ACME 15a Cryo or FIM 880 for front end????

Hmmm...lots of in-depth response here.
I like the ACME silver/cryo a lot. If they're considered "brighter" than I consider that to mean that they're more linear (neutral), and therefore MORE musical, not less! I prefer to accomplish spectral tilt voicings with interconnects or speeaker/placement/room-treatment adjustments, NOT choice of AC duplexes. Maybe I'm being naive, but any future outlets I use will be Pass& Seymour tight-grip $4 ones cryo'd for free at my wife's dermatologist! Fee fi fo FIM!

Subaruguru: Everything is system dependent, but in my system, I can tell you that "brighter" is not more linear(neutral) and more musical. While the stock Pass and Seymours were a decent upgrade from the 89 cent receptacle at the wall, they were clearly outperformed in my estimation by both the Arrow Hart and Hubbell stock receptacles for a bit more money. The Hubbells, which in stock form I finally settled on after fairly heavy experimentation with the P&S and the Arrow Hart are, in my mind, grossly superior.

If I was to describe the Pass and Seymour compared to, say, the Hubbell 8200, I'd say it has a very forward and congested midrange that is bright and gives the illusion of detail, and a very zingy, kind of distorted top end, again giving the illusion of detail, and, to a certain extent, air. As I recall, it was pretty decent in terms of bass performance, but that was about it.

The Hubbells, on the other hand, just sound more "natural". They are less "exciting" to listen to initially, but more rewarding long term because they're less distorted. Ambient and spatial information is presented much better as well, and you can "hear into the performance" much more. They have a "quietness" and black background to them that, in my experience, the stock P&S, Arrow Hart, and Levitons that I fiddled with couldn't come close to.

You have a system that probably retails for about 10X what mine does. You should try one of the World Power receptacles for $55. I would go so far as to suggest that you aren't really hearing what your system is capable of, and to be able to do that for $55 (or $110 if you need two) is an incredible bargain.

My God, HDM, you win the prize! Anyone that has been involved in audio knows that everything is system dependant; thanks for making this aware to those who forgot it.

The silver plated Acmes recepticals sounded hard, and harsh in my system, though sounded good in my friends older tube system. The FIM sound great in my system, Go figure. The Cyro'ed Jena were horrible in each system, though I'm sure that they fit perfectly within some system matches.

For you new to the hobby; There is no perfect cable, outlet, etc. for any combination of audio systems. Don't be discouraged, the fun is in finding the perfect match for you combination!

My system dependancy comment was simply meant to preface my remarks concerning neutrality Jacks. Ernie's comment seemed to go more to the issue of the posts lacking information more than anything else and that was what I was trying to deal with. You seem to be one of very few people having experience with the Acme's, the Jena Labs and the FIM's; perhaps you could elaborate a bit more on their sound beyond "hard and harsh", "good", "great" and "terrible". I can get the idea of what "hard and harsh" sound like. The other descriptions don't really tell me (or anyone else, I would expect) very much.

Fair enough. The FIM sound great; better dynamics, both micro and macro, darker black areas around each particular instrument within the soundstage, fuller and tighter bass, more tonaly acceptable within my system IE; vocals sound more natural, and more involving. You can also hear more of the richness in horns, Ben Webster never sounded better.

Please remember though, HDM, this is within my system. Your mileage may vary. The Acme may work well with a more traditional tube amplifier or in a system that requires leaning out. I haven't tried the Jena elsewhere yet, but I am planning on trying them on a few friends systems prior to Christmas. If they work well within their system, Merry Christmas.