Upgraded AC outlets

Dear Chichiuno,
As a dealer of the Wattgate 381... let me answer a few of your questions regarding the 381 vs the PS outlet and hopefully help you with your concerns. This is only informational, and not intended to disregard your problems or the PS as a fine product...

Generally, the contact grips are in alignment on the 381 in the static condition. I have checked all of our stock and all are in alignment. Should you feel they are misaligned, contact your dealer to correct the issue. Should they be a bit out of alignment, once the plug blade is inserted, the spring loaded triple wipes have no choice but to align. Otherwise the blade could not be inserted. Wattgate is a fantastic company to deal with and I am sure they will correct any problems or issues you may have. Contact them with any concerns. They will help.

Take into account the oversized contact wipes on the 381 are a triple-wipe contact (they contact the top, bottom and side of the plug blade)design. The wipes, as every metal part on the 381, are of OFC Copper, followed by Nickel, and a final plating of 24K GOLD. No one else can match this expensive, effective process. The OFC copper is to improve conductivity, the Electroless Nickel plating prevents leaching, and the 24k GOLD improves conductivity and prevents corrosion. This multiple process is one half of the cost difference.

The second half of the cost difference is RAY KIMBER(Wattgate)and company. They set a design standard and came up with the Wattgate 381. It is NOT an over-the-counter outlet with Wattgate stamped to it's faceplate. It is a WATTGATE 381. The PS is simply the fine Hubbell 8300 outlet. There is a big difference in cost per unit between the two.

The final question should be... which performs best for you, not only now, but in years to come? The Wattgate is a great product!

Contact Wattgate if your dealer can't help you and discuss any problems you may have. Wattgate will stand behind thier product. I'm sure they would be happy to help and offer suggestions for correction.

Hope this helps and Happy Listening!

Dan
dedicated audio

Let me finish the discussion starting at the beginning. I double checked this subject this week as we just returned from CES and we talked "face to face" with Wattgate. Here is the whole story...

(I feel as though I should start with once upon a time..hee, hee)

Ray Kimber wanted to build the best outlet. He contacted the (3) major manufactures of electrical supplies. Those being, Hubbell, Marinco and Leviton. Come to find out ... each of these manufacturers work in conjunction producing different parts for each other (tooling reasons). Leviton offered up it's top of the line hospital grade outlet to be semi converted. Thus was born the 380. It was nothing more than this outlet with the triple copper, nickel, gold plating. It performed and sold successfully for a number of years.

Mr. Kimber still was not satisfied. He then took that outlet and instructed Leviton to beef up the grounding strap and configure a "box" system to secure the ground wire. He additionally took all of the internal contacts and doubled the surface area. This also increased the contact force. He then triple plated the entire unit and this became the Wattgate 381. There is NO OTHER outlet that has this contact area and this cannot be bought in an over the counter format. ex: PS Audio's is nothing more than the Hubbell 8300 with PS stamped on it. The Acme is a silver plated/cryo'd P&S outlet. Both are great outlets, but not their own.

A couple months ago, we (us dealers) ran into a shortage for two months. Leviton needs to retool on every order by Ray Kimber. They cannot pick this outlet from the shelf and plate it. This is Mr. Kimber's outlet and he says when to build it. It says Leviton on the body, but it is NOT a standard outlet. They manufacture it to Kimber's standard.

I hope this clears up any confusion. I wish I could show you one cut in half. It is easy to see the difference.

Dan
dedicatedaudio.com