Law of "increasing returns" Oyaide AC outlet/plug


We are all familar with the law of decreasing returns, where twice as much money spent on a system will often not return twice the improvement, etc.

But I believe one of the big benefits of high end audio is the law of increasing returns, where a small improvement can yield big gains.

Tonight I installed the just on the market Oyaide berylium (platinum and palladium too) R-1 AC receptacle and P-004 male plug.

These replaced a standard wall outlet and heavy duty male end on a romex extension cable which feeds my system. I trimmed back the in wall cable to expose fresh cable before connecting it to the receptacle, and painted all solid core cable with Qicksilver extreme silver gold.

I probably would have gotten even more of an improvement had I been able to bypass the AC conectors alltogether- just hardwiring the extension to the existing housewire or better yet a dedicated run from the breakerbox, but being an apartment renter subject to inspections by the landlord, niether was practical, so I improved what I could.

My point is, for around $200 (and could I have hardwired it would have been free) I have gotten a massive upgrade. It sounds like I upgraded a source component, and the plugs haven't even broken in yet.

On a mid-fi system, I doubt one could have heard any improvement, and on a lesser system, maybe a little improvement.

This I believe is the big bargain in high end. Having such a revealing system opens one up to free and relatively (for this hobby) low cost upgrades that really improve fidelity, and I count that as an "increasing return."
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AFter posting this last night I listened to a Pablo Today LP, (Oscar Peterson trio, Night Train) that I recently bought.

I swear the cymbols now sound so real (I used to play drums- and cymbols are a pet peave with digital for me) that I don't think a real cymbol in the room would sound much more real. I'm sure it would sound "different" to a blindfolded listener, but probably not significantly more "real"

The more I play with getting better power, the more I think that good power is the basis for any good audio system, and is why I got such a large improvement in sound.

I read about the $4000 gold plated circuit breaker box - and desperately want one, (and would buy it if we didn't rent ourt apartment.
Freemand do yourself a favor and get some Quicksilver Extreme gold to coat the ends of the wire before making the connection.

While I have not done a A/B, the idea that 2 metals touching have surface irregularities that stop perfect contact seems to make sense and can only be enhanced by the Quickslilver. Or better yet split the cost with a friend - you can probably treat hundreds of connections with that amll vial of conductive paint.
Though I never compared the 2 formulas, I read opinions of the two and picked what I thought would work for me.