I also have PS Audio receptacles,
my neighbor is retired electrician
He installed for me he impressed with these.
I live a Condo, So all is good with that.
Recommendations for 20 amp electrical outlets
Greetings,
I’d like to get some recommendations for 20 amp electrical outlets.
I currently have two PS Audio outlets in my current room, but my system will be relocated to its permanent location when I finish my dedicated listening room in a few months. I’m using 10 gauge Romex for the dedicated 20 amp outlets.
I have a few electrical outlets on my list of interest;
- Audioquest NRG Edison Duplex
- Pangea Audio Premier XL
- The Maestro Outlet (by Cruze First Audio) - *Great reviews on website and forums
- Hubbell outlet (not sure of any particular model number?)
Please share your impressions and any comparison experiences would be great.
Thanks in advance!
86 responses Add your response
@jea48 no I ordered the Hubble 5362. No replying needed.
Made zero difference. Will let it run a while. |
@vthokie83 +1 Good approach, I’ve done that before with other accessories. Not being in a hurry is really important when evaluating changes likely to be subtle.
The quick answer, no. Not that I might not try that some day. I tend to go through an upgrade cycle… speakers, components, wires, and adjust for a year or two and then just listen for many years. I’m in the listening period. During this time I know exactly what my system sounds like, 2 - 3 hours of listening a day. Then every once in a while I’ll think of some little tweak I have not tried… like a few months ago I got Cardas caps for my unused RCA outputs on my preamp. I didn’t notice any difference… but then the cost was very low. Then I tried one outlet… nice improvement… then the one to the amp… small improvement, not as much as the one to the other components… but worthy of the $200 investment.
Anyway during the long period between upgrades… for me usually about seven years, I use this time to evaluate more subtle small upgrades. |
squared80 I too did not know if receptacles would make a difference, but instead of just accepting that fact; I ordered 7 different receptacles and did a many month comparison in my system and home. I kept the receptacles I liked and improved the sound, and gave the others away to friends. To me this is the proper way to see for yourself, not blindly saying they make no difference. By the way, a good friend loves the Cardas 4181 that I gave him so much, he wired his entire listening room with them; and had 2 dedicated lines installed. |
Your experience with the new outlets is interesting and I thought about doing this with my dedicated 20 amp line. Have you considered using grounding boxes? I guess it’s helpful to ensure you don’t have backflow contamination from any returning current flow along the grounding wire, strictly a 1 way path sort of thing |
squared80 - Have you done the experiment or do you just know or don't understand? |
@1971gto455ho Thanks |
@devinplombier , I am sure that they could be. I just was not comfortable with the instructions in the book I bought. I actually watched a few youtubes and the ones I watched basically showed all the same thing. Fortunately I wasn't doing anything very fancy, just adding three new circuits, but I just was not exactly sure what all I had to do at the electrical panel end of the job. |
@limomangus I like your thought process!😆 It’ll save you a ton of money!💰 |
Gotcha, @jea48 . That definitely clears it up for me now. I did not know what an 'isolated ground' was before, and now I do. None of the duplexes I installed in the circuits I installed for my system are IGs, and on the existing circuits in my home that I have worked on before, I do not remember seeing any insulated equipment ground wires, nor do I remember seeing any insulated ground wires connected to the neutral bar behind my panel, except for the insulated white wires. That typed, one of my many flaws is that I have tunnel vision and if I am not specifically looking for something I do not see it or I often forget what I saw assuming that I did see it. This is interesting though, because back in the '90s I bought a DIY home wiring book at Lowes, and a few years ago when I was installing some more dedicated circuits I referred to it to see what I needed to do behind the panel, and the pictures were actually showing insulated (green) equipment ground wires coming back to the neutral bar behind the panel. Now I have to assume that the pictures were of an IG? Anyway, TMI, but I didn't feel comfortable working behind my panel using what that book was showing me, so I watched a few youtubes of people putting new circuits in and used those as my reference. |
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Thank you, @devinplombier . I truly don't have a good understanding of the subject of home electrical and the isolated ground nomencalure confused me (which is not hard to do). Amm my circuits, including the dedicated circuits I installed for my system, are NOT isolated ground circuits, and obviously none of my duplex receptacles are IG receptacles. I was confusing IG with the uninsulated equipment ground. Just something else to put in the "what I learned today" column. Thanks again for helping me out with that. |
@immatthewj Here is a very comprehensive article on IG receptacles. Fig 6 shows the basics at a glance. Not very onerous to implement if installing a new circuit, but what are the benefits in terms of noise suppression over a 12/2 Romex homerun? This is a straight question, I don't actually know the answer.
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@nutty Thank you! |
@jea48 Oops. Sorry again. I just reread your post for the 4th or 5th time and I went and looked at a duplex outlet I had bought a while back ago at Lowes (Eaton) and the equipment ground (third "hole"/uninsulated wire) IS in fact connected to the backstrap. So this Eaton that I bought a while back ago at Lowes is NOT an IG, correct? |
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As a proposal to be looked at for the Termination of the Audio Systems Devices and cutting down on the Quota of Wall Sockets to be considered. The Link will introduce a Device to be used, that when shown as a Link in another Thread has been made not to meet USA Code. The Device has Pure Copper Contacts and can be produced to be the Termination point for all Devices Cables prior to the Wall Socket being utilised. I also recollect designs from Wago that are Wall Mounted as the Wall Socket? I know individuals using Wago Termination, where the rep[orts offered on usage, are ones where the user is extremely pleased with the impression it has made. Expensive Wall Sockets that were Superseded by the Wago Option, were not detected to have been Outperformed when the Wago Method was introduced, noe was the Wago Methos detected to have been lesser in its performance. The tidying up of the Cable Termination End is also claimed to be a satisfaction. Additionally, When taking the Power Supply to a Audio Device as a serious consideration, it is always worthwhile looking into the option of have the Devices Power Chord bypass a IEC Connector on the device and have the Power Chord attached as a Hard Wired design. This as design if utilised removes the need to be considering using an improved metal as the contacts on a uprated IEC that might be considered to be retro fitted. This as a Method is regularly seen to be reported on as having a Impact that is a Betterment. If interested in the Hard Wired Power Chord as a method, the use of the Power Chord in the Link, which is offered for very fair monies. Can be used as a Cable for an investigation. From what I know today, this Cable has the potential to make a impression not thought achievable for such a Outlay of Money. The Cable has Superseded the use of both Furutech and Nanotec Cables using PC Triple C Wire. https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/japan/en/special/order/confirm/audio9:10000582/2_1/
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@jea48 , sorry that due to my limited understanding I have to ask, but what do you mean by this? If I bought these outlets (either the Levitons or Hubbles) . wouldn't I simply replace the existing outlets that I bought from Lowes by connecting the existing black, white, and equipment ground wires to the Hubble or Leviton outlets that I bought? Am I misunderstanding this? |
@jea48 no I ordered the Hubble 5362. No replying needed. |
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I would suggest, that you have a qualified electrician check for voltage on the neutral, and a clean ground. If your power supply is clean, then buy whatever you want. I have used isolated ground outlets in the past, but I think most "noise" and distortion comes from a dirty neutral leg. Make sure that's not an issue, and of course, a good ground. An electrician can (should) check your ground with a "Megger" or similar ground test equipment. Good luck |
@jea48 what I ordered know how to read. Thanks. |
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@jea48 Thanks for the insight. Going to bet $100.00 if I change them out it will make ZERO difference. But I willing to give it a shot when I get back from my Michigan trip. |
@vthokie83 @audioman58 Thanks! |
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Best value ,quality $99 Pangea heavy Copper gold hd body and grip connectors super good I use 2 .I have had other brands if you want to spend $250 each with cover for Furutech that’s up to you the Pangea does a great job and copper -gold sounds so much better then cheap brass Hubble , the $3 ac outlets that come with house pure crap like using a wall wart on your router ,a LPS pS only if in a apt. Buy their cheaper $50 ac outlet thinner copper gold. But after 75 hours runin your music will thank you 3x better conductor then brass. |
dbt I went through about a 9 month comparison with high end receptacles, and in the end there are 4 I can recommend: (1) Furutech GTX-D (G) - Gold plated and my favorite receptacle (2) Oyaide R-1 - Gold plated, really close to the GTX-D (G).....am installing both in my new audio room (3) Furutech GTX-D (R) - Rhodium plated, was too detailed for me; but I can see it being the favorite for anyone wanting to boost detail......takes a LONG time to break it (4) ACME Audio Labs - Silver plated with CFC coating. Excellent performer for the money, better than Hubbell and hospital grade for me.....1/3 the price of the Furutech and Oyaide, great for budget option |
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Thanks for that. One of my best friends is a master electrician who’s finishing the wiring on my new house in a few weeks (I hope, I hope, I hope) and I ran an aluminum sheathed 10 AWG line from the new breaker box to my audio room/man cave ending in an Oyaide R0 (non-plated copper) 20A outlet. I told him how I wanted a single, independent circuit and he said “well, it’s all on the same ground.” And “ground” and neutral are at the same impedance level as they’re connected. DOH! That got me rethinking some of the posts I’ve read here and around the web regarding “a separate line into my audio room” and rereading some of the stuff I’ve got on grounding. https://esgrounding.com/blog/bonding-neutral-and-ground-at-main-panel I DO USE a power conditioner (Running Springs Audio DUKE) though and believe it makes a difference taking out the hair dryer/HVAC transients/DC line noise. |
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@normb I shared you advice with my electrician yesterday and he advised he will install the grounding as you mentioned. He clearly understood what I was trying to convey and advised it was definitely a great idea. The subject matter has come up before, but I didn’t think about pursuing the idea, so thanks for sharing this information!
I wouldn’t declare it a scam unless I decide to test multiple outlets in my system and don’t hear a difference. The exaggerated advertisements may be a bit of a scam. However, I’m not so quick to call something a scam just because I don’t hear a difference in a hifi product. What I’ve learned in this hifi hobby is, we tend to put a value on what sound we want. If a product squeezes a little bit more juice out of your system, you have to ask yourself, is this incremental improvement worth the asking price? So, people may hear a difference in the outlets and feel a $300 a Furutech is worth the upgrade. Some people totally discount an expensive speaker or component simply because they can afford it, so they trash the product and never heard it. I understand expectation bias and all the other things that might make one feel like they hear a positive or negative difference in any hifi product. We all have different rooms with different gear and any biases that may come into play, so we’re gonna get various opinions, but I still value the feedback from the hifi community. I tend to learn information above and beyond what I was initially seeking. It’s all good! |