Porter Ports or Cabledyne Cryo Hubbell 5362

Sonic genius, Hdm and Lak: i sincerely appreciate your comments but i have to give credit to you guys and your previous posts on this site which pushed me into trying out new outlets. I must say that with the addition in my system of the 3 new outlets, as well as the Fusion Audio Romance IC2 & JPS 3 interconnects and the GE 6550A tubes, i have now achieved the level of performance i was aiming for a long time.

I have to say that the Cabledyne 5362 is the HBL 5362 cryoed which cost me $25 ea. including shipping & paypal fees.

HDM, the two Porter Porters i used were well broken in as they had been in use for more than a year by a friend who loaned them out to me for the shootout. On the other hand the HBL 8300 and the Cabledyne HBL 5362 were brand new but with some 15 days break in. I would be perfectly happy if i find no further change in performance of the Cabledynes with time as i already like what i am hearing.

Also, yes the Porter Ports and the Hubbell 8300s (non-cryo) are almost identical, physically speaking. Also they have identical gold (or copper) coloured back straps. No silver/nickel colour back straps. It may well be that the only difference between the two is the cryo treatment.

But the Cabledyne HBL 5362 is much thicker and heavier than the Porter Ports, HBL 8300 or the FIMs. Almost 50% bigger (deeper) and heavier. From the front however, they are of the same dimensions and thus the same faceplate fits nicely into each and every outlet tested.

My Kharma Grand Ref. power cords are very thick and terminated with ultra big US type plugs/connectors. The bigger/deeper Cabledyne outlets certainly provided a tighter grip for them. With the FIMs, these powercords were quite lose in the outlets and the only way to prevent them from coming out was to put a small vertical stand/support under each Kharma plugs. No such problems encoutered with the Cabledynes. Withe the Porter Ports and the Hubbell 8300s, the grip was tighter than the FIMs probably because these outlets were still new and their grips worked well though not as tight as the Cabledynes.

The Cabledyne is a cyoed version of the standard industrial grade Hubbell HBL5362, according to what i read from their website.

Also for those using 6550/KT88 tubes in their systems, i would strongly recommend trying out the GE 6550 tubes before splashing out serious money on other equipments. In my system, the performance jump compared to my Gold Lions and the very expensive KR KT88 was nothing less than phenomenal. The music became so clean clean clean... refined, with a bloom in the midrange.. almost orgasmic sensation...and am not kidding! It costs nothing to try.

I was about to spend come $10K on new speakers (the Kharmas weere giving me serious head and ear aches) but the addition of the Cabledynes, JPS 3, Fusion Audio and GE 6550 tubes have now helped me to better appreciate my Kharmas.

I will shortly update the equipments list of my system on my audiogon page to to listed above in this thread.

Very interesting! Thanks for answering my questions Lall and glad (but not surprised!) you ended up with a nice performance boost!

Receptacles really can make a huge difference.

I am now curious to compare the HBL5362 with some of the high end outlets. The Furutech FPX Gold is copper instead of brass. I ordered it from Cabledyne. I also ordered a Oyaide Power Receptacle SWO-GX+ ULTIMO Gold from Revolution Audio. Long Labor Day weekend for me.

http://www.cabledyne.com/furutech.html

http://www.revolutionpower.com/p/Oyaide+Power+Receptacle+SWO-GX%2B+ULTIMO+Gold/56/

If you like the cryoed HBL 5362 (and there is a lot to like about it), I'd recommend that you leap from the mid tier Furutech and Oyaide receptacles and move right up to the Oyaide R1 or R0 or the Furutech GTX (and their respective wall plates).

I have a cryoed Oyaide R1 (in the WPC-Z wall plate which I bought heavily discounted on Ebay); it's important to understand that, unlike Furutech, Oyaide does not cryo their receptacles. My experience with the R1 is that it is better cryoed. Furutechs come cryoed in stock form-if you want cryo with Oyaide you'll need to seek out a seller who has the units cryoed.

A non cryoed R1 is, interestingly, still better than a cryoed HBL 5362, and a cryoed R1 better still but the R1 has a very similar sonic signature to the HBL 5362. Think of them as cryoed HBL 5362's on steroids.

The new Oyaide R0 is getting some rave reviews and the Furutech GTX (in either rhodium or gold-rhodium should be a bit more detailed and forward, gold a bit more laid back so choose your poison) is also extremely highly thought of and preferred by some who have experience with both the Furutech and Oyaide.

So some interesting options out there but they are pricey when you look at R1/R0 or Furutech GTX with their respective wall plates.

Finally, the two R1's that I've used (cryoed and non-cryoed) required extensive burn in. If they are not conditioned on something like the Audiodharma before being shipped, or not burned in on a high current device like a fridge or chest freezer for a least a month, they are going to be a bit bright and etched. My recommendation would be to purchase from a Vendor (like Cabledyne) who preconditions the receptacle on the Audiodharma before shipping it out.

Even with heavy preconditioning on the Audiodharma, the cryoed R1 I ended up with took a good 4-5 days to settle; without that it would have been 30 days plus, possibly longer.

Hdm, thanks for your suggestions regarding moving up to the Oyaide/Furutech outlets. During my shootout, I found out that almost each and every piece of equipment/cable/outlet etc. imparts its own character/flavour to the final music i was hearing. Since my system is quite revealing, i could make out the difference whenever i changed equipments or cables within seconds. In my system I have now achieved a very satisfactory level of performance with a nice balance between resolution, bass, tonality, sweetness and glare (or lack of it).
So I am apprehensive in trying new things at this stage as I am certain that the outlets you suggest will change/alter what i am presently hearing. In my system and for my taste it may be a good or not so good thing. So am not prepared to take that risk at least for some time.

Let me tell you that I have two speaker cables (Cardas Golden Hexlink 5C and the ultra expensive Jorma Unity but on most music i am playing, I prefer the Cardas to the Jorma. This is my taste and maybe the special aspects of my room acoustics and overall system make that combination sound great to me and my taste.
Hope you understand.