The choice of wall receptacles

My advise would be to talk to AudiogoN member Albert Porter about his "Porter Ports". A cryo treated Hubbell 8300. Having tried only a couple of the others on your list, as well as a few other "green dot" hospital outlets, the Porter Port at 36.00 each is money well spent. Every system outlet in my listening room is equiped with them.

Or you could go here:

http://www.takefiveaudio.com/mall/AC_Connectors/hubbell_ac_connectors_hbl8300hi.html

and buy the same thing as the Porter Port for approximately half the price. I currently use the Hubbell 8200H (same receptacle as the 8300H without the 20 amp T-slot) cryoed in the same facility that Takefive uses and can vouch for the efficacy of the cryo done there. In the past, I've also used World Power cryoed Hubbell 5362 as well as a Hubbell 5362 cryo treated by Acme Audio Labs.

The Hubbell 8300H is a very good receptacle and I prefer it slightly to the 5362. I would absolutely avoid the PS Audio and its heaps of nickel plating, believe the Wattgate to be grossly overpriced, & would not choose the Acme unless you prefer a very upfront, forward and aggressive presentation (it may well be a good match in a laid back, or tube based system, though). Skip the Home Depot idea.

I've read nice things about the Furutech. I would guess the FIM to be overpriced, but it's just an educated guess. The Oyaide is all the rage right now and if I was going to switch, that's what I'd switch to, but $100 is just a little too difficult for me to swallow, especially when I'd probably end up wanting 3 of them.

But if you've got the money, popping for the Oyaide may be worth it. Otherwise, the Takefive's above are by far the best deal in receptacles (in my opinion, of course) and I've done my fair share of experimenting with receptacles.

02-05-06: Hdm,
Thanks for your input. Budget is always a factor in purchasing any component or addition to my system, at this time I am looking to tweak my system to obtain a little more sonic purity. I have read up on the Oyaide series, and yes their price is not the cheapest. I will be needing 2 receptacles. If $200 can give a jump in performance, they may be under consideration. Have you had any experience with these? Thanks

Proclaim, I have not had any experience with the Oyaide, but have certainly read a lot of favorable remarks about these receptacles. Unfortunately, there do not seem to be many people who have compared the Oyaide to, say, a cryoed Hubbell 8300H or cryoed Hubbell 5362. The one person that I know of who has both the Oyaide and the cryoed Hubbell 8300H (from Albert Porter) is Audiogon member Maxgain. I believe he just recently acquired the Oyaide and am not even sure whether he has done a "head to head" comparison with the cryoed 8300H, but it may be worth doing a member search here for him and e-mailing him with a few questions. He tends not to post much here anymore, but I'm sure he'd be happy to give you his impressions and some valuable info. If you are using stock receptacles, I would be pretty shocked if you would not receive a pretty decent performance boost with the Oyaide and certainly believe strongly, from experience that you'd definitely get a performance boost from either the Takefive's or Alberts 8300H units as well.

One thing that I would suggest to you, particularly if you are buying new cryoed outlets is to make sure they are fully burned in before inserting them into your system. As difficult as this is to do (being anxious to get them into your system right away when you buy them to enjoy them), I'd recommend installing them on a fridge or chest freezer (if you've got both those items and you've got two receptacles, you're all set!) for between 4 & 6 weeks, switching the plug from the fridge/freezer about half way through this burn in period from one half of the receptacle to the other. The high current draw from the compressor kicking in on these items will give you a much more effective burn in than any you can create running just your system on these receptacles and it will allow you to hear them at their best when you then slot them into your system. All receptacles (IMO) require burn in, and cryoed units can be particularly strident in the burn in period, although they may well be better sounding in some areas than those you've replaced.

The outlet offered by Take Five audio is not exactly the same model as mine, nor has it been deep cryo treated at NASA, like the Porter Port.

Please note this on their web site too:

Duties, taxes, brokerage, and all other fees levied by the destination country or carrier are the sole responsibility of the purchaser/receiver. We will not submit false customs documents, please do not ask.

This item comes from Canada and prompt shipping to USA is quoted at $16.75. Duty charges may or may not apply and unknown if US Customs would hold the item.

Shipping for Porter Port is via FedEx and each buyer gets a track number. I charge $6.75 for up to 3 outlets with insurance and home delivery (if needed).

Bottom line, about $4.00 difference.

I will say, if an Audiogon member lives in Canada the Take Five offer would be excellent. No customs hassles and much less delivery charge than getting from me (here in the USA).