Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Tweakers' Asylum ] [ Return to Search Results ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Compared to this

Posted by Terry P on September 11, 2007 at 10:36:17

In Reply to: RE: I agree posted by alan m. kafton on September 11, 2007 at 00:26:05:

Alan,

Ted Smith said "The difference when upgrading outlets even on dedicated lines is still quite audible in my experience."

And I said "I agree". In my case, the comparison was to a dedicated line without a FIM-880 on it compared to a dedicated line WITH a FIM-880 on it.

I had originally purchased one FIM-880 outlet for installation of a dedicated line. Then after additional research on many forums, I discovered that many people advocate additional dedicated lines for their system -- and it's less expensive to have them installed at the same time. So with my electrician already scheduled, I asked him to install two dedicated (homerun to the panel) lines to my system.

But I only had one FIM-880 outlet at the time and had to wait two weeks for the other one to be delivered. Then another week to get the electrician back out. So I had three weeks to compare the FIM-880 outlet on a dedicated homerun line to an identical dedicated line without a FIM-880 outlet.

The dedicated line by itself was an easily heard improvement. The dedicated line with the FIM-880 was a further improvement. Both easily heard. Even my non-audiophile electrician heard some of the improvement (e.g., improved bass, perhaps from the higher gauge (10ga.) in the new lines). The FIM-880 outlet added quietness and clarity.

I had my integrated amp on one line and the source components on the other. I switched them back and forth a few times to see if I could hear a difference between the dedicated line with the FIM outlet and the one without, and which way I preferred it. I even put everything on the line with the FIM outlet and then everything on the line without the FIM outlet. I settled on the int. amp on the line without the FIM, and the source components on the line with the FIM until the second FIM outlet arrived.

Prior to hearing the difference, as an engineer, I believed a dedicated homerun line with higher gauge cable could possibly make a difference, but I was skeptical of the new exotic outlets. But my ears didn't lie and I had an easy A-B, but not blind, test to confirm it. (I must confess that I'm not a strong believer in blind A-B tests for audio purposes however. I believe in much longer testing for most audio comparisons).

One other note, the FIM-880 outlets I have ($75 each) are the predecessors to the expensive FIM-888 outlets described above. I'm not sure how far up the outlet food-chain one can still get positive improvement, but improvement is readily apparent compared to 20 year old cheapo household outlets.

Hope this answered your question!

Terry

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---