You guys do realize that the Porter Port is a cryoed HBL 5362?
Or do you? |
No problem.
Good luck with that-you'll be busy! No experience with the FIM here, but I am still using cryoed versions of the HBL 5362 and 8300H in my line conditioner. I think you'll find pretty big differences between the non-cryoed 8300H (check to see if they now have a steel backstrap as opposed to the 5362's which is brass-the old 8300H's used to be all brass and non-ferrous on the backstrap!) and the cryoed 5362 and 8300H but not so much difference between the cryoed 5362 and 8300H.
For what it's worth, I'm now running a cryoed Oyaide R1, along with the Oyaide wall plate at the wall as the main feed to my system and line conditioner. Never thought I'd spend that kind of money on a receptacle (I did end up e-baying the wall plate at a significant discount) but someone sent me a non-cryoed R1 to try out and I was hooked.
But definitely a lot more money than the cryoed Hubbells, which still represent really great value for money in the $25-$35 range (the Cabledyne's are very reasonably priced at $25 inc. delivery) and a huge upgrade for anyone coming from a stock receptacle.
I tend to agree with Sonic Genius on the isolated ground thing with a typical residential installation. It should be noted, though, (should have made it more clear in my earlier post) that the slimline Hubbell 8300H does have Olin 688 brass non-plated contacts (as does the 5362) unlike the standard Hubbell 8300 which has (like most hospital grades) nickel plated contacts and the full size body of the 5362.
Lall: You will have a lengthy break in period with all those receptacles. It's hard to do when they arrive (as you want to get them into your system right away!) but I'd really recommend you slot them into your house where you can have a very high current draw device like a refrigerator or chest freezer draw on each half of the receptacle for about a week and a half before you put them into your system. |
Lall: The one thing that disturbs me a bit about the e-bay link is that there is no HBL designation on the box. I have a couple of Hubbell boxes here, one from 2004 and another one from a few years ago (which was probably old stock), one for an 8200H and one for a 5262 and both boxes clearly have the HBL designation printed in front of the model #. The 8200H box is stickered, as yours is, but a slightly different sticker. The 5262 box I have is printed only, no sticker on the end of the box.
That being said, the receptacle in the photo does appear to be an 8300H compact slimline receptacle. I would expect, however, that it is very old stock, perhaps 10 years plus. There's not anything wrong with that and some might argue the old 8300H is superior as a result of having the brass, non-ferrous backstrap and mounting.
Is it an optical illusion or is there a chunk out of one of the holes in the receptacle? The box looks pretty ratty as well, the combination of the two leading me to believe that the receptacle might be used.
You can establish whether the contacts are plated by simply shining a flashlight into the recpetacle to check them out. If they're a shiny, silver colour, they're nickel plated and you definitely don't have a HBL 8300H; if not they should be dull gold, and that would inidcate a pretty high probability that you've got an 8300H with non-plated contacts, albeit probably quite an old one.
Just an educated guess here: unless Hubbell has started to manufacture the HBL 8300H with a brass backstrap again, I would expect your Porter Ports to be similar to what you have there with the exception of the backstrap and mounting, which would be a dull silver colour on the new Porter Ports if they're steel. Albert could jump in to clarify perhaps if he sees this thread. |
Oops, Oyaide WPC is here:
http://www.vhaudio.com/oyaide-wpc-z.html |
Thanks very much for the compliment Lall! One of those makes up for all of the sarcastic comments from those who feel that receptacles in audio are all about snakeoil.
I have experience with a number of receptacles (most of the experimentation I did was about 10 years ago) but certainly not all and I can only say what has worked for me-there are lots of receptacles out there, including many that I don't have experience with and subjective preferences and system synergy certainly come into play so it's not a "one size fits all" thing.
That being said, I'd agree with the Audiotweak that resonance control does come into play (that idea is probably even more controversial than the effect of the receptacle itself). Current audio overkill resonance control with receptacles would probably be represented by the Furutech GTX wall plate:
http://www.furutech.com/2013/02/02/1780/
which I have no experience with, and the Oyaide WPC-Z:
http://www.furutech.com/2013/02/02/1780/
which I do.
I was given the opportunity to evaluate an Oyaide R1 and WPC-Z at no cost a few years ago. You'll have to dig into the thread a bit but if you'd like to read about my experience with that, the info is here:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/oyaide-r1-wpz-outlet-loaner-program.259008/ |
Very interesting! Thanks for answering my questions Lall and glad (but not surprised!) you ended up with a nice performance boost!
Receptacles really can make a huge difference. |
If you like the cryoed HBL 5362 (and there is a lot to like about it), I'd recommend that you leap from the mid tier Furutech and Oyaide receptacles and move right up to the Oyaide R1 or R0 or the Furutech GTX (and their respective wall plates).
I have a cryoed Oyaide R1 (in the WPC-Z wall plate which I bought heavily discounted on Ebay); it's important to understand that, unlike Furutech, Oyaide does not cryo their receptacles. My experience with the R1 is that it is better cryoed. Furutechs come cryoed in stock form-if you want cryo with Oyaide you'll need to seek out a seller who has the units cryoed.
A non cryoed R1 is, interestingly, still better than a cryoed HBL 5362, and a cryoed R1 better still but the R1 has a very similar sonic signature to the HBL 5362. Think of them as cryoed HBL 5362's on steroids.
The new Oyaide R0 is getting some rave reviews and the Furutech GTX (in either rhodium or gold-rhodium should be a bit more detailed and forward, gold a bit more laid back so choose your poison) is also extremely highly thought of and preferred by some who have experience with both the Furutech and Oyaide.
So some interesting options out there but they are pricey when you look at R1/R0 or Furutech GTX with their respective wall plates.
Finally, the two R1's that I've used (cryoed and non-cryoed) required extensive burn in. If they are not conditioned on something like the Audiodharma before being shipped, or not burned in on a high current device like a fridge or chest freezer for a least a month, they are going to be a bit bright and etched. My recommendation would be to purchase from a Vendor (like Cabledyne) who preconditions the receptacle on the Audiodharma before shipping it out.
Even with heavy preconditioning on the Audiodharma, the cryoed R1 I ended up with took a good 4-5 days to settle; without that it would have been 30 days plus, possibly longer. |
My mistake. Albert did stop using the 8300H a few years ago and switched to the 5362 as Hubbell changed the materials in the 8300H and started manufacturing it with a ferrous backstrap. See here:
http://new.audiogon.com/listings/porter-port-20-amp-porter-ports-cryo-ivory-or-white-color--11
It appears that he's now gone back to the 8300 (probably the 8300H by the looks of things).
Having used cryoed versions of both the 8300H and the 5362 personally, I can tell you that there is not much of an audible difference between them. I might give a very slight edge to the older version of the 8300H with the non ferrous backstrap-not sure about the new version as I haven't heard it.
The 8300H is a "slim line" hospital grade, so has a much smaller chassis than the 5362 which might be of benefit if you are putting them into an existing power strip or conditioner. To the best of my knowledge the current 5362 is still completely non-ferrous; not sure about the newer version of the Porter Ports.
As to the actual contacts, the differences were always minimal between the 8300H and the 5362; as I recall the 8300H had very slightly (and I mean very slightly) beefier contacts. In my experience it would be very difficult to distinguish between cryoed versions of those receptacles.
At a considerably lower cost (33% is considerably lower in my book), I'd take a cryoed 5362 over a cryoed 8300H unless you needed the much smaller chassis of the slim line hospital grade. |
HBL 8200H (I have 3 of them here) and HBL 8300H have always been compact hospital grades with unplated Olin 688 brass contacts.
HBL 8200/8300 (have at least 3 of those here as well) is an entirely different receptacle, a typical full sized hospital grade with Olin 688 brass nickel plated contacts.
HBL 5262/5362 (have at least 3 of those here too) have always been full sized "specification grade" receptacles with Olin 688 brass non-plated contacts.
HBL 8300GY is simply a grey 8300. If you had a grey 8300H it would be HBL 8300HGY, a white 8300 would be HBL 8300W, a white 8300H would be HBL 8300HW, etc.
There's really not much confusing about the Hubbell catalog numbers if you know one thing: the better quality receptacles all share the prefix HBL while the lower quality contractor grades from Hubbell have a CR prefix. That is what Cabledyne is referring to on their website, although they could have done a better job on it and really spelled it out. Check out the price difference doing a google search on a Hubbell HBL 5362 vs. a Hubbell CR 5362. The key is to NOT buy the CR designated Hubbells.
As far as the 8300H being "special order", the only thing special order about it is that it is typically not stocked. Go to any Hubbell retailer, ask them to order it for you and you'll have it in a week.
Hope this helps eliminate some of the confusion. |
Hi Lall:
Thanks for that. A lot of work, as I well know. Not a lot of surprises there for me but perhaps one. I can see the P&S Legrand and the FIM finishing where they did as they are such very different receptacles, almost polar opposites I think; you definitely cannot describe either one as being anything close to neutral!
I don't know much about the Cabledynes (but have a lot of experience with cryoed HBL 5362's) but if they were broken in by the manufacturer before shipping on something like the Audiodharma cable cooker, this would have a pretty big effect on things-my thought is that the Porter Ports, if they were brand new, still might need another week or two of break in.
The old Hubbell 8300H is a very good receptacle (and one that Albert used to use for the Porter Ports). I'm curious: do the Porter Ports have a strong physical resemblance to the 8300H (non-cryo) that you have there?
Do they have the same physical dimensions (ie. substantially shallower than the Cabledyne 5362) as the old stock 8300H's you have and do the current Porter Ports have the same brass (gold coloured) backstrap as the old stock 8300H's that you used or do they appear to have a (silver) steel backstrap? |
