Upgrading wall outlets

Agreed that wall plugs are not filters - the water filtration argument is more accurately ascribed to the idea of using after-market power cords and conditioners.

I just get bothered by the logic of the argument: "if there's 8 miles of crappy electrical wire leading up to your house, why bother with the audiophile stuff?" Whether it's filtering, or whether it's the connection to the power, it's all about making the best out of the power that comes in.

The idea, as I see it, is to connect to the electrical power as securely as possible (via a dedicated line and quality power outlet), then remove the grunge that comes in from the 8 miles of crappy wire. Removing that grunge is not an easy task - many a power cord also seems to remove some good stuff too. But in my experience, a good power setup has more of an effect on my system than interconnect changes do, given a similar budget for each.

Think about it - there are 2 inputs in an audio system. The CD or record or digital file, and electrical power. That's it. Care should be taken to (a) preserve the source signal and (b) deliver the electrical power as effectively as possible, in order to power the equipment that is converting the source into what we hear.

When I tried these premium outlets then, I didn't have dedicated lines yet. But replacing those cheap $1.50 outlets that come with the house with the audiophile grade ones brought huge improvements. Try it.

Dude, Your's is not to wonder why, your's is just to do or die. Any (Hubble, Bryant)... 20 amp Hospital grade receptical will be much better than the regular receptical. I can't emphisise enough the importance of using silver conductive grease on the wires going into it, the plug... Willian "Tweaker" Shakespere

My house is about 12 years old and at least average in construction quality but I was struck by the difference in the quality of the wire I had installed in my dedicated lines and the wiring in the existing lines which I saw while while installing the new receptacles. Get as heavy a wire as possible installed if you do have the lines put in. You can put receptacles in yourself as long as you exercise caution; trip the main circuit breaker and plug a lamp in if you don't have a meter to make sure the current is off. Lines are best left to pros unless you are an advanced DIYer.

I had 10 gauge wire (30 amp) dedicated line put in when the house was built. As time passed, I noticed a lack of dynamics and weak bass. One day the stereo was playing in the dedicated basement listening room as I was attending to the clothes dryer. I noticed a change in the sound as I touched the dryer. After some thought and running a line of copper wire from the dryer chassis to the brass water main pipe, I established a strong ground for the dryer and the system sounded better once again.

This experience led me to, TAKING PROPER PRECAUTIONS, open the door to the 200 amp service, and with a flat head screwdriver, tightening the grounds of every line in the service. Please trust me, this made a tremendous overall improvement in the system.

In addition to adding a PS Audio Power Plant Premier regenerator, replacing the orange "hospital grade" outlet with a PS Audio Power Port Premier was a great improvement. The new outlet tightened the sound and significantly improved transient detail and dynamic swing. My PS power cord is as in a vice grip in the Premier outlet.