[TheChairGuy]

Here's a dumb question: If the power to my audio system already goes through a great power conditioner and top grade power cords, is the outlet back at the wall going to really make a difference? Seems as though the downstream conditioning would render any benefits from the outlet negligabe. I think of a washing machine - whether I threw in dirty clothes or already clean clothes, both would come out equally clean. That's the way my brain thinks.

Ya' gotta' hear for yourself but my mind thought kinda similarly to your thoughts above....and I was, frankly, gobsmacked by the benefit that the hospital grade port for $10 from Lowes provided 

I later 'upgraded' to a Porter Port a little later on - with nuanced benefits only after the original hospitl grade one. So the jump from $0.39 to $10 outlet was ENORMOUS for me; the jump to $36 Porter Port was more dubious/nuanced for me.

In fact the benefit was so large that i began to hear the falseness of most power conditioners in my system (and the benefits of anything more sustantial than a $29 Iron Lung Jellyfish power cord) and questionable benefit of power cords.  Now, i use an active / balanced conditioner only on my digital player as it acts as a wastegate for digital hash polluting the rest of my system.

A $10 port saved me a whole bundle of extraneous add-on doo-dads like conditioners and pc's.  A nice port is as an example in audio of 'well, whaddya' doggone know!' as any ive experienced.

Go get one - its cheap enough to try despite your logical determination - and report back here on it 

[Elizabeth]

I have various powerline stuff in my setup.
I would agree the Porter ports are a good deal at $35 each.
Many of the various specialty ones that range from $50 up to $300 are more tricked out, with special plating, and materials. But the porter is just a basic good outlet. I do NOT own any Porter Ports, I have a pair of similar priced cryoed outlets from someplace? they also were $35. each.
I then have a mountain of conditioners, and cords.
My Furman REF20i for the Bryston 4B-SST2 am and all the video and plasma TV.
Then a PS Audio P600 i just bought used to replace a Monster 7000SS, I wantd it beccause it can be set to output an A/C at various freqencies besides 60 cycles. So right now I have it set to regenerate the A/C at 110hz. That conditioner is mostly for the digital stuff.
Then i have a PS Audio PPP I use in the "Multiwave" mode for the tube stuff.
All my cords are Pangea, Either the 9 gauge, or the 14SE.
I use the 9 gauge on a few items that are not big electricity users if I want more low frequency emphasis, and the 14SE if i want the clarity.
The big thing lately was sticking Quartz crystals around the A/C stuff. Then pigtails off the neutral on the A/C incoming lines.

I just have to agree the biggest change is to go from the stock cheap wall outlet to a better one. Even if all it is is a Pass & Seymour $3 Menards one.
I am more of a conditioner person than a powercord person. For my Thousand dollars i want a near-hundred pound chunk of stuff. Not a little extension cord!!

[kyrill]

thx  gentlemen

the upgrade i completely overlooked
and now I hear how important it it
thx again

[kyrill]

i understood that power cords pick up RMI and EMI and therefore should not be "just" be  parallel lined hot and neutral like stock pwc

[tvyankee]

hey,

just thought you guy's might like to read this. i have no opinion one way or another.

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/power-cables

[kyrill]

: )

read the article but it completely ignores EMI and RFI

[tvyankee]

my posting wasn't really meant for you to read about emi/rfi but more about just some lite reading about power chords since you guys were talking power.  thats all.

[woodsyi]

The writer is the owner of Blue Jeans Cable, which is a no frills cable company.  He has a horse in this race.  I bet a Nordost owner would have a different view.  Just saying.

[kyrill]

every metal wire in real world contexts is an antenna for RFI and EMI
unless  adequately shielded or in a way twisted, also pwcs

[50jess]

Has anyone compared the Porter Port to the Maestro?  I'm very impressed with the Maestro.

[Harmon]

50jess, can you be more detailed on what your hearing with the Maestro? 

[Big Red Machine]

Quoting myself here.  The Porter's are decent upgrades but for twice the price you can have a Maestro which to my ears is definitely better.  Good to better, not bad to good in my experience.  Some may be very satisfied with just Porters.

Brass outlets are, well, brass outlets.  Some form of copper or high copper content will give a better throughput and sound in my experience.  I have used the Power Ports and heard no improvements.  I now use the Maestros and I can say they do bring about a more 3D sound.  I tired a few on the most utilized outlets and then went back and added them to all the outlets once I heard the improvement. 

[50jess]

50jess, can you be more detailed on what your hearing with the Maestro? 

The Maestro provided a more 3D sound.  There is more details in the separation of the instruments.

[Berto]

Has anyone compared the Porter Port to the Maestro?  I'm very impressed with the Maestro.

I compared both as  well as a Jenna Labs. The Maestro was my favorite. Combined the porters immediate presentation with the Jennas resolving power.

[jennaboca]

porter ports definitely get my approval 

[sherod]

I have tried many outlets in my system over the last 10 years. Ultimately the Porter Port, or non-cryo'd version, Hubbell HBL 8300H( brass back strap) outlet sounded best in my system. I also have found that changing out all the outlets on the same line of my audio/video system made a huge improvement, even though some of the outlets don't have any audio or video plugged into them.

[Scroof Neachy]

As soon as the first disc started to play the difference in sound was absolutely jaw dropping.  To repeat, THE  DIFFERENCE  IN  SOUND  WAS  ABSOLUTELY  JAW  DROPPING!!!

I am just a consumer and have no affiliation with Porterhouse Audio.

Ooops, sounds like a bogus writeup to me. Hyperbole plus the good 'ole "not affiliated" statement means BEWARE.

[sherod]

As far as I know, Albert Porter, who sells the Porter Port, is a one-man show in Dallas. The Porter Port has been around awhile, so there are a lot of them in many audiophile's systems. Albert doesn't need anyone to promote these outlets. The outlet sells itself once you hear how it performs. Word of mouth from audiophile users is sufficient.

[ssglx]

I tried several wall outlets on my CD player a couple years back.
The worst sounding of them, to my ears and in my system, was not the builder specials, it was the PS Audio Power Port and the Porter Port. The best were the Oyaide and Furutech Gold Plated copper outlets. 
The Furutech copper was good, but I ultimately liked the gold plated better.