Electrical Question - dumb one - but a good one

Gbart , in the home I had built the outlets in kitchens are all 20 amp by code . They do have a stiffer grip on the prongs in my experience. 20 amp outlets at least in my area and experience are a better grade than the standard 15 amp version. The ones I installed myself when finishing my basement were made by the same manufacturer as the 15 amp version in the rest of the home and they did provide a better grip. I am sust speaking from my experiences. I worked for 17 years winding transformers for Hammonds who at one time owned smith and stone who manufactured receptacles of all types and labelled with different company names so I have had first hand experience. Cheers

Gbart , just to clarify so you know why in my experience I made my statement. The company that Hammond owned that manufactered these receptacles in the 20 amp version regardless of grade were all manufactured identically . The residential versions and the hospital grades were actually the same except for the face colors of course as the hospital grade (orange) industrial (red) and the required ul/csa green triangle on the face. The audio grade having the differant metals and platings used which is subjective to manys opinions of the benefit of. I have not used the "audio grade " so I have no comment. I can only comment on the ones I used and know of and not all manufacturers. Some companies make only quality components others do make both higher and lesser qualities (tolerances) of the same product. Cheers.

You are talking about one manufacturer that has made some OEM receptacles, likely not Leviton, Pass & Seymour, Hubbell who make their own. I don't doubt you have experienced some differences in grip between some specific brand of receptacles. Unless you name a specific brand and grade, I can't comment further on that.

However, I stand by my original statement that 15A and 20A receptacles of the same brand and grade (by the well know manufacturers as those I named above) are identical in every way except for the face.

I've also tried most of the audio grade brands, and a couple of them have 15A receptacles that surpass other manufacturers' commercial and hospital grade 20A receptacles in terms of contact material thickness and grip. A good example is Furutech. Most manufacturers commercial/hospital, and audio grade contact material is 0.8mm, whereas the contact material in Furutech receptacles is 1.2mm.

Hubbell is a bit unusual actually, using contacts in their 15 amp receptacle that would not, in any way, accept a 20 amp male plug even if the faceplate of the receptacle had the T slot with at least a few of their models (Spec grade 5262/5362 and hospital grade 8200/8300 for example).

Contact surface area on the neutral side of the male plug (using a 15 amp male plug into the 15 amp receptacle) is increased by about 40% in this case, as opposed to using the "universal" contact allowing 15 or 20 amp males to be used.

So, in that case, there may actually be a disadvantage to using the 20 amp receptacle with a 15 amp male. I say may, because, if I remember correctly (just to totally confuse the issue), the Hubbell 8200H/8300H DO use a universal contact that will accept both 15 and 20 amp males if the T-slot is there.

The 8200H/8300H is a slim line, non plated contact hospital grade and my favorite in the Hubbell line up, although I do have in use (and experience with) the 5262/5362 and I'd say performance and grip are pretty close.

http://www.voodoocable.net/VAPA.htm

I'm not aware of any home amplifier that exceeds 15A draw but some come close, at least momentarily. That's one reason for monoblocks, but even those are usually built for the same 15A circuit. Yours might be the exception.