Upgraded AC outlets

Dan from Dedicated Audio: I think we've been through this before. If I was a betting man, I'd bet a lot of money that the Wattgate is indeed a re-badged receptacle. Take a close look at the Wattgate info, then go to the Leviton site and take a close look at the info on the Leviton 8300. The Wattgate has gold plating and a face that says "audio grade"; other than that the literature and claims for both receptacles are virtually identical, including Levitons claims of recently upgrading the ground, etc. Coincidence? I don't think so. I believe, if I'm not incorrect that someone here has also posted that their Wattgate (perhaps an older model) actually has "Leviton" stamped on it.

My take on this, after much experimentation, is this. The stock spec grade Levitons and isolated ground Levitons I have experience with are nothing special. The PS Audio is a Hubbell 8300 with supposedly 15 layers of extra nickel plating (the extra layers may even be detrimental to sound), the Acme is a Pass and Seymour 5242 (which in stock for is ok, but not, in my opinion anywhere close to the performance of the stock Hubbell 8200/8300) with silver plating. The Jena labs is a cryoed Hubbell 5362, selling for over $100, which you can purchase from Audioexcellence for $55 (or a cryoed 8300 for $60) with a very good cryo treatment followed by a cook on a cable cooker before shipment. The Audioexcellence/World Power outlets are exceptional, and great value, in my opinion of course.

Thanks Hdm, that was an interesting summary. Do you have any general comments re sonics of various plugs?

I remain,

Hdm: My 381 has "LEVITON" stamped on the mounting yoke. From a manufacturing standpoint however, about the only thing that tells me is that the Leviton yoke tooling was used (probably to save many tens of thousands of $ in tooling expense). The metal that it stamped could easily be a different alloy and I don't recall a Leviton product with a gold plated yoke.

Tooling plastic components is also extremely expensive, but existing molds often easily work for differently compounded plastics.

A little background info from a former Manufacturing Engineer. Happy Listening!

Alexander and others: Check this out. Sorry about the pdf file on the Leviton page; it will take a little while to download. Look at page 4 of the Leviton site (specs on hosp. grade levitons)

http://www.leviton.com/pdfs/ind%20receptacles/b-616%20ind%20receptacles.pdf

Then look at:

http://www.wattgate.com/prod-381.htm

I particularly like how the Leviton and Wattgate both got an "upgraded" grounding system at the same time. Must be a coincidence. Yes, your Wattgate has gold plating on it, and I haven't heard it, so I can't really comment on its sound quality. But I can't help but think that people purchasing this receptacle are paying about $120 for that gold plating and that blue star. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe it's worth it.....