I'm Puzzled

brad225

brad225

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 11, 2017
Messages
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Location
Wesley Chapel, FL
Hopefully someone can explain the principles behind this.

I am one that believes that everything matters with trying to raise the quality of the sound of music we listen to. This obviously relates to our equipment, rooms and media.

I have recently seen posts on different sites that descriptions and options of people trying something new to me. Stainless Steel Carbon-fiber receptacle cover plates.

I've read people commenting on hearing the difference between the SSCF plates and plastic or plain SS.
Also that they could hear a difference depending which type of screw they used to attach it to the receptacle.

I'm not saying it can't possibly be true but, can someone explain how this might have an affect on the sound. The only thing I can come up with is some type of vibration or oscillation in the current flowing through the cable or the receptacle it self.

I don't see purchasing a $94 cover plate anytime in the foreseeable future. I guess anything is possible.

Signed
Puzzled
 
brad225 said:
Hopefully someone can explain the principles behind this.

I am one that believes that everything matters with trying to raise the quality of the sound of music we listen to. This obviously relates to our equipment, rooms and media.

I have recently seen posts on different sites that descriptions and options of people trying something new to me. Stainless Steel Carbon-fiber receptacle cover plates.

I've read people commenting on hearing the difference between the SSCF plates and plastic or plain SS.
Also that they could hear a difference depending which type of screw they used to attach it to the receptacle.

I'm not saying it can't possibly be true but, can someone explain how this might have an affect on the sound. The only thing I can come up with is some type of vibration or oscillation in the current flowing through the cable or the receptacle it self.

I don't see purchasing a $94 cover plate anytime in the foreseeable future. I guess anything is possible.

Signed
Puzzled
Click to expand...
I have the furutech outlet and plate, I never heard a difference.

I personally think a lot of claims are wildly exaggerated. For example, I don't think many people can actually hear a network switch.

But to each their own. I DO believe there may be an additive effect when you use many of these things together. For example, if you use a few dedicated lines, in phase, the outlets and really good power cords and conditioner all together, it can be a really good combination when taken as a whole.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 
The best part is people who claim they have found the optimum torque value for the screws that hold the wall plate on.
 
2fastdriving said:
I have the furutech outlet and plate, I never heard a difference.

I personally think a lot of claims are wildly exaggerated. For example, I don't think many people can actually hear a network switch.

But to each their own. I DO believe there may be an additive effect when you use many of these things together. For example, if you use a few dedicated lines, in phase, the outlets and really good power cords and conditioner all together, it can be a really good combination when taken as a whole.
Click to expand...


I sort of agree Marc. I definitely believe in better cables and try to get the best I can. Certainly believe a solid power conditioner should be in the equation. I also believe that you can go overboard, depending on your system. I believe your system and environment has to be of a certain level to be able to have tweaks to the Nth degree actually make a difference. I also believe my system does not approach that level. I doubt many do.
 
mep said:
The best part is people who claim they have found the optimum torque value for the screws that hold the wall plate on.
Click to expand...

Dam, I would be screwed then. I probably would over tighten the screws :(.
 
2fastdriving said:
I have the furutech outlet and plate, I never heard a difference.

I personally think a lot of claims are wildly exaggerated. For example, I don't think many people can actually hear a network switch.

But to each their own. I DO believe there may be an additive effect when you use many of these things together. For example, if you use a few dedicated lines, in phase, the outlets and really good power cords and conditioner all together, it can be a really good combination when taken as a whole.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

So, did you purchase them with the thought they might make a difference in sound?

I could see buying them because they look nice, though there might be a Chinese knock-off that would look similar for $10.
 
I'm willing to read the claims of some of these devices, but I also have a couple of engineering degrees and originally hail from Missouri, so I have a strong "show me" streak that has to be appeased...

Scientifically, a wall plate cover should never be in the current path (it's electrically isolated, else you'd get zapped if you touch the screw). And the outlet itself is attached to the wall via screws into the electrical box, not via the cover plate. If the outlet is loose enough in the box that the cover plate is somehow stabilizing it, you've already done it wrong. Having said that, I do have a few Furutech outlets on the main rig, but only because I added dedicated 20A 10ga circuits at the time and was after the vice-like mechanical grip they provide on the cords. I do not have the mount pad or cover plate. I could have achieved what I got from the Furutech in other ways, but the incremental cost for a "basic" Furutech wasn't really that large. In the basement system I have hospital grade Hubbells, and they're very very close in gripping power. I hear no difference that I would attribute to the outlet choice, but nor have tried swapping out wall outlets for an A/B test.

If the manufacturer can supply some actual data backing up the how/why of what their product does, that helps. Spouting marketing language about "nano"-this and "quantum"-that generally subtracts points in my book. But of course if you try "it" and are convinced you hear a difference for the better, then by all means go for it if you can afford the entry price and it makes you happy!
 
Imagination, it does wonders for the perceived sound...

Back in the day, I was in a circle of close audiophile buddies and we were all into the audiophile hobby head first. The late 80s and 90s saw what perhaps was the start of the true tweakophile phase and all the gadgets and gizmos that started to appear on the market. So not only the gear, speakers, cables were borrowed, loaned, auditioned but we would do many blind listening tests for fun to try and find the true diamonds in the rough.... Needless to say that the glow in the dark CD mats, the green markers to color the edges and the top sides of CDs as well as ALL cables all crumbled in blind listening tests.

But we had one die hard audiophile among us that was a true Tweakophile to the core. This guy was obsessed with vibration control. Trying every known material/substance to mankind.. Granite, Marble, Stone, Wood (various boards/planks/grades/sorts of wood) plastic, resin, metal, rubber. He even tried various combinations of glass, metal, rubber sandwiches to place under his gear. He also had very good gear for the time. Spectral with Aerial speakers.

Everything made a difference in sound for this guy. Everything. He swore up and down he hears everything that is changed in his system... So of course when he came up with the latest invention, the bicycle tire tubes under his gear, complete with pressure gauges and his claims that he has figured out and has recorded the exact pressures in those bicycle tubes needed, to dampen all the vibrations for optimum response from his system...Well, of course we came over to listen!

Needless to say, not one of us heard anything different as hard as we tried with our much fresher ears some 25 years ago... Moreover, we often liked to play jokes on the guy so while he went to look for a record, we deflated the tube under his preamp as a practical joke. He went on gushing over the new tonal balance of his system and how much the tubes made a difference.... Good thing he had a good sense of humor as a few albums later, we had to land him back to earth and tell him the bicycle tube was flat and the "Emperor really had no clothes"....


It is amazing what a human mind can concoct with imagination. All the blind listening tests taught us to appreciate the gear but know what to spend money on and what not to.

So forgive me if I am the biggest skeptic of the notion that a power cord makes a difference when there is a tiny, tiny, piece of very cheap wire inside a glass tube, called a fuse that still has to pass all the juice the FAT power cord brags about bringing to the table..
 
If I remember correctly, one of the reviews I read referred to the use of Carbon-Fiber would produce a negative ion that would offset RFI and vibration in the signal path.

He also said that though the cover plates didn't improve the 3D of his sound stage it lowered the floor noise and increased the depth and clarity of the sound stage. He felt there was no doubt they were worth the purchase price.

I probably didn't need to use Shunyata SR-1 receptacles in my listening room. A good Hubbell outlet would probably been fine but, I would have always wondered. I did add some more SR-1 receptacles after my EE friend checked the Home Depot marketed Leviton receptacles I used for my speaker & sub power and found there was excessive reading between ground and neutral. That was covered in another thread.


When I built my listening room I insisted on using 10/3 for the runs to each outlet from the panel. My electrician told me it was ridiculous and unnecessary.
I told him if I chose to weld in my room that was my business. He didn't think my comment was very funny. I ended pulling all of the 10/3 on the weekend when he wasn't there so it would be run the way I wanted, with much less stress.
 
brad225 said:
Hopefully someone can explain the principles behind this.

I am one that believes that everything matters with trying to raise the quality of the sound of music we listen to. This obviously relates to our equipment, rooms and media.

I have recently seen posts on different sites that descriptions and options of people trying something new to me. Stainless Steel Carbon-fiber receptacle cover plates.

I've read people commenting on hearing the difference between the SSCF plates and plastic or plain SS.
Also that they could hear a difference depending which type of screw they used to attach it to the receptacle.

I'm not saying it can't possibly be true but, can someone explain how this might have an affect on the sound. The only thing I can come up with is some type of vibration or oscillation in the current flowing through the cable or the receptacle it self.

I don't see purchasing a $94 cover plate anytime in the foreseeable future. I guess anything is possible.

Signed
Puzzled
Click to expand...

The BS that is propagated in this hobby can only be sustained by suckers who happen to be born every minute.
 
Complete mental masturbation these gadgets and accessories are...

Listen to any musical track but longer than 30-45 seconds three or four times in a row and focus on different instruments mentally. You will hear a different presentation, enough so to think something was changed in your system.
 
there used to be a fairly well known reviewer who said if the screws on a plug were all the same way it sounded better !!! some crazy ideas out there
 
Brad, I think there's a sale going on right now@ Amazon, buy three receptacle covers and get a jar of those 'magic marbles' for a buck !
 
Mikado463 said:
Brad, I think there's a sale going on right now@ Amazon, buy three receptacle covers and get a jar of those 'magic marbles' for a buck !
Click to expand...

Dave, Should I decide to go that route, that would be a good deal because I clearly would have lost my marbles. :rolleyes:
 
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