Hi Charles,
I posted the review with the hopes of providing information primarily to prospective buyers as you say, but also to those that already bought the Black fuses but may have some curiosity remaining.
I have used the pre-SE Teslaplex receptacles for years. One was actually zapped by Ted on SR’s Tesla coil while I watched during a visit to their factory back in 2010/2011. Very impressive to actually see this.
The Powercell 10 UEF/FEQ I recently purchased from a friend included the "SE" version of the ’red’ receptacle and I recently replaced one of the older non-SE receptacles with that "SE", mounted in an Oyaide WPC-Z billet aluminum housing with CF plate running to one of my side-by-side yet independently-wired-and-breakered 30 amp lines, leaving the well-broken in non-SE red receptacle on the sister 30 amp line for use in the interim and for later comparisons.
After 10 days of burning in the new "SE" receptacle using an extension cord to the fridge in the garage, I moved the Powercell’s power cord over to new SE receptacle. Not a night-and-day difference like many of SR’s products, but a nice improvement in refinement of the upper-mids/treble. I imagine that the Black UEF receptacle may yield the same level of improvement (or more) over the red SE receptacle but don’t know without comparison.
I have used the PorterPort (very good, a steal for the price, and still available from Albert Porter here on Audiogon), a couple of early Oyaide versions, and Hubbell non-nickel hospital-grade receptacles in addition to the SRs. The PorterPort is a fine sounding receptacle, very neutral sounding (not to imply lean or threadbare, but balanced sounding and true-to-the-music), while the SR Teslaplex receptacles are more dynamic and forward sounding with more ambience and space (the SR sound). I didn’t cotton to the early Oyaide receptacles that I tried. Can’t speak to their newer offerings.
I imagine that there are many fine-sounding receptacles out there today, including the Avatar Audio model that you use. I think that the metal type used for the prongs, the backing plate, and the ground strap (both for the sublayer and for the plating), as well as the type of material used for the housing play the major role in differences in sound between them.
There is one other thing I will share regarding my limited experience with receptacles: Different receptacles do indeed impart a different sound in my system and I feel that it is advisable to select the one you prefer early on, as it may alter later decisions on tuning choices, i.e. power cords (and the metal composition of plugs/IECs) and even ICs and speaker cables. Just my opinion as is everything in audio. YMMV.
Best to you Charles,
Dave
