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FIM 880 AC Outlet-- Best tweak I've ever heard

Summary: Friday morning I installed a FIM 880 AC outlet. This receptacle is made of high purity copper with ceramique insulation. I plugged my amp into it and was treated to the best music I have ever heard in my stereo system-- rich, warm, natural and beautiful.

Story: Last Oct. I got Vandersteen 5 speakers. In preparation for them, I had to go to 15 ft. ICs, short speaker cables, and Syn. Res. Master Couplers for the powered subs in the speakers, and a 14 ft. Master Coupler to reach from amp to a dedicated outlet. I also put in 3 Acme silver plated outlets, two went in non-dedicated circuits for the speaker subs, and the other was put on a dedicated line for my amp. So, I had to break-in or burn-in a lot of different "stuff" at the same time-- not the best way to do it, but to put the amp between speakers, I had to go this route.

I immediately liked the V5 speakers and even though they were very revealing, somewhat bright, and somewhat lean, I expected all the new wires and speakers to mellow as they broke in, and they did smooth out greatly over a 30 day period, and have continue to improve even now. But, even though very smooth and non-fatiging, they were still very revealing and brighter than I prefer.

I considered everything but most suspected the 15 ft. Syn. Res. silver/copper active shielded ICs, but to correct that would be expensive, and I didn't know what to replace them with anyway. I also remembered that the Acme outlets were silver plated, and of course silver has a reputation of being fast, bright, detailed, zippy, clean etc. But recently another A'Gon member, Eagle, recommended the FIM outlet so I bought one-- not cheap at $70. either.

Immediately after exchanging the Acme outlet for the FIM for my amp, I listened to some well known music. To be honest, it was a "jaw dropping" experience (and I seldom "gush"), Alison Krauss' vocals became warm, rich, immediate, live, natural, seductive. Timbral richness is now incredible. I had also just gotten 3 XRCDs and on Thursday night, (with Acme outlet) could only say the XRCDs were very revealing but that's all. But Friday with the FIM outlet, the Jacintha XRCD2 "Autumn Leaves, The Music of Johnny Mercer", music became truly breathtaking. It had ALL the positive characteristics I've noted above, and most of all was beautiful, natural, musical.

The same thing happened with the XRCD Robert Lucas "Luke and the Locomotives"-- a hard driving Blues/Rock CD. With the change of outlets, piano sounded like piano (it was glassy before in the treble range), a Fender Strat at full scream now sounds "right", and soft acoustic guitar was better than I've ever heard. But vocals was where the magic really was-- Jacinth's voice was rich, warm, natural, and "in the room with me".

This review is not meant to critisize Acme outlets, as in a dark sounding system, they may be "just right-- they are fast smooth and detailed once broken in. BUT IN MY SYSTEM-- well, the FIM has transformed it-- I admit to a definite preference for a warm, rich, sweet presentation, and I have FINALLY found it with a simple outlet change. Also, my Vandersteen 5s now sound like Vandersteen speakers.

If my house were burning down, and there was only one of these FIM outlets in existence, I'd save my wife, the cat, and the FIM outlet. The FIM 880s are "Dyno-Supreme", IMO. Sorry for the long-winded gushing, but I wanted to share this 4 month journey and experience with A'Gon brethern, and I also needed an "outlet" for my excitment;>) I've gotta' quit! Any comments/questions are welcome. CHEERS. Craig
garfish

Showing 8 responses by garfish

garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
.......should also have noted. FIM outlets are available directly from FIM at www.fimpression.com ($70.) or www.eaudionet.com (an A'Gon dealer) for $60. Also, I'm in no way affiliated with FIM.

My only FIM outlet was put into a dedicated AC system to include Syn. Res. Master couplers. YMMV. BTW, I have copper based Hubbell outlets in my four other dedicated lines. I'm going to talk to FIM on Monday-- there may be more 880 outlets in my future. Is it possible to overdo a good thing? Craig
garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
Ligi; we were posting at the same time-- availability is noted above-- I got mine directly from FIM. Craig
garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
Sherod; glad to hear that Galen Carol is carrying the FIM outlets-- I'll check his website. I've done business with him before and agree he is very pleasant to deal with.

Brulee; I'ts nice to see some others have had success with the FIM outlets. I think my neighborhood has a fairly lousy AC power supply, and I have to carefully avoid anything that has a tendency to be bright. Craig
garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
I haven't tried the PS Audio outlet but would like to-- I have Hubbells, Acme, hospital grade P&S, and now a FIM. Galen Carol's web site has a bunch of testimonial statements about how good the FIMs are though. Sure hope it's not true that they're discontinued.

Just speculation on my part, but I'd guess that amps may be more sensitive to outlet quality because they use the most power. I'm going to call Galen Carol on Monday, and maybe FIM. Thanks for the interest and comments. Craig
garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
Hi Rcrump; two years ago I had a dedicated AC system put in (copper Hubbell audio grade outlets) and initally it was much, much too bright with the stock power cords (maybe it just needed time to breakin?), so I auditioned (Redkiwi's advice) seven name brand power cords in the $200. to $1000. range. Of the seven, the Syn. Res. Master Couplers were the best of the bunch and they got rid of the brightness completely, and over time, I added them to all my components.

It was only in Oct. 2001 that I put in the Acme silver plated outlet for my amp, and as noted made several other system changes too-- it was difficult to sort out. Well, for my system anyway, the Acme was not a good choice. But I do not consider the SR Master Couplers to be inherently bright, in fact just the opposite, and I don't consider the Acme outlets to be inherently "bad"-- but in my system, they are too bright. The Acmes are very smooth, detailed, and fast and I would recommend them for a darkish, overly warm, or "slow sounding" system. I'm glad they work well for you. Cheers. Craig
garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
Lak; I'm not "hands on" familiar with the Equi=Tech Q2, but it's my guess that any component will take on the sonic signature of whatever it's plugged into. If you want more warmth, richness, and fullness then the FIM 880 may do that. OTOH, if you want more speed, detail, and a brighter presentation, then the ACME silver plated job may be better.

But in either case, if you have a fairly high resolution system, I'd bet you'd certainly hear a difference in whichever you chose, and it would be up to you to decide which you prefer. Good Luck. Craig
garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
Sherod; I am using SR X series ICs and they were a significant upgrade over the standard ICs-- especially noticeable in sound staging. I have not tried or heard the new X series speaker cables (or PCs), but that's something I will be considering as a future (potential) upgrade.

Badge; I agree that the copper tarnish is a potential problem, and I have no solution. My approach is philosophical I suppose. The outlets will tarnish very slowly and it may be that music quality will degrade slowly too-- but so slow it may be imperceptible. And as of now, I'd much rather enjoy the benefits of the sound quality of these outlets than listen with those that sound too bright to me.

When I had a dedicated AC system installed, I noted in the main breaker box that the heavy copper wire feeding the sub-main was a bit tarnished so I pulled it out cleaned it with a pocket knife and on re-clamping it, new copper was also exposed, and afterward I thought music sounded cleaner and clearer-- that big wire had been in place for about 25 years.

Finally, I also think that just unplugging and re-plugging will have the affect of exposing a cleaner contact surface-- others have noted this too-- and it wouldn't have to be done often. Finally, while these FIM outlets are exceptional sounding, even inexpensive copper based outlets, such as P&S hospital grade (about $10.), and audio-grade Hubbells @ two for $25. also sound good in my system too. I use Hubbells on my other components (until I get more FIMs;>).

I think, in my system at least, just removing the silver plated outlet may have been responsible for much of the improvement in music quality that I experienced. But really, I think it was both removal of the silver outlet, and addition of the copper based FIM that created the significant improvement in music quality.

As I've already noted in this thread, I think in some systems, silver plated outlets could perform beautifully. I have a "lousy" local power supply too (dirty and fluctuating) that may be greatly responsible for excess brightness, and the fast, pure silver just made it worse??? :( Cheers. Craig
garfish OP
1,840 posts
 
Hi Phil; I use Syn. Res. Master Couplers plugged into Acme silver plated outlets for the V5 subs. These are non-dedicated lines, but if I have the bucks this summer, I may have the Vand. 5 outlets dedicated. I didn't really A/B this combo and just use them based on my experience elsewhere. I want nice, tight, articulate bass. I hope you enjoy your V5s as much as I enjoy mine. Cheers. Craig
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