A gushing ad for the WattGate 381, a $148 110-volt wall receptacle, is a masterpiece of misrepresentation, hyperbole, and mendacity that just could attract a starry-eyed Audio-Visual fan. And stupidity - just in case the vendors of this nonsense might believe they've actually created something useful. Read it, and see...

If you are building your own audiophile power cord to improve component performance, you need the WattGate 381 receptacle. Why build a performance power cable only to plug it into the same receptacle that's been in use for almost 100 years? WattGate's 381 is a no compromise solution for the demanding AV enthusiast. Construction of the 381 is top-notch and features glass-filled, nylon front and rear housings. Mounting strap, rivets and grounding strip are gold plated, solid brass for the ultimate in corrosion resistance and power transfer. Installation of the 381 is simple and efficient due to rear wiring and large, #10 brass terminal screws. Terminal clamps are gold plated, solid brass and shaped to better grip the conductors. Like the 330 and 350, the 381 leaves the competition behind with its contacts. Configured in a triple-wiper design allows the plug blades to be gripped at three separate points. Additionally, the heavy-duty contacts maximize the clamping spring-rate and ensure conductivity. A three-layer plating process is also completed on the 381: Oxygen free copper plating, electrolysis nickel, and finally 24k gold plating. Receptacle is cryogenically treated and rated at 125 VAC, 20A.

Cryogenically treated

Solid brass contact construction

Three step 24k gold plating process

Triple wiper design increases contact area

Superior performance over standard receptacles

Well, the JREF million-dollar prize can be won by anyone who proves the claim that this device can perform any better than a similar receptacle purchased from Home Depot -

Leviton ProGrade 20 Amp Outlet

Model # 05352R42000

for $6.48 at our local store. That's one-twenty fifth the price...

Let's just look at the terms and language used here. First, gold-plating does provide excellent contact, though any AV fan would not tolerate a corroded contact surface, and a triple wiper rather assures contact at that position, but there the possible advantages cease. All gold plating is a 3-stage process. As opposed to "solid brass" we can only have some other sort of unlikely alloy. And, in my opinion, a century of use rather validates the efficacy of the standard 110-volt fixture. What "clamping spring rate" means is lost to me, and all such fixtures are connected via "rear wiring" - there just isn't any other place! Also, just what possible good would cryogenic treatment do to this outlet, unless there are still dunderheads out there who still believe what Tice claimed - see www.randi.org/jr/04-20-2001.html and do a search for "Tice."

Happily, the AV fans have rushed to ridicule this farce, as indicated by these comments in response to the ad:

AWESOME, I have been waiting forever for this product. Finally something to go with my custom vacuum sputtered unobtainium circuit breaker contacts and calibrated studio grade Romex. Now if I can just get the power company to get rid of those pesky scalar waves in my zero point energy transmission system, I'll be all set. Hey, if you are reading this maybe you have advice on how I can attach my holographic ear bud drivers to my tin foil hat?

Great product. Since I installed those outlets all over my house my electrical bill went down 0$ a month, this is so incredible those outlets conduct the electricity so easily.

I was about to upgrade my power amplifier because of lack of power. Holy macro this outlet make my lloyd 20 watts feels like a Crown Itec 8000 a piece of junk, bass is so much tighter and I'm not even talking about the tweeters, I blew all the windows in my living room, I have to consider to install armored windows now.

OMG - Finally, audio nirvana. As an audiophile, I've been a big fan of worthless add-on's and cash sucking doohickys for many, many years. I have an innate trust in the goodness of the market to guide me in making proper product decisions, such as my Shakti Stones and green ink CD marker pens that I keep next to the Tice Clock. An entire industry has been built on the backs of guys like me, and I'm damned proud of that. Damned proud.

But now I'm even more happy because the Wattgate has raised my audiophile experience to a whole new level of authority and acumen. After spending over $2,000 on new outlets, the difference I hear is nothing short of stunning and astonishing. Music sounds more like music. Quiet sounds more like quiet. The current flows so much more efficiently with these new outlets. Do they provide less resistance, less capacitance, and less inductance than my old outlets? No - but that is not the point. The point is that they sound SO MUCH BETTER.

Yes, these are heady times we live in. I'm so happy to have more stuff that greatly enhances the quality of our lives together. I just wish that all of you could HEAR what these outlets sound like.

Since equipping my bedroom with this Wattgate 381, I've experienced an erection lasting WAY longer than four hours. Truly this is a multi use product. Must stop the review now... blood is rushing....from my skull......feeling faint....

STUPENDOUSLY TERRIFFIC! This is JUST the thing to plug your Bose system into while using Monster cable! My music never sounded more garbled! Plus it made my wife go away so KUDOS WATTGATE!

WAY too efficient. Replaced my home theater wall outlet with the Wattgate and my TV EXPLODED from the inrush current that this product provided! Beware that some equipment may not be prepared for the undistorted clean power this outlet delivers!!!

Such a performer, this Wattgate! I cant believe the differnce!!!! WOW!!!! I just replaced every receptacle in my house with these, I cant believe how much better everything works, I especially notice a difference in the tone of the hum in my fish tank, and I get a lot more bass in the beeper on the alarm on my microwave oven!!! I have also noticed that my vacuum cleaner has better midrange now. My friends are impressed!!!!

You know, it just now occurred to me that maybe "Wattgate" is a take on "Watergate"...

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written by esquel, October 26, 2009

They covered this on bOINGbOING a couple of days ago; an astute viewer pointed out that if you look carefully at the end caps where the receptacle is supposed to be attached to the outlet box, you can just make out the LEVITON stamp partly obscured by the gold plating. My money is on an actual Leviton Pro Grade that has been adulterated with the skimpiest gold plate you can apply, and sold to marks.

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written by BJB, October 26, 2009

"What "clamping spring rate" means is lost to me..."

This might refer to the spring constant of the contacts that hold the plug in place. If so, it would be a measurable claim and the clamping force of the WattGate receptacle could be compared to that of an standard Leviton. I'm sure the people at WattGate have already made the comparison and would be happy to supply the measurements data that show their product has superior clamping force than a cheap Leviton.

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written by pgrissom76, October 26, 2009

Well..... this product is just misunderstood. I sell SOLID gold 0 guage romex at USD $6000 a foot to suplement this outstanding product. you will FEEL the dramatic change in your bank account....I mean the sound quality of your entire home audio system. I will even rewind your old copper wound power transformers in your components with SOLID GOLD wiring for an anditional $1500 an ounce! WOW what a change again. I Also ensure they are 60Hz resonant . I do not know what to do about the hundreds of miles of copper grid power cable coming from the nearest power station though.... Damn.... what a crock....

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I don't get it...
written by TF, October 26, 2009

I don't even get the point of these "fine audio" gadgets. Music sounds different in every room, every speaker has it's own way of reproducing and studio wizards have their problem mixing the music and mastering it so it even has a chance to sound a bit similar on different systems.
All this bla bla of producing more harmomic overtones and so on does just ignore one thing:
the artist should decide how the music should sound.
And artists are always short on money and would never buy this crap.

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written by Otara, October 26, 2009

But its gold and shiny!

Im convinced most audiophile gear is an excuse to make the male equivalent of a dollhouse while pretending it has some useful function. Its the collecting and building and arranging and looking at the pretty result that matters, not the actual usefulness.

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written by William Satire, October 26, 2009

At TAM London, Adam Savage of Mythbusters said he'd like to do an episode on audio cableing. I hope they do. This kind of b*ll*cks (as we say in UK) has been around for too long.

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written by shanek, October 26, 2009

I don't even understand what this thing is supposed to DO for $148. If it has something to do with the quality of the power, wouldn't a $40 UPS take care of that?

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written by Roo, October 27, 2009

Couldn't Disney sue these people for the little golden "ears" that top and tail this bit of junk?

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If you're an adult...
written by Dooyoowoowoo, October 27, 2009

Do NOT use these sockets with mains powered marital aids.

I am told my wife will be out in a week or so but may never sit down again.

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Geeesus....
written by CasaRojo, October 27, 2009

What a load...

From the FWIW department, I've found that some phone and cable modem surge protectors have a negative effect on the signal and not necessarily when they're first put into use and not necessarily with all computers on the line. If fact, my cable provider advises against using them.

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written by daveg703, October 27, 2009

Okay, so we've had a few moments of amusement over this silly product, one that few are likely to waste money on. Yet there is another, much more expensive product being heavily advertised in Sunday supplement magazines - Parade being one of them - which the public has already been suckered into buying by the hundreds, and probably thousands. The ads for this product, The Eden Pure Heater, are crammed with egregious misrepresentations and downright falsehoods. Some of the ads feature the Amish-made mantel as the primary product, whereas the heater is supposed to be

FREE.

Information on this product, exposing the baloney claims made for it, has been in the hands of the JREF for a year or so, but no mention has been made of it. Randi has the opportunity to do a REAL public service if he exposes this company and the claims it makes for the heater, instead of just supplying a few moments of entertainment with the outlet article. I'd really like to know why this opportunity is being ignored. Did Randi himself buy one of these heaters and is too embarrassed to admit it?

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written by Otara, October 27, 2009

Uhh you do realise theres like 345345345 fake gizmos out there?

Not sure why you think that one is being deliberately ignored.

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written by daveg703, October 27, 2009

@ Otara

.
Uhh you do realise theres like 345345345 fake gizmos out there?

I didn't- until you were kind enough to supply what I assume is the correct number.

Not sure why you think that one is being deliberately ignored.

I think thusly because over a year ago I supplied detailed information about that expensive device to Jeff Wagg, including data on tests that I made to prove the fallacy of certain claims. That heater was (and has been for at least 2 years) the subject of intense national advertising that is blatantly misleading and false. This year, to my horror, they have added Bob Vila as a spokesman for this fraud of a product, which will undoubtedly boost their sales, and result in the duping of thousands more people that don't understand the science of such devices.

Taking on the Eden Pure company in the JREF would have produced the sort of enlightenment for which it has strived, but making an issue of some trivial little gadget that few are likely to fall for, seems a waste of effort. As I said, a few minutes of amusement, but in the long run accomplishes little.

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Way to go Dave.......
written by Careyp74, October 28, 2009

So give us a link to the blog you set up with all of the data on it. I love reading about nonsense like that, and spreading around the warnings.

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"I BELIEVE I can HEAR a DIFFERENCE!!!"
written by Brookston John, October 28, 2009

Some reviewer at some limited-circulation audioPHOOL magazine will utter these fateful words and this socket will take its place in the pantheon of $600 power cables, $300 walnut volume control knobs, and the little pieces of sticky lead foil you're supposed to stick to the ic's inside your CD player to "dampen transients"..

You'll BELIEVE you can hear a difference. Or your wife will kill you.

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written by Alan3354, October 28, 2009

Apparently there are people that have excess money, whose problem is finding things to buy. They need things like this, and water-cooled speaker cables, etc, to lower their bank accounts.

Plus, they're stupid, and think that there's a chance these things will work.

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written by Alan3354, October 28, 2009

PS "Electrolysis nickel" is a meaningless term. Perhaps they meant

Electroless nickel plating - an auto-catalytic reaction used to deposit a coating of nickel on a substrate.
It's a process, not a substance.

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written by Phildonnia, October 28, 2009

"all such fixtures are connected via "rear wiring" - there just isn't any other place!"

I wonder if "rear wiring" may refer to "back-wiring", which is a speedy method of connecting the wires without having to futz with wrapping the wires around screws. It's very rare to find an outlet that doesn't permit back-wiring, and I'd be surprised if the $6.48 outlet didn't have this type of connection.

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written by Alan3354, October 28, 2009

I do NOT understand why they try to sell this for $148.

Obviously, it should be $149.95.

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@Alan3354
written by Kuroyume, October 28, 2009

After careful demographic studies, they found that $148 was the absolute maximum amount of money a fool would part with for such a sham, er, product.

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:3
written by Quakeulf, October 29, 2009

I'd give my leg for one of those!

...but will it protect against a pointy, metal object and my curiosity?

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Receptacle
written by bml, October 30, 2009

Instead of the "Pro" receptacle, a better comparison would be the hospital grade that actually addresses some real concerns for a critical situation- better clamping, less resistance, locking, etc. Plus an important feature when a room might have oxygen bottles -- non-arcing.

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written by littlejohn, October 31, 2009

I would call Poe, if it weren't all the multi-thousand-dollar Gorilla Cable installations out there. And who doesn't remember the green-Magic Marker-around-the-CD urban legend. Consider all the audiophiles who spend enormous emounts of money to replace perfectly good, high-power solid-state amplifiers with unreliable, expensive, high-distortion tube units. An unscrupulous type could sell any sort of junk to some audiophiles based on phony claims. Hey, I think I just had an idea...

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written by littlejohn, October 31, 2009

Of course, no matter how high-tech the receptacle, it would still be hooked up to your ordinary, old-fashioned copper wiring grid. But with my new miracle sterling silver house rewiring kit, just $89,999.95, I can remedy that for you.

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newshopstyle
written by newshopstyle, November 02, 2009

Easy grip with ergonomic design and felt at the tip allows for an easier hold and control. The CHI Turbo Digital Ceramic Hairstyling Iron also provides versatile heat settings to achieve the perfect temperature specific to your hair type and style.
CHI Flat Iron
Flat Iron 2 Inch

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