Model: IG 5362 AC outlet--Double Cryo'd
Category: Accessory
Suggested Retail Price: $45
Description: double-cryo'd phosphor bronz AC outlet
Manufacturer URL: Not Available
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Those who don't believe AC outlets don't make a difference and are not willing to experiment, please stop here. If you are skeptical but open-minded, keep reading.
Intrigued by previous positive posts about the Hubbell IG5362 AC outlet, I decided to give it a try. The claim to fame of this outlet is the fact it is made of phosphor bronze. There's only 2 outlets available that I'm aware of that uses phosphor bronze, the other being the expensive Furutech. I've never used the Furutech, but the Hubbell IG5362 is reported to be of heavier build quality than even the Furutech. FYI, the Hubbell "5362" is a totally different outlet than "IG5362."
I sent a batch of IG5362's to Cryogenics International for their double cryo special. BTW, I Highly recommend Cryo Int'l for their honest, fast, exceptional work. When they were finished, they had already mailed the outlets to me BEFORE I could get a hold of them and pay them! b/c they didn't want me to wait.
Mainly, I've compared the Hubbell to my trusty ACME 20A silver-plated, cryo'd outlets. Unlike the ACME, which took a gazillion hours to settle down, the Hubbell sounded great right out of the box and didn't have much "nasties" during break-in. This alone is worth the effort IMO!
Did the earth split in half and sky fall out when I switched to Hubbell? No. In fact, these 2 outlets sound surprisingly similar. If you compare a "normal" house outlet to either of these two, you will definitely hear a wholesale change with better outlets. A drastic clearing of blurry, falsely bloomy/wooly "gauze" over music. Images snap into focus with better 3-D density. Bass "pops" and bounces with lithe definition. Peaks and valleys in treble smoothes out. In effect, one can now truly hear your system. I can imagine a system (a brash system) that CAN benefit from the loss of focus and forgiveness of a "regular" outlet, but if you aspire to a higher state of audiophiledom, a better AC outlet really is a MUST IMHO.
So how did Hubbell differ from ACME? They sounded the same, except for one major thing. Compared to the double-cryo'd Hubbell, the ACME seems to have a slight, almost subliminal glare and non-smoothness on rides on top of your low-treble to upper-midrange area. This effect is very similar to when one compares to a silver-plated solid-core copper wire to plain copper wire and easily recognizable to us cable DIY'ers. It's not very noticeable with most music, but when there's material with lots of energy in this area, such as a trumpet or female vocalist just hitting a loud peak, there's a certain "tearing" effect with the ACME. You know, when you cringe in your seat and curse the recording engineer?
Let's not go overboard with this, though. The ACME is a fantastic outlet, and I can even see some people preferring it b/c it CAN seem to have more apparent detail. In fact, I still use one ACME in my system with the Hubbell b/c after all, it's a balancing game we have to play. But that removal of subliminal glare from music makes my entire music collection significantly more enjoyable and "musical." I would characterize the benefit as similar to changing from an excellent interconnect to a supreme interconnect. Some people pay several thousand dollars for an interconnect that achieves the similar degree of improvement. The fact I can achieve this degree of improvement for what's essentially price of couple of CD's is both exciting and gratifying.
Thanks to inmates who steered me towards this outlet. B/c of Cryogenics International "minimum order" policy, I have more than enough of the Hubbells to ever use in my lifetime. If you are interested in one, e-mail me. I'm always looking for CD's, DIY parts, tubes, etc..
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