Upgrading wall outlets

But sales of expensive amplifiers depend on the audiophile's belief that quality/expense of any component is correlated with beautiful sound.

In most amplfiers the single most expensive item on the BOM will be be the beautiful thick brushed steel face plate. The control knobs are often the second most expensive item. The same goes for speakers - the woodwork and veneer is the most costly item. So nice high end gear is indeed truly expensive becuase teh actually are more costly to make.

Bob bundus:"ALL DOUBTING THOMAS'S SOUND THE SAME"

I take it as a compliment to be aligned with Doubting Thomas, but your analogy is nevertheless a particularly felicitous one, since our conflict--friendly, I hope--does appear to pit the religious against the skeptics. My problem with doubting Thomas is that he didn't doubt enough. In any case, though Thomas fingered the wound, I don't intend to finger a upgraded wall socket. Cheers, or Amen, depending.

Br3098, your points are well made. I have been in HiFi long enough to remember the introduction of 8track. I think it is easier to put in a new outlet than cleaning and adjusting an old one. The present interest in wires (of all kinds) is the result of no real technological advances in audio since CD (besides power switching amps, which I have) and the longevity of today's gear. Turntables, CD players, pre-amps, power amps, speakers; that's about it. If people are not swapping out their gear, you have to sell them something; outlets, power chords, interconnects, speaker terminals, speaker wire, etc for prices that indicate extremely large improvement. One can draw one's own conclusions.