[earlmarc]

According to Jim Weil, his outlets are not cyrogenically treated currently. He stated that his outlets have the highest copper content of any outlet he is aware of, that being 75% copper. He also stated that there is no nickel plating on his outlets and that all hospital grade outlets require nickel plating to control electrical arcing in hospital settings. His outlets are plated with brass.

My outlets have continued to improve since installed, particularly with my RPTV. Colors are bolder with vibrancy and definition of images continue to improve as well. I am very pleased with the performance of these outlets. I don't know how they compare to Porter Ports or the Hubbell 8200. I doubt that I will ever find out because I am completely satisfied.

[blakep]

The Hubbell, as well as the Pass & Seymour outlets (their top quality outlets) utilize Olin 688 Brass for the contacts, which is a brass alloy having approximately 75% copper content. The contacts are, in fact, this brass alloy and are not "brass plated". There is a lot at work with outlets contributing to the sound, possibly much that we don't even understand, and the P&S contacts are quite a bit different in terms of their shape than the Hubbells, which generally allow for more contact area on the blade of the male plug, at the expense of "grip", an area in which the Pass and Seymours excel. They sound quite a bit different and some will no doubt prefer the sound of the Pass and Seymours.

All hospital grades are NOT nickel plated. The Hubbell 8200H and 8300H (used in the Porter Ports and sold by Takefive) are not nickel plated and somewhat unusual in this regard as I mentioned above. The  hospital grade Hubbell 8200 and 8300 (with no "H" designation) are in fact nickel plated and do have a different sonic character than the 8300H. The Hubbell 8200H and 8300H also have slightly larger (and it is very slight) contacts than the Hubbell 5262 or 5362 (which is also a very, very good receptacle and what I would expect Jim Weil to be using) and this may or may not contribute to what I perceive to be a slightly better performance from the 8200H/8300H when compared to the 5362.

For what it's worth, I have not heard any receptacle that didn't sound noticeably better when cryo treated, but the break-in process is ugly and they don't sound good at all immediately following cryo; hence my advice to just stick it on the fridge for a month or so.

There is a lot of misinformation and "voodoo" out there concerning outlets. I do not believe, for example, that any audio company has outlets that are really "custom" manufactured for them. When you take a good hard look at the "audiophile" outlets, the significant differences are essentially cosmetic (perhaps a logo on the front panel of the receptacle-PS Audio and Wattagate come to mind) and relating to plating of the contacts, which will obviously have an impact on sound quality. This does not, at least to me, constitute a "custom" outlet; it constitutes a stock outlet with extra plating added to the contacts.  Very good quality outlets for audiophiles no longer cost a fortune if you know what you're looking for. That being said, I'd sure like to try out the Oyaides.

[earlmarc]

Blakep, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge about various outlets. I have learned something more. Thank You.

[gstraley]

First off I have to say that I am a comparaholic (I may need help for that). I also have to mention that I am a member of an audio club. I have a number of friends from the club. We get together every so often and compare this amp to that amp to that amp etc. Then a month or so later after finding out which amp sounds the best we will do the same to preamps. Then cd players, then cables, speakers, and so on. If we find something that sounds really good at one guys house it then goes to other peoples house and we try to validate our findings. For the most part, most of our systems not being the same in a lot of ways seem to show the same things. If this product is good here it also is good on another system. One of the guys has speakers that have their own built in amps so we cannot try amps at his house.  Nobody has the same speakers as each other. Some of us have the same digital equipment, some the same amp, and some the same preamp. But nobody has the exact or even close to the same as another person.  Some guys have tube equipment and some solid state. Everyone that switched to the Porter Port commented as to how much better their system was sounding.
  I personally have a solid state amplifier that was custom made for me by Stan Warren. It is his folded cascode model. Unfortunately for some it is not currently available in the Superphon line yet? I have compared my amp to amps like the Parasound JC 1's, Herron Mono Blocks and a model of mono blocks from Jeff Rowland to name a few good and expensive ones. It was used at Hiderfest '04 and was the amp that won best amp that weekend. I have been around long enough to know that the more money you throw at a system it does not mean that it will sound better. YOU HAVE TO DO THE A/B/A COMPARISONS. The same goes with the rest of my system. Everything in my system has  been a/b/a compared to other equipment.  That said I also feel that if you have good equipment it will show off other stuff (good or bad). Some people do not like to hear bad and try shooting the messenger. It may not be that what you just put is in bad. It may be that it is revieling something else in your system that you do not want to hear. I have heard a number of systems that retail for over $100,00.00. Some were not my cup of tea.
  Blakep, Thanks for the clarification of what the Porter Ports are. I really didn't know the exact make up of them. I am please to see that you also feel that the model outlet is as good as I mentioned. It must be, you are using that model. From what I know about cryo freezing where it is done at does not make as much of a difference. Just that it had cryo frozen.
 Alotoklipsh, I can tell you that my system is extremely revealing. That is one of the things that I strive for. If it wasn't revealing I would not have been able to hear the differences that we did. Once you get the detail you can get the little nuances that make things sound more real. It may not be your cup of tea because you like listening to real loud levels. I listen around 85 to 90 db average with peaks around 100 db. From what I have heard you listen to levels around 120 db. It is going to be tough to get anything sounding good at those levels unless you over dampen your room to knock out the energy at those loud levels. I found out a long time ago that the more you spend doesn't necessarily mean that you will make it or ever make it to audio Nirvana. I do not know if anybody has really ever gotton their. I am not trying to promote Porter's stuff. I was just responding to a thread on wall outlets. Actually when I saw Albert at the RMAF he kind of said a quick hi and barely gave me the time of day. Why would I want to go out of my way to promote his product unless I really believed in it. I know that he was busy taking pictures at the show and didn't have time for anybody.
Maxwalrath, I have listened to a fair number of power conditioners and have come to the conclusion that you use a conditioner on your digital equipment but everything else seems to sound better to me in my system plugged directly into the wall. I do have a conditioner that their claim is that your TV picture is better when using their power conditioner. I do not have my TV in my audio room.

Happy Listening!!

[TomS]

I've heard Gregg's system and it is definitely a very revealing setup.  I can also attest that in the short time I was there it was clear that he is a certifiable compareaholic, though he apparently does it with great care and very methodically (as it should be).  This is a great approach for weeding out the junk and pretenders (high priced or not).

When you get to what good stuff is left, the matter of personal taste definitely comes into play though.  Use your own ears and don't let others make your choices for you.

[Mike B.]

Just a couple points. I am familiar with Blake. I also know that the great majority of outlets available are stock items that have only received cryogenic treatment. Many are the Hubbell 5362 and 8300 series outlet made in Puerto Rico. A number of the commercial grade outlets are inferior sounding because of the nickel plating and or steel backing plates. I use the term nickel plating loosely. We have measured a bunch of it on a 30K plating analyzer and most is closer to Stainless steel in composition. Keep in mind, these factories are not concerned about purity of their plating baths. They are more concerned with a shinny surface. Many of the back loader outlets use iron plates connected via the side screws to clamp the wires. Iron and the nickel plate add a sheen to the sound. It might initially be a boon to a dark or limited extreme frequency system. The term for this is hysteresis. The best thing you can do to get a good outlet is to focus on grip and avoid nickel and iron on the hot and neutral parts.