I just finished up writing Chapter 10 of The Acoustic Revive Chronicles and submitted it to the ye olde Editors Dave & David of Positive Feedback Online for publication in the very near future.

I always have had fun writing about the products from Acoustic Revive, and Chapter 10 was no exception. In fact a watershed event happened during the review that raised the performance of my primary reference system to a new and exciting level. It also led to a revelation for yours truly as to how important AC power receptacles can be to the ultimate performance of your Hi-Fi system. In the photo above (left side) you can see a custom Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle that Ken San & Yoshi San sent me to try that shows off the performance potential of the Acoustic Revive CB-1DB receptacle base plate (right), the CFRP-1F carbon fiber outlet plate (center).

Acoustic Revive uses a special version of the Oyaide R-1 receptacle (above) with a beryllium-copper electrode (if you look up a photo of the stock R-1 it looks different). Ken San says that the beryllium-copper electrode has better conductance characteristics, and its also been polished to a mirror finish to further improve conductance. Acoustic Revive modifies the electrode parts of the R-1 by applying a thick silver plating followed by a thick rhodium plating, both of which Acoustic Revive says improves the conductance and phase characteristics over the stock R-1. After the plating modifications Acoustic Revive cryogenically treats the electrode parts at -196oC for an additional improvement to conductance. After all the internal electrode parts are cryogenically treated they are reinstalled into the Oyaide resin receptacle bodies. These customized Oyaide R-1 AC outlets are the same as what Acoustic Revive installs in the RPT-2 & RPT-4 Ultimate Power Distributors.

So essentially what you get with the installation of the trinity of the CB-1DB receptacle base plate, the CFRP-1F carbon fiber outlet plate, and modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle is very similar to having an in-wall RPT-2 Ultimate Power Distributor (above).

I've been using the combination of a CB-1DB receptacle base plate and the CFRP-1F carbon fiber outlet plate with a generic AC receptacle in one of the two outlets that power my system for quite a long time, and I've been very pleased with the result (below).

However, adding the modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle, and then adding the CB-1DB receptacle base plate, the CFRP-1F carbon fiber outlet plate, and modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle to the second outlet that powers my reference system was revelatory.

Now I have to tell you some bad news: the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle is not available for purchase. I know, I know - that sucks! First I tease you with the revelatory performance, then I tell you that you can't buy it. Sigh. Life can be so unfair.

After I found out that the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle was not available for sale I actually put the review on hold until I figured out an alternative for you so you too could experience the kind of performance I was hearing from the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle.

So here's some good news: As I was telling Mark Coles (Sablon Audio) about the situation with the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1, he mentioned to me that two of the most highly regarded high-performance AC receptacles in the audio underground are the Oyaide R-0 ($147 USD each, above photo), which is an unplated version of the R-1, and the Maestro outlet ($85 USD each, photo below), which was developed by Fernando Cruz at cruzeFIRST Audio.

Mark put me in touch with Joe Cohen (Oyaide R-0) and Fernando Cruz (Maestro) and they have graciously agreed to provide a set of those highly regarded AC receptacles for review. I believe that the performance improvement of adding high-performance AC receptacles was so significant that I want to do a follow-up review dedicated to them, wherein I will compare a generic AC receptacle, the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1, the Oyaide R-0, and the cruzeFIRST Maestro. I’d like to say thanks both to Joe Cohen for sending a pair of Oyaide R-0s to use for comparison, and to Fernando Cruz for sending a pair of Maestros to use for comparison, and to Mark Coles for putting me in touch with both Joe & Fernando. Thanks guys!

NEW: Mark also mentioned to me that the best way he has found to condition high-performance AC receptacles was by using the Audiodharma Cable Cooker for three days or so. Having heard the remarkable difference that the Audiodharma can make with power cords, speaker cables, and interconnects, I made up some adapters for my Audiodharma so I could condition all of the AC receptacles for the review. Below is the completed adapter with an Oyaide R-0 in the circuit being conditioned.

It will be a ways out before the article will appear at Positive Feedback Online, as I have a number of items in front of the high-performance receptacles before I can get to them in my review queue, but stay tuned – this should be illuminating!