree. Very weird sounding!I may cry "uncle" and put them somewhere else for the rest of the burn now as this phase is gross. |
Here is a analogy for Albert, It sounds like a black and white infra red photo of the sound of my system, taken through a red filter, then the print was under developed! |
Find someone with a cable-cooker and use it for 72 hours or so! |
Lak, I don't know anyone who owns one. If I had known where to lay my hands on one I probably would have gone that route to begin with. I love instant gratification! It has been educational to hear the changes so far. It's interesting and tells me without question that outlets have a dramatic effect on the sound. I am still up beat about what will happen in the long run, it's just the sonic grab bag from day to day may be starting to wear on me. It's all in the name of science, right? |
Day nine.
Better again that yesterday, seems to be a 24 hour cycle between good and bad. It's still a bit weird.
What I am begining to understand is that if I listen at fairly moderate levels the sound is wonderful. When I try to get anywhere near a reference level(read quite loud)is when the sound gets weird. Must be that they just can't pass as much juice yet when the system wants it. The balance comes back into line at these more modest levels. This makes some sense to me. Make sense to the rest of you? |
Day ten.
Not much change from yesterday. Maybe this is a good sign. I listened quite a while last night and the good things are very good, space, the final frontier! The bass is still all wrong, down in level quite a bit,lacks slam and is still congested sounding. I cheated and turned the sub level up quite a bit, which helps some things and hinders in other areas. It makes some of the mid bass a bit thick and too prominent but fleshes out the low bass better but is now just fuller and funky. Give and take at this point. I may be 1/3 of the way home now.
I hate to dominate this thread. Anyone else out there with anything to add? |
No, your experience has made me afraid to install my receptacles. This kind of variability drives me crazy!
Lak, how would a cable cooker be effective with an outlet? Rather, how would it be more effective than plugging in a space heater or two for the same amount of time? |
Drubin, that's a good question and I don't understand enought about the process to explain it. The man with the answers (I think) would be Alan Kafton. You could email him from his website:http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/index.html
Perhaps he would be willing to post here? |
Maxgain, remove your outlets and clean the copper wire ends with brasso, flitz or wenol. I cleaned the wire clamps inside the recepticle also, along with the blade contacts, use a toothpick and pipecleaners. You will be amazed at all the black grunge that will be removed. After using the metal cleaner, wipe down with alcohol or de-ox-it to remove all metal cleaner residue. This should keep you busy while you wait for the funds for your new speakers to come rolling in! I have had the Porter Plugs in for over a week now and have not experienced any of the symtoms you describe. The outlets sounded great from the get go .... |
Dill thanks,
I did polish the copper romex ends with Simichrome(very similar to Flitz) and then cleaned that off with Cramolin and then wiped that off. I Didn't mess with the outlets other than wipeing them clean as I was not sure how the bare copper may react with something like ProGold in the long run. The outlets were quite free of any oxidation and I didn't want to create a big green mess that is that hard to get at and needs constant attention.The black stuff that comes off on the rag isn't all grundge. Some of what you see is part of a chemical reaction between the metal and the compound you are using. Flitz has a fine abrasive in it which like Simichrome removes a small amount of metal as you polish as well.
I am glad yours are sounding great already. Mine sounded great in so many ways right off, today was excelent other than what I mentioned before.
Drubin, I intended to burn mine in somewhere other than my system. I just decided I wanted to experience the changes as they took place. You could have the same experience that Dill is having and they sound great out of the box. I think that the worst may be over as they have sounded pretty smooth for a couple days in a row. I have to say the bass was a bit better today, as I had to back the sub level slightly off this afternoon from where I had it last night. |
Day eleven.
Good news to report today. The bass is slowly developing back to its former self. The punch and weight are starting to return. I turned the sub back off once again this morning and it is almost back to the setting where it was prior to the installation of the outlets. Everything else sounds great today! There is an ease and pace that is unmistakeable. The detail is phenomenal without being bright or forward. There seems to be a sence of continousness(I think this may be something that HP,of The Absloute Sound, talked about at one point). By this, I mean that the space that instruments exist in is very distinct but the harmonics and ambient decay are able to flow freely and sort of intermingle and overlap in a way that they never have before. It fleshes out the soundstage and just makes it sound more life like. Sounds don't just die off, they float out and you can hear them seem to travel. In other words, WOW.
If it gets better now it will just be a bonus. When the bass fianlly gets back its former drive it will be complete!
Drubin, I would be concerned about running anything that gets hot 24/7. Don't want to burn the house down! That is a burn in you won't like! the fans seem to be doing the trick but it does take a while. Right now I feel like I am over the hump with the burn in. It may throw me a curve in a day or two, I will wait and see. So far it has been an adventure. But I am learning a lot in the process and I am sure it was a good move giving these a try! |
listened to the outlets today for the first time and I must say I AM very impressed with the results. I have had them hooked up to my cable cooker for over a week (12) Day's and they sound great. The high's are extremely detailed and the bass seam's allot tighter and cleaner. Thanks Albert!!!! |
Day twelve.
Today is much like yesterday. The bass is slightly firmer and deeper than even yesterday. I hope I am almost 1/2 way home. They are starting to sound great!
Btstrg, you lucky dog. A cable burner is a luxury item I don't have acess to. I am happy to hear your report and from what I am told only have another 2 weeks to a month to go. It seems like it has been longer than 12 days. I only plan to update daily for two more days, and after that only if things revert to back or when I hear a breakthrough or some reach some significant milestone.
The sad part is that when these fianaly settle in I will be jonesing for my next upgrade(power cords for the amp and pre-amp) fix. Perhaps a 12 step program is in order? |
Day thirteen.
Thirteen IS a lucky number! Today it sounds amazing. Soundstage is vast! Detail is intricate and layered. The bass is much better, with much of the weight and power back with a smoother transition from the mid bass down. I have no complaints what so ever to report today. It sounds mui fabuloso!(not sure if that is spelled right? but you get the picture) |
Day fourteen.
This is the final daily episode and I bid you adieu as your humble narrator.
The sound today is much like yesterday, which is to say VERY good. The bass is filling out even more. The soundstage is see through to the darkest corners of the back. Small details in harmonic structure and texture are there like I have never heard before. I am hearing things on these recordings that were never there before. The ring of acoustic guitar strings and brushes on cymbls go on forever and fade into the edges of the stage. There seems to be an illuminated quality to the soundstage. It's like you get a mental picture of the spotlights on stage! Who the hell would need more that to channels! The sound has a flow out into the room that is intoxicating.
The only reservation I have yet and it may go away soon is that with some recordings(I now feel like I have never heard anything in my collection before and it may be the recordings)there still seems to be just a trace of edge and some sibilants(sp?). This may very well go away with even further burn in or it just may be that I am hearing my cables or something else in my system like never before. When a layer of grundge you didn't even know was there before is stripped away it is a very eye opening experience.
Soon I will have in my posession a cable cooker that was offered for my use by a very generous Agoner. I am going to run them on the cooker for at least 72 hours each. I want to take these as far as I can. I always like to wring the most out of a component( yes these are a MAJOR component!)
I love to push the bang for the buck envelope. Albert is right about these being a fantastic value! I will report again after I am finished sauteing these in the cable kitchen! Bon apitite. |
The outlets came out today in anticipation of the arrival of the cable cooker. The sound was a bit strange again yesterday. I had shut the fans off after tuesday as the noise was getting annoying and the wind tunnel testing had shown a high coefficient of drag for the couch in my listening room. I knew the cooker was on it's way. They did seem to regress a bit after the two days of no fans, even with some draw on them from my pre and sub woofer amp at idle.
The sound today of the exotic 85 cent Levitons is a bit of a let(outlet)down. The system was sounding better than it ever had before the installation of the Hubbells and I guess is back to what it was. It's hard to go back. It will only be a few days now and I will be back, and beyond to a level that I miss already. How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm........ |
Dill, I do plan to clean the outlets with ProGold before they go back in this time. I did some research at the Caig site and there seems to be no problem with it reacting poorly with the unplated copper. Just wanted to be sure before I put ANYTHING on them. Thanks for your suggestion. |
I have used ProGold as a contact enhancer and found that a metal cleaner followed by Deoxit (to remove all cleaner residue) and then a coating of ProGold works well. Another product I have used in the past as a cheap contact enhancer is RailZip, used by model railroaders and slotcar people on the track to improve contact from track piece to track piece. It is much cheaper than ProGold but does leave a bit of residue, but cleans off. |
Magain, how are you hooking the outlets up to the Cooker? |
Drubin, My understanding is that you just wire them up to the cooker as if you were going to burn in a speaker cable. I am going to connect three outlets at once and burn them in a daisy chain. I will know more about it when the cooker arrives tomorrow. This is the way I understand that it is done for the World Power cryo'd Hubbells who is also the manufacturer of the Audiodharma Cable Cooker. |
Max......there is a safer way. I do not "wire" the outlets to the Cable Cooker's binding posts, but use purpose-built adaptors (like mini-power cables) to daisy-chain the Hubbell's. Additionally, I use the special power cable break-in adaptors I make (that are inserted *into* the binding posts), connecting them with stock power cords into the first and last receptacles, to effect AC receptacle conditioning. In this fashion, you would need 2 IEC power cable adaptors to make this work. This is inherently safer, because there are no loose wires or loose connections.
The Cable Cooker, if it "sees" a short from a loose or improperly terminated connection, will shut down (there is protection circuitry in the DC power supply). However, any misuse could possibly damage the internal circuitry. Please be VERY careful with your wiring and make sure all your connections are tight. |
After consulting with Alan at Audiodharma, I have VERY carefuly made sure that the outlets are hooked to the cooker in a way that will not damage it. All systems are go, green light on the cooker. All I am missing is the little pop up thingie that they put into turkeys to tell you when the are done(Alan did give me some guidlines). I will report again after the outlets are golden brown and delicious and snug back in their home in the wall. |
Here is the conclusion of my findings about the "Porter Ports". This may sound as if I have been just awarded some coveted trophy. First I want to thank all of the AudioGon members that have made this possible. Albert, for all his efforts that were above and beyond what I would expect from someone that I have never even met. The others in this group who got together and made it happen by ordering enough of the outlets. I want to mention that I have gotten a lot of help and support from other members who have been generous enough to share their advice, experience, and one who even loaned me his cable cooker. I am impressed with the comunity effort that goes into AudioGon and why for me, it has been a rewarding and positive experience.
Now for the short part! I find these outlets to have improved EVERY aspect of the performance of my system and have NO doubt that it is a remarkable transformation that NO serious listener should be without!
I hope that others have as much fun with these as I have. I am through dominating this post. I ask that others of you share your findings here with the rest of the AudioGon members.
Thanks |
How did the cable cooker thing work out with the outlets? |
Drubin, the cable cooker is burn in morphine. It takes the pain away! It is fast and effective. The sound is even better than the day 14 posting and I am in sonic nervana.(it won't take long for me to find the need to improve the sound again soon in some way, the 12 step program is in order)
The outcome has exceded my expectations in every way. Not a single drawback to be found! |
Max,
There is a doctor in Michigan who uses a 1 step program to put you out of your audio misery. Name's Kevorkian. Supposed to work real good. |
I'm ready. You got a number for him, Khaki8? |
Drubin,
I think he has a booth at CES. |
Maxgain, I want to personally thank you for your reports. Such dedication, generosity, and detail goes beyond commendable.
Thank you!
Joe |
I think that even after running my outlets on the Audiodharma that their still may be some burn in ups and downs. Unfortunatly I contaminated my scientific method by adding another variable into the mix. While I still had the cooker on loan I wanted to quickly burn in my source IC's and all of my power cords. I may have overcooked the cables as it was on a day that I didn't have time to burn them for a few hours and then listen to see if they were "done". This would be hard to do at any rate and time consuming with the power cords as it takes an extended warm up for my system to stabalize after being shut off. I unplugged everything after listening to it Friday night(it sounded funky) to let everything come to some sort of state of equilibrium. I plugged everthing back in this morning and will wait for everthing to warm up.
I hope it sounds as good when I fire it back up as it did before I cooked the wire. I know that the cables will come back in time, it's just that I now don't know if I need to run everything or let it rest. Perhaps both. It could be that the outlets need juice running through them and the cables need the down time. I am a bit lost at the moment. Maybe I need the fans again? Maybe if I just let it play with the CD on repeat? It's like I came to a fork in the road and I went straight. I think given a bit of time it will just all of a sudden come back to life. The outlet I cooked for a friend and was installed Wedensday is still a bit up and down to and that was cooked for nearly 4 days and had no time on it to start with. Mine were cooked 3 days as they already had a couple of weeks on them and installed last Tuesday. I am getting e-mail reports from one other Agoner that used the Audiodharma that his outlets even after being installed longer than mine still seem to exibit some of the burn in ups and downs.
Patience is in order with this process. I know for a fact that I would have given up on a 7 month burn in LONG before that. Albert must be some sort of Saint. "St.Alberts Porter Ports", cryo treated by Trapist Monks and slowly burned in for your listening enjoyment in an audiophile hermitage located in the desert of Nevada. They also make beer, my favorite just so happens to be their " Cryo'd Porter", it's very smooth. |
Max,
Leave it alone and listen to music. You're driving yourself crazy! |
I am a few days away from introducing my Porter Ports. Would have interest in the experince of others with these, in addition to Maxgain (whose comments I have appreciated). Seems were quite a number of buyers but very much fewer reporting. |
