I decided to take one for the Audiogon team, and I purchased the SR Orange receptacle for testing in my power conditioner. The Orange receptacle does look like a standard receptacle. When comparing the SR Blue and Orange receptacles, the Orange duplex contains more of SR’s black paste than the Blue duplex. SR applies the black material on the terminal screws, and I’m guessing that it’s some sort of shungite/mica/graphene mix. The pin contacts have a greenish hue that seems to fade as you rotate the unit in the light. SR also placed a metallic sticker AKA tuning chip on the back of the unit. The mounting ears and backplate are separated from the body and ground pin by a barely visible piece of plastic underneath. The plastic insulation must be what makes this an isolated ground receptacle.
Now, where do I install this? The design of my conditioner uses two unpainted strips of the case as a busbar for all three receptacles. The strips of exposed metal are what the mounting ears connect to on the chassis. The first receptacle has all the wires attached to it, including a ground cable. The first slot seems like the most logical position of where it should go. I could also install it at the end of the chain, in the number 3 slot. The number 3 slot is just above the IEC inlet and has convenient access to the IEC ground and bypasses approximately two feet of wire. The ground for the two other receptacles leads to a filter circuit that sits behind the faceplate, and another cable connects it to the IEC ground.
The number 3 slot is where I chose to install the Orange receptacle. It’s where the computer and IPS monitor draw power from the conditioner. The installation was straight forward. The ground wire I chose to use is 16 AWG solid core OCC Neotech wire at around 7 inches in length. I stripped 3 inches of insulation from the center of the wire and wrapped it around the Orange ground pin. The ends were soldered together with Mundorf Supreme solder, and this end is what connects to the Furutech FI-09 NCF inlet. This technique effectively makes 13 gauge wire using two 16 gauge wire ends from the ground pin to the EIC.
It’s important to point out that I’m using two tweaks on my power conditioner: a PPT E+ mat and an Akiko Audio DIY Harmonizer Unit. The E+ mat sits on top of the conditioner. The Harmonizer is a grounding device that is connected directly to the EIC ground. The FI-09 NCF inlet now has (1) the Orange’s ground wires attached along with (2) the circuit board ground and (3) the DIY Harmonizer ground cable. I’m quite sure that these tweaks affect the results that I’m about to explain.
I complete the project, connected all of the power plugs, and turned on my computer and monitor. The first thing that I thought when my monitor turned on was that there was a problem with the installation or the Orange duplex itself. The colors were so vibrant and saturated. I logged in and was astonished at the wallpaper colors. The monitor has never looked this good. The text was much clearer, and websites with white backgrounds were no longer fatiguing to my eyes. Keep in mind that I’m using an aging monitor that has a very slight backlight flicker. I wanted to upgrade the monitor, but the Orange duplex has given it a new breath of life.
Soundwise, my system stepped up to another level of dimensionality. The sound stage separation was improved, and macro details were more comfortable to hear. The Orange duplex costs $285, but it makes my system sound much more expensive.
Now, where do I install this? The design of my conditioner uses two unpainted strips of the case as a busbar for all three receptacles. The strips of exposed metal are what the mounting ears connect to on the chassis. The first receptacle has all the wires attached to it, including a ground cable. The first slot seems like the most logical position of where it should go. I could also install it at the end of the chain, in the number 3 slot. The number 3 slot is just above the IEC inlet and has convenient access to the IEC ground and bypasses approximately two feet of wire. The ground for the two other receptacles leads to a filter circuit that sits behind the faceplate, and another cable connects it to the IEC ground.
The number 3 slot is where I chose to install the Orange receptacle. It’s where the computer and IPS monitor draw power from the conditioner. The installation was straight forward. The ground wire I chose to use is 16 AWG solid core OCC Neotech wire at around 7 inches in length. I stripped 3 inches of insulation from the center of the wire and wrapped it around the Orange ground pin. The ends were soldered together with Mundorf Supreme solder, and this end is what connects to the Furutech FI-09 NCF inlet. This technique effectively makes 13 gauge wire using two 16 gauge wire ends from the ground pin to the EIC.
It’s important to point out that I’m using two tweaks on my power conditioner: a PPT E+ mat and an Akiko Audio DIY Harmonizer Unit. The E+ mat sits on top of the conditioner. The Harmonizer is a grounding device that is connected directly to the EIC ground. The FI-09 NCF inlet now has (1) the Orange’s ground wires attached along with (2) the circuit board ground and (3) the DIY Harmonizer ground cable. I’m quite sure that these tweaks affect the results that I’m about to explain.
I complete the project, connected all of the power plugs, and turned on my computer and monitor. The first thing that I thought when my monitor turned on was that there was a problem with the installation or the Orange duplex itself. The colors were so vibrant and saturated. I logged in and was astonished at the wallpaper colors. The monitor has never looked this good. The text was much clearer, and websites with white backgrounds were no longer fatiguing to my eyes. Keep in mind that I’m using an aging monitor that has a very slight backlight flicker. I wanted to upgrade the monitor, but the Orange duplex has given it a new breath of life.
Soundwise, my system stepped up to another level of dimensionality. The sound stage separation was improved, and macro details were more comfortable to hear. The Orange duplex costs $285, but it makes my system sound much more expensive.