Audiophile AC Outlets for the Frugal

Note:  I normally posts affiliate links to Amazon to but honestly Lowe's is a better source for these items and cheaper and more variety. 

There are a lot of ways to spend hundreds of dollars on so-called audiophile AC outlets, which is pretty remarkable given that in bulk AC outlets run around $1 to $2 each.  Many of these seem to be simple re-branded outlets from otherwise non-audiophile brands but some do things like add gold plating to all the metal contacts which at least seems a little better. 

Lets talk about why audiophiles start looking at their outlets as something to upgrade:

• Their existing outlets are either loose or just won't handle the chonky AC cable they want to use. 
• Reduce contact noise.
• Reduce resistance and therefore the voltage drop between their stereo and the service entrance.
  

Do different outlets sound better?  When new an average AC socket probably performs exactly the same as any other but the outlets which I am going to recommend below still offer a number of important benefits:

• Brand new they have better grip strength than residential so they won't let go of your fancy, heavy audiophile power cord
  
• The reliability of the grip is better both for insert/extract cycles and when leaving a plug in for years at a time. 
• Your existing outlets may be back stabbed and all of those need to go no matter where they are in the house.  Get rid of all of them even if you go with residential outlets.
  
• Better grip means less chance of contact noise at the outlet connecting to your stereo or from bad contacts upstream.
• The internal metal conductors are much thicker and the front resin shell (the part that you see after the outlet cover is on) is about twice as thick making the unit much tougher and more durable.  Not sure what your home is like since hopefully you aren't constantly banging things into your wall outlets. 😆
  

Even if you don't believe new outlets make things sound better, the weight of power cords alone may send you looking for a higher quality outlet that you buy once and never worry about again in your lifetime. Fortunately I'm not going to recommend you spend a lot of money.  A really good solution for an audiophile is around $5 an outlet.  Hypothetically, cheap enough you might even leave it behind if you were renting.  Hypothetically.

What is contact noise? 

Contact noise in this sense is noise that happens at the interface between a plug and a socket caused by an imperfect connection. If you have ever tried to clean a volume control by turning it up and down several times you were dealing with this. You can think of these as micro-arcing.

Whether this is audible in a system that is otherwise performing well is controversial and unproven.  Most engineers are going to say that so long as the plug isn't overheating due to a poor connection your system is probably going to perform well enough.  Then there are those of us who feel "well-enough" is really too low a bar.  This particular post is for those who want to set a high bar without breaking the bank. Literally cheap enough that it's a no-brainer.

What Should a Frugal Get?

The minimum outlet for an audiophile which is very very good is called commercial grade, tamper resistant (TR). These are sometimes also called "commercial/residential."  They run about $40 for a pack of 10.  In terms of electrical conductivity and reliability in a home this is your sweet spot.  High reliability, high contact pressure and meet the National Electric Code (NEC) requirements for residential outlets. 

 

Commercial or Commercial / Residential?

Any new outlets for a home must be tamper resistant to meet the NEC for residential outlets. Read more about this here.  Most commercial outlets are not tamper resistant but those that are may be labelled "Commercial and residential." 

 

I like to use Eaton / Arrow Hart outlets here.  They feel very sturdy, have back wire connections and are plenty tight.  Your local electrician can probably provide you a host of additional commercial/residential options from other reliable manufacturers.

 

Hospital grade outlets are all that but more, and about 2-4 times more expensive.  I don't usually think that in a home the difference in price is worthwhile but if you want to spend $20 on a hospital grade outlet sure, go ahead.  

I'll say this a few times in this blog post, with high grip strength outlets you need to be extra careful to ensure the outlet tight on the wall, if it isn't read below.

Another reason for sticking to commercial/residential grade is decor.  If we stay away from hospital and boutique outlets there's a plethora of decorator outlets in a variety of colors you can turn to.  Got 1970s style wood paneling you need to match with a tasteful brown?  No problem.

Which Outlets Should Get Replaced?

I recommend you replace all the outlets on the circuit for maximum reliability and lowest opportunity for contact noise, but you should know some details.  The first thing to understand is that multiple outlets which share the same breaker are usually daisy-chained together.  That is, power goes from the breaker to one outlet, then the next and so on.  The outlets themselves are both outlets and they conduct electricity downstream to the next one. If you were to remove an outlet in the middle then none of the downstream outlets would work. 

Because of this behavior any resistance in an upstream outlet will have the effect of reducing the voltage at your stereo.  If you also believe that contact noise is possible, and detrimental to the final audio signal then you also believe that anything that connects poorly to an outlet can be a source of additional noise.  So for the audiophile both of these reasons cause us to want to examine all of the outlets on a circuit. 

If you are remodeling an existing building you may be unfortunate enough to have what are called back-stabbed connections.  These connections were optional, but popular due to the speed of installation.  They use a little hole in the back of the outlet.  Installation was simple and fast: Strip the wire bare, push it in and you were done, no screwdriver needed.  I've circled one of these connections in the picture below.

Unfortunately these connections have been found to be unreliable to the point of being known to cause fires. The issue has to do with the very small contact area and contact pressure which may deteriorate over time.

If this is your case, I strongly recommend you replace all of them with new commercial Tamper Resistant outlets and either screw or back wire the connections down. Backwire is a similar idea to back stabbing but it sandwiches the wire between two metal plates and are screwed down tight.  In the picture below I've circled the back wire connection so you can see the difference.

 

Electricians prefer to wrap the conductor around the screw terminals and tighten for maximum reliability but since the back-wire connections don't twist on the wire I think they can be more reliable.  Either way the back wiring connectors are far better than back stabbing.   If you have the time and carefully wrap your wires around the screws then that's a great alternative also.

What else do I need? 

If you are upgrading to something tighter and more reliable than residential grade you should also consider getting a steel drywall spacer plate like Flush-Fit plate from Hubbell-Raco.  If the drywall has degraded or is too big of a hole to support the mounting wings these plates are essential upgrades for high insertion force outlets and will completely eliminate any play in the outlet.

 

By putting these plates between the outlet and the drywall you get a rock solid feel when you insert or remove a plug.  

 

They are about $4 for a pack of 3:

 

 

 

Another helpful device is a 90 degree plug, like this Leviton Hospital Grade Plug, which can help you recover floor space compared to straight plugs.  The pins are as thick as possible so you'll get a much tighter grip vs. standard plugs.  They take up to 10 gauge, and can be rotated to any angle before wiring.

They do make short 90 degree extension cords, but be careful about the wire gauge, most have only 16 gauge wiring.   The one in the link is 14 gauge and one of the better one's.

Where can I spend even more money? 

If you read all of this and still want to get fancy my recommendation is Parts Connexion.  Great selection and amazing service. 

There are two things I want you to keep in mind when going fully boutique: 

• Avoid rhodium plated contacts in all places. While beautiful like platinum jewelry they tend to be too hard and therefore too slippery.
• The NEC requires you to get Tamper Resistant outlets in homes.  If you sell your home in the future an inspector may notice and this could be a reason to negotiate down on the sale price.