Best upgrade ever: cryo outlet for my refrigerator


This is the weirdest thing that has happened to me in all these years in audio:

I won a Dutch auction for a 20 amp silver plated, cryoed ACME receptacle. I decided to burn it in by running my refrigerator through it--fine. So I went on and replaced the old outlet, thoroughly cleaned the leads and ground wire and applied some Pro Gold.

When I listened to my stereo I could not believe the improvement in the sound! It was so powerful, three dimensional and w/ such a quiet background it was spooky. How could this be? I had cleaned the leads leading to other receptacles in the circuit and my equipment was being fed through a brand new PS Audio Power Port! Without a doubt this has been the most noticeable upgrade in my system--ever. Even when Deano came w/ his spare class A monoblocks did the difference in sound was this huge. The same goes for adding a top notch Clear Image T4 line conditioner I got recently--not even close.

I asked the maintenance guy and he told me what I had cleaned before were the return wires and receptacles in the circuit. It turns out the fridge goes first and my power Port is two receptacles downstream...

The bass was MUCH deeper, the musical presentation way more relaxed and the high frequencies detailed and w/out a hint of harshness. This is freaky.

Can anyone out there explain this?
psychicanimal

Showing 1 response by shasta

P.Animal-

If the reefer is off or unplugged, any receptacle downstream doesn't know it exists, since residential branch circuit receptacle outlets are wired in parallel. Individual receptacle outlets are "tapped" off of the main wiring runs, so that removal of any individual receptacle will not kill any other recptacle.

So I'd experiment (in the interest of science ) and unplug the reefer and have a listening session. Then I'd remove the Acme, wirenut the wire ends for safety, and have another listening session.

Possibly the original installation - if it was anything like my place - was 25 yr old back-wired, bottom-of-the-line residential/builder grade, sub $1.00 receptacles where you could blow on a plug and it would fall out, the contact pressure was so low. In that case, you have some high impedance values on the hot, ground and neutral connections that may have contributed to audible and inaudible noise when the reefer was running. And that would also contribute a voltage drop to downstream outlets. Possibly what you're hearing is the result of another plus volt or three AC to your equipment, so it may be a wee bit louder than before. Note that most audio equipment is spec'ed with a AC spread of like 95-130 VAC, but who knows how it sounds at different levels within that spread?

When I purchased my home 2 years ago, I undertook the replacement of every receptacle and wall switch with Leviton Commercial grade devices. Part of this operation included cleaning & ProGold'ing the wire ends and receptacle terminals before reinstalling. No surprise that the screw terminals on new high quality receptacles are grungy... Devices were side-wired and torqued to manufacturer specs (HIGHLY critical.)

For cleaning copper wire, ketchup (aka catsup) works in a pinch. I used Wright's Brass Polish, since it's water based, and in conversation with the factory they confirmed that it doesn't contain any anti-tarnish agents (i.e. oils.)

I then disassembled the interior branch circuit panelboard and cleaned all wire ends, the hot and neutral busses, the ground wire ends, and ProGold'd everything. Aluminum feeders to the range and clothes dryer were de-greased, sanded, and treated with anti-oxidation compound.

At the service panel, I repeated the same operation on the feeders to the interior panelboard. These also were aluminum conductors, and they need special care and feeding.

I believe that one need to approach home power on an entire system basis, from the utility connection on down. As a result of what I did above, when I replaced my system receptacles with the FIM's, I only noticed a slight (very slight) increase in midrange clarity.

I'd sure like to hear the results of the experiments mentioned in paragraph 2 above...