Once an AC outlet is labelled "Audiophile" the price goes up by 10x. Just about any decent 20 amp outlet with proper wiring to the box/breaker will give you the same benefit as the PS-Audio outlet. You don't even need "hospital grade" for home audio. What you SHOULD do is use multiple AC lines connected to different breakers with a dedicated 20 amp bus for any high power amp(s).
Agree with the multiple home runs I run 10-3 with 10 solid ground pump wire landed to a 2-gang metal boxes from the main panel to each 2-gang box through metal conduit. I have four on the same leg. I used hospital grade IGP to avoid arc faults landed on two twin 20 amp breakers again on the same leg in MAIN panel NO noise and minimal current draw on any one circuit this was easy during my owner build for remodelers recommend flexible metal clad with 12 or better yer 10 gauge preferably at least one with 4 conductors to upgrade to 240 volt if need be for High power amps GOOD LUCK..........................
Hi Clint, thank you for all the videos and the information that you have taken the time and effort to post on RU-vid. I apologize for all the "Internet expert" and some "trolls" that just like to criticize or take your presentation out of context. Your presentation is about "outlets" - it is not about redoing all the wiring to these same outlets. I am an engineer (older Ford mechanical engineer) and I fully understand what you are saying - at the same time, I learned a few lessons from you. Most of the DIY community appreciate your videos - keep them coming and as far as the commenters who like to complain, well, they can just make their own uploads and let you and I criticize them. Peace be with you and keep on the good work, it helps us. Ciao, L
Of course AudioQuest makes a $150 power outlet lol. Meanwhile I just barely converted my house to mostly 3 prong outlets, also from the 50s. Cool video!
@@amazoidal $1300 for the last couple feet of cabling lol That would be like taking advice on receptacles from someone who can't even get their camera to focus.
You really under informed everyone watching this. If you want 20 amp receptacles, by code you need 12 gauge romex cable and a 20 amp circuit breaker. If you want to use isolated ground receptacles, you have to use insulated ground cable and it cannot be connected to the electrical box, it has to go directly to the receptacle. It’s good practice to put isolated ground stickers on equipment that is plugged into isolated ground receptacles. Hospital grade power cables (with the green dot) should be used with hospital grade receptacles, it’s not code but it’s what hospital grade is specifically designed for. Hospital grade receptacles are designed to get a strong grip on hospital grade power cable contacts.
redstang5150 yes, the 20A receptacles are going to be pulling 20A. Not 15. Ideally, it would just trip your breaker. But if it didn’t, it would get really hot over time
@@chance2029 Receptacles don't pull current, they convey current to the device that is plugged in. The load pulls the current and if the device requires a 20 amp circuit it it will have a 20 amp plug. If you device doesn't have a 20 amp plug on it there is no power gain by plugging it into a 20 amp receptacle.
@@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy its sad that someone that would watch this vid because they have higher levels of audio equipment, presumably understands all the specs of said audio equipment actually mean, lol, and then make a dumb statement that you need to correct with your statement even an 8 yr old would understand. I mean, I get it in that if you sold your house and someone moved in and saw these outlets and ACTUALLY knew their ratings were and tried to plug in something that would need 20amps and blow everything up, unlikely cuz the breaker wld trip anyways...still that's why like I read in another statement of yours you replaced your breaker lol all is well in the world ahah! jeeeziz internet doctorates are a dime a dozen these days - or CODE Warriors to the rescue i guess right??
Mate of mine moved back to Canada 20 odd years ago. First conversation we had after he arrived was to ask me to send him ten MK brand UK double sockets for his hi fi.
Copper is also more conductive than gold. In order of conductivity, Silver > Copper > Gold. As you pointed out, we use gold plating for reasons of oxidation. Rhodium plating is about half as conductive as gold, but is much more durable.
Oxidation is something to worry about but at the lengths and widths we are talking about for the metal in an outlet, conductivity differences among copper, silver, gold, brass do not matter. For a simple example, how many ohms resistance does a one inch long eighth inch thick piece of brass have? Gold? Silver? Sheesh what are we talking about .0001 ohms vs. .000101ohms? Think about it.
@@JohnSmith-qi6co As I said, conductivity of oxidized metals is THE topmost concern, which is why we use gold plating. The durability of Rhodium is a benefit when the contact is subject to repetitive use (plug in, unplug). Think about it? Sounds like good advice for yourself.
@@CubicIronPyrite touche! Yea your stuff is good...I was just in a bad mood over so many many folks raving about silver conductivity and jumped the gun here.
i put my outlets with the ground up because i saw personally an explosion and fire on my moms kitchen counter when some aluminum foil slid down wall on counter and shorted across the hot and neutral plug just slightly hanging from wall another reason to have the better grade outlets that hold plugs securely . so i believe it is a safer way to have plugs ground up.
From my licensed electrician aspect i am totally in favor of the increased contact pressure over time. It is safer. Less chance of arcing. Now i get to an area only a testing lab could figure out. High power audio gear often has sudden bursts of current demand for those sudden bass drum hits also changes from demand to no demand in fractions of a second. I am sure scientifically these can be measured as improving with the use of the higher contact recepacles. However humans are not at that same level. Can a difference be heard? Best answer is maybe by someone who is looking for subtle differences in their audio reproduction system and maybe only once in awhile. For most people not worth it for audio grade..for safety purposes absolutely. Now myself i have what i would call a mid level audio system and have noticed a difference when changing from 10awg speaker cables to 8 awg speaker cables. More robust low horn sounds and punch to the bass notes. Not shudder but more pop to the bass notes. I may one day upgrade my receptacle and add a dedicated circuit with larger gauge wire to see for myself. It cannot hurt since i have a 1950s era outlet now.
Every improvement you make will be audible, even if the improvement is not real but you believe it is. This is a scientific fact which is easily verified simply by having someone trick you into believing he has switched a component when he actually changed nothing. I heard the difference that wasn't there and you will too. Studying human perception is a very useful thing to do and in this context, we can focus on meaningful improvements and then hear music reproduced even more accurately. And thank you for letting me know that PS Audio is willing to sell what I would call a magic outlet at an inflated price.
Why not just hardwire the 10 gage into the back of the audiophile amplifier? Even a $500 clothes dryer has terminal blocks for hardwiring but then I guess that $10,000 amplifier would cost $12,000 with a terminal block feature.
Silver is the most conductive readily available metal, however, it oxidizes much faster than copper or platinum, let alone gold. People mistakenly think that gold doesn't oxidize, it does but at an extremely slow rate. The original purpose of why gold is in electrical and electronic circuitry is for use in saline environments, out at sea, the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard were using gold plated components to slow the rate of corrosion of their components. Gold is actually less conductive per foot or meter than copper is, if power is running under it's resonate frequency, which is most of the time. However, each metal has a specific resonate frequency but since each of the metals used in wiring and other electronic/electrical contacts aren't 100% pure, never will be, they're considered an alloy, which has another resonate frequency associated with the combinations of all the metals present. Confused yet? Lots of people do get confused! What they should be using for high energy output isn't actually silver, they should use platinum instead, it can handle higher voltages and operational temperatures than silver. Also, if you use silver, you should use rhodium plated contacts and screw mounts to remove the possibility of degradation due to tarnished contacts. Something else to consider, using two dissimilar metals in electrical systems, in the case of A/V is actually frowned upon. Let's put it this way, if you're going to run 8 to 12 AWG copper from your circuit breaker, it's kind of worthless to go up to the top audio outlet, the circuit breaker box and all the breakers should be replaced and channelized. What I mean by channelized, each circuit is isolated from each other, not just electrically but also EMI/RFI wise, too. You should be filtering the power at the box level. All of this can be done but at the cost of 1/4 million dollars, then having to run cabling to each outlet, having a separate isolated circuit breaker just for it, borders on insanity. By the time you get this done, if you went bonkers and got the 8 AWG platinum cabling throughout the house, then upgraded all the outlets to the top end, you'd hovering just under 600k USD. But... It gets more nuts than this! That doesn't include installation, that's all the items (for a 1,950 sq. ft. house). I hope you know how to do wall fishing or plan on doing a full remodel of the house. Getting a contractor that actually understands all of this, knows what you need and want is going to be really expensive, too. On another subject: Clint, Are you running SOOJ / SOOW / SO power cables to these outlets, 10/2 or 10/4 style?
This dude knows his shit! Most people don’t have a clue and spend a ton of money on equipment interconnects. I personally use all a good grade of wires and connectors. I think I spent $500 for all my wires and connections to my 7.2 system. My real investment is in the gear that makes up my home theater.
4 года назад
Take it from a retired electrical contractor: Isolated ground receptacles aren't meant to be grounded to the box, although the box does still need to be grounded. The ground conductor that goes to the receptacle itself, is an insulated green wire that doesn't connect to ground anywhere else except back at the breaker panel that feeds it. Hubble makes good quality outlets, but you're paying for the name. That last one was made for suckers. A 20 amp receptacle is all anyone needs if they feel they need an upgraded install for their most worshipped gear.
That, and I've seen so many people put in a 20A receptacle on a 15A breaker.
4 года назад
@@pleappleappleap You *do* still get the benefit of higher quality contact surfaces inside a 20 amp receptacle, so there's no harm in doing that. On the other hand, a lot of people don't realize it's a code violation to install a single 15 amp receptacle on a 20 amp circuit, but if you add a second one, it becomes "legal". The theory being they assume you don't intend to pull the full 20 amps (or 16 amps continuous) from one 15 amp receptacle.
@ Yeah, there's no harm, but I've seen people plug a UPS with a 5-20P into a 5-20R on a 15-amp circuit. Then the power fails. Then the power comes back on and the UPS pops the breaker just as the battery runs out.
I noticed a lot of high dollar audiofile receptacles are not tamper resistant. I looked into installing one for my system but would be a code violation.
I’m not familiar with premium outlets but I know ac contacts make can make an audible difference. Spraying a good contact cleaner on the outlets and plugs cleans up the purity and resolution of the music. I also heard a slight harshness in the upper midrange. I’m assuming that the contract cleaner lessened and changed the noise generated by the contacts. Try an antioxidant cleaner on the plug’s prongs then remove any remaining cleaner. The outlets can be done with pipe cleaners but don’t electrocute yourself! If a hundred dollar outlet could get results comparable to all the cleaning it is probably worth it. Keep in mind I’m an audio nut and can justify all this nit picking.
@@levijessegonzalez3629 the risk of something metal falling onto top of plug hanging partially out of outlet a piece of aluminum foil folded back on a kitchen counter or a kid sticking a Pennie they found on floor onto top of plug
Is this a joke? NO ONE CAN NOTICE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR AUDIO BY CHANGING TO ANY OF THESE RECEPTACLES. Just when I thought these people couldn't get any more ridiculous.
I know right? It’s like audiophiles need an excuse to spend stupidly high amounts of money. Half of the differences they make can’t be picked up by the human ear!
@@Wizardofgosz When some rube just dropped six grand on a new Samsung TV but doesn't know Schitt about electricity, it's apparently easy for some slick-talking salesman to convince him that he needs to spend another $150 on a magic receptacle to "protect his investment". I should have spent the last half a century of my life selling that Schitt instead of wiring it.
When you replaced your garage outlet with a 20A, did you check to make sure the wiring is 12 gauge? A 20A circuit must have 12 ga wire, and a 20A breaker. Also, kids, DON'T USE THE PUSH IN TERMINALS on the back of the outlet. We all know how much we hate spring clip terminals on speakers, now imagine connecting the mains in this manner.
@@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy Phono stages are easy, because they are low signal level, draw very little power, and so only require a relatively small battery ( either 12V or 24V) Different story when trying to run a high powered stereo amp ( say 100-200 Watts) with main rail supply voltages at +/- 60-70V or more, at many amps.
i wouldn't use solar or wind to power anything directly the voltage goes up and down like a yo yo as the sun is brighter or wind is stronger i have solar and it puts out 60 to 400 volts of dc and has to run through an inverter to be usable stable power
You know if these are safe like if I plug something in and it sparks since it’s using more conductive metal? Just any thoughts just in case so I don’t die or get hurt please thanks!
Seen a friends house that his wife wiggled the plug while using the vacuum cleaner and it arced causing a small fire. She called fire department who shut off the breaker to that circuit. We came out and replaced the whole circuit with new romex and metal box,new 20amp receptacle for the outlet she used for vacuum connection. Checked and replace the other outlets on circuit with 15amp ones..the ones that had been installed prior were the cheapest cheapy 17cent ones. Gave her a little piece of mind and was only few bucks extra. 15 years later and have done other work on the house since, must be working well still.
I have Hubble that is more than enough to have a strong grip . Audioquest is a rubbery. Just because I spent $$$ on my stereo I am not going to get robbed 🤣😂🤣.
So what do you do when you ask for two dedicated circuits and the electrician installs a multi branch circuit. I can plug-in 4 things but it's a shared Circuit
I had a custom house built w/ silver plated electrical wiring throughout the entire house. Then one day my tube amp caught on fire and burned my house down. Now I'm living in a card board box behind my local grocery store.
Give me a break. Are we back onto this bull with now how your plugs need to be plugged in with a different socket for audiophile use. I thought we went through this already back 26 years ago and now we’re going through it again. Now we’re selling hospital grade electrical plugin sockets. At these inflated prices and they’re supposed to make a sonic difference. It’s all a bunch of bull and snake oil. All it’s called is a placebo effect and anyone who thinks they can really hear a difference, also believes in the Easter bunny and Santa Claus..
So, you're advising changing out the outlet, but not the home run, the breaker, the main breaker (and perhaps the bus bars), and the house feed? You're not recommending placing everything into fully grounded conductive conduit to make a Faraday cage? For shame!
I'm not advising anybody to do anything here. I just wanted to show different levels of outlets and show what I'm replacing. My breaker box is relatively new, and knob and tube was replaced with 12 ga romex in my house. For my stereo I'm installing a new outlet, 10 ga romex, and it's own breaker. You can get as crazy with it as you want to, but that combined with a really good power conditioner seems to work pretty good. If you saw the outlets I pulled out, you'd want them changed out too.
@@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy Most of the receptacles that you demonstrated can have the top and bottom separated by breaking that little bridge tab that connects the top and bottom terminal screws. You mentioned it for the hospital grade, but almost all modern ones do the same as well.
Why do you have ungrounded outlets? Those are OLD. Basically a good tight fit is what you are looking for. So if your oulets fit loosely replace them. There is no reason to put a 20 amp outlet on a 15 amp circuit, plus it might make people think they have a 20 amp circuit when they do not.
Dale Romney if you think you have a 20amp circuit just by putting in a 20A plug, you shouldn’t be messing with anything electrical! But you can’t fix stupid... The reason for a 20A plug is they are more heavy duty with tighter connections.
@@Dirtywhtboy87930 Look, I am pointing out that someone in the future will look at the plug and assume it is a 20A circuit and overload their 15A circuit. They look different for a reason. Thanks for calling me stupid. I think it says more about you than me.
Thank you for not going on and on about how much better your system will sound the more you spend on a receptacle. There is nothing worse than listening to the assholes that claim night and day differences. Some of these clowns also cryogenically treat the part and spend $200 on an audiophile wall cover to "damp vibrations"...
My breakers already were 20a for the outlets in the house, and the wire is 12 gauge so no problems there other than the crappy outlets. For the main stereo I'm installing 10 ga wire (which is good for 30a), but still a 20a breaker. I don't want a 30a breaker on my stereo, because it's really less protection. 10ga wire for less resistance.
@@amunderdog I have two 20 amp breakers each feeding their own 20 amp receptacles. I bought the industrial 20 amp ones from Hubble. Cost like 8 bucks a piece. They hold really strong also. I dont believe in paying 50 or 200 for receptacles. My romex is all copper. The receptacles are copper and my audioquest power cables are all copper. I highly doubt a silver coated receptacle in between all that copper will make a difference at all. The only reason I ran what I ran in my media room was because of the amount of amps and subs I'll have plugged into them. There is a reason I bought audioquest wires and that because the have bigger wire gauge and more shielding. You can do things the right way and keep a level head about what your really putting your money into. Even if I had 100 thousand dollar speakers and matching amps. I'd still never spend over 10 bucks on a receptacle, or spend over 200 on speaker wire. Good think shielded is fine. No need to have 2000 dollar wire that the company that made it spent maybe 5 bucks on making it.
@@Badazz08 On Amazon, the Hubbell Hospital Grade heavy duty outlets are $35 each, the compact versions are $24 a piece. That being said $8 still gets you a good outlet. Hubbell is probably the best bang for your buck in that regard. Most of my house got Leviton 20a outlets that were $20 for ten of them, $2 a piece. Far superior to the 1950's two prong outlets they replaced. The audio systems and computer all get something better though. $150 for my main Hi-fi rig is just icing on the cake. Cheapest part of the system by a huge margin, so it doesn't bother me at all knowing that it's got the best it can get.
@@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy I dont blame ya. I also try to get the best I can with the money I have. I just think (personaly) I can throw a couple hundred on other components that might help better. But I try to see the whole, why put silver in between 2 copper pieces. Like the silver before the component that has all copper does anything at all. Heck it might but i dont see the logic there lol.
hi clint. i plan on getting those Hubbell industrial grade 125V 20A receptacles. Would it matter if I use it here in my country where the standard voltage is 220V? thanks in advance.
@ Most US houses actually have service from a centertapped secondary that gives you a neutral referenced to ground, two hot wires each ~120vac above ground and ~240 across the two hots. Electric stoves and ranges, electric clothes dryers, larger window air conditioners, and permanently wired hot water heaters and HVAC use the 220, which is balanced power. The 120 outlets found elsewhere for general use are "single ended" and have a hot wire, a neutral (or 'earthy') and a Ground or ('earth') wire. Three wire and four wire outlets are specified for various such appliances and are described as NEMA connectors. Hence the saw about the "Illinois NEMA Bandit", because unions are extremely powerful in Chicago and its surrounds. The NEC also provides for 120 vac balanced power which is used in recording studios and in electronic lab environments for quietness. So correctly designed audio gear should interrupt both sides of the input power with a DPST switch but usually does not.
4 года назад
@@wamgoc3637 I'm a recently retired (2 years ago) electrical contractor who got my license in 1974, so I'm aware of all that.
Hey Clint: Excellent overview -and explanation- of AC outlets; mechanical grip, conductivity, build quality all contributing to readily observed distinctions in sound quality. In fact, the improvements are often referred to as 'startling'. As is the impact of 'connecting 'wire/cable' on hi-fi system performance. peter jasz
Interesting, I don't know for sure but has seen some nice audio amps WITH TUBES and big-ass power and audio xformers, would u get hum on these from reg, grounded outlets?
10/2 romex is for a 30 amp circuit . 12/2 its what needed for audio equipment. Those heavy duty outlets are all 20 amp rated also , so there is no need unless its over a 100 ft away
4 года назад
@@kylerstern2997 Quite true, and you still have to reduce it down to 12 gauge to get it on the 20 amp terminals.
@@kylerstern2997 being rated for 15 20 or 30 isn't what matters its the lower resistance less voltage drop and if you run a dedicated line no interference from refrigerator or other appliances that put noise or spikes on that circuit my brother had a dehumidifier on the same circuit as his computer and it caused all kinds of problems
Your actually missing one option and that is the plug with the built in surge protection. Another little fun fact. You can save money on your electric bill by have tight plugs instead of loose ones because it takes more electric to jump the gap on a loose plug. Yes I know it may not be much of a savings. But if your the type of person that looks for every little way to save a buck, this can be one of those way even if very little.
Those are receptacles NOT outlets. Outlet is point on the wiring system at which current is taken to supply utilization equipment. Receptacle is contact device installed at the outlet for the connection of an attachment plug.
@@richardcarden4161 Uh. No. You will not hear a difference between a $50 outlet and a $5 outlet on the same circuit, assuming they are both installed properly. No difference in bass. None.
@@pleappleappleap Agreed, you won’t hear any difference - it’s all a big con. Like the 10 foot pair of speaker cables from a well known “high end” manufacturer that sells for $20,000 !! No, that’s not a typo - $20,000 !!! And speaker cables are a “passive” component, meaning that they can’t actually “improve” the sound.
You don't know what you're talking about and you risk violating electric code with your comments. The 20A receptacles (four on the right) cannot be used on a 15A circuit (a circuit wired with 14 gauge wire - which most household wiring uses).
Most of my house has 12ga romex wire with 20 amp breakers. I'm within code. The box has been updated to a modern 100 amp service. In the couple areas where the wiring is older, I installed new 15amp outlets. My stereo has 10ga wire with a 10amp breaker, and a 20amp heavy duty outlet, which is allowed. Maybe YOU don't know what you're talking about. I'm not talking about code anyways, I'm talking about sound quality.
You are not all homes. If 15 amp is installed you should not sugestst people replace with 20 amp plugs. Why would your house have 12 Guage wires when 14 is needed? This is not standard for everyone. But more important you suggest people replace a 2 prong with a 3 prong outlet which is a code violation unless a proper ground wire is installed.
@@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy You can exceed code but you can't violate it lest if the house burns down, it and all your audio equipment and records will not be covered by insurance and if people die you could even be criminally liable. You can comply with code and still have quiet smooth power.
