hospital grade or commercial grade receptacles ?

Ivr writes:

Now look, frankly I wouldn't have wasted my time with this discussion, but telling someone that electrical outlets affect the "sonic signature" of a stereo system is just so much nonsense I couldn't stand it. There is no need to measure the effect of outlets on sound because they can't have the effects being described here.

If that is one's experience, then it's not nonsense. I changed outlets three times and could hear the difference each time. I could also hear changes as these receptacles broke in a bit - and sometimes they took a while.

You are predisposed into thinking that outlets can't make a difference. I can understand that, as I found it hard to believe myself. But, gee, it's simple and cheap to try with something like a Pass and Seymour 5242.

Even if there were no sonic benefit from one outlet over another, the act of cutting off the existing Romex, stripping it to expose fresh copper, having new contacts that press tighter on the blades of the power cord plug and so on is all good stuff, and could be expected to have an effect.

Regards,

Nrchy, I can't explain it other than you wanted to hear a difference. Aftermarket power cords, cables, outlets, and other stuff, does look and feel good. Look at Audioquest cables. Perhaps the greatest snake-oil per dollar of any high-end product, yet they are physically very, very nice stuff. Electrically, total BS. But I can see where someone could allow themselves to think they made a difference just because they are so cool looking.

My point is only that power-related stuff is outside of the signal path. It can't make the differences some people think they do, as compared to properly functioning alternatives. There's no more voltage going down the wire, noise isolation makes no difference, and the contact resistance is no lower than what they sell at Home Depot. They can't make more power or cleaner power. If you want that there's AC regeneration (like in some Levinson amps) or Varacs and other power line filtering / voltage leveling components. But even those only keep the power clean and steady, they aren't in the signal path.

Fighting one's own false perceptions is sometimes the toughest battle.

Metralla, outlets are not in the signal path. There is no way anyone I know of can explain how something outside of the signal path could have the effects you and others describe. It smacks of quantum entanglement, but that ain't at work here. :) Electricity is not a mystery. Not even a little bit.

Jeffreybehr, this is simply not the case. You can wish it into your perceptions, but you can't wish it into reality. How can you tell the difference between what you hear and what you think you hear? I've got pretty good hearing, but I've been fooled before into thinking there are differences that really aren't there. Some things are physically impossible.