Hospital-grade vs. Normal AC plugs

Greeting to all Sifu/Master/Guru/All..

Recently was looking for UK Plug/Connector to replace my normal appliance plug but got very confuses by the grade that is available in market so far no one can offer to explain what are the differents? What is actually Hospital grade means? Are they made to certain specification require by International Medical requirement but what i got to do with Audio?

???

hijau wrote:Greeting to all Sifu/Master/Guru/All..

Recently was looking for UK Plug/Connector to replace my normal appliance plug but got very confuses by the grade that is available in market so far no one can offer to explain what are the differents? What is actually Hospital grade means? Are they made to certain specification require by International Medical requirement but what i got to do with Audio?

???

Hospital grade plugs are designed and tested for grounding reliability, assembly integrity, strength and durability for patient safety when used on patient care equipments.

Yes they are manufactured to certain specifications based on regions standards.

MK hospital grade plugs can accomodate a thicker cable than a normal white plug. I see it as the only reason it being used.

there are many types of hospital grade receptacles;the one you should be aiming for should be the MRI grade.

the advantage of this is that other than being well fitted ,durable and well grounded,it is also NICKEL free.


Nickel is one of the most deplorable stuff as far as sound degradations are concerned;it induces a lot of noise as the current passes through.

ai suggest if you still us e a normal receptacle,you should run to your dealer and change it.

Right! Must be noisy since it is magnetic.

Where can you get the hospital grade (MRI grade) MK plug and receptacle? Could someone provide information in this regard?

Thanks

Sunil

sunsn,

i have moved to us type receptaces years ago the sonic advantage was just too great to ignore.

anyway,you could check farnell -newark,but what make you think mk isthe best?

you should try furutech uk plugs instead.

another alternative is to use schuko type plug;the main advantages of this methods include the fact that;

1.no fuse,hence no bottleneck.

2.you could ift the ground.if you havent discovered the wonder of ground lifting could do for your system,this would be the best way.

3.the quality of contacts are greater,hence less chance for resonance induction.

Thye Huat in Georgetown, Penang I heard sell Red colour MK hospital grade plug at RM15.

https://hifi4sale.forumotion.com/audio-video-equipment-for-sale-f1/mk-mains-plugs-new-sold-t939.htm?highlight=mk+plugs

Furutech F1 UK plug would set you back by RM300-400 and you have to get a similarly price IEC connector.

Thanks! Noted....

Sunil

MK Hospital grade plug comes with silver contact at Live terminal. Open the cover and check inside if its silver. Ensure the cable is screen with one end earth at the source and the other end open to avoid ground loop.

Looks like nickel to me though it's silver in color. Anyway the model is MK655 for hospital grade red or black.

Wow guys.. thanks for the info.. have not check here for a while actually have forgotten about this thread..

My intenetion of starting this tread by hoping someone can provided certain solid ground about the different & why it benefit in audio terms.. like the pureness of a cooper can ease better current flow or else.. personally i believe there should be a rule of thumb on this.. then we the consumer can based on that to look for the best value & higest specification product in market instead paying for the marketing gimmicks.. Thanks.

Hi, saw this thread & tot of reviving it instead of posting a new one. I just fix these hospital grade plugs yesterday to my cd player and amp and I noticed that the sound is brighter.

Dunno whether its just my hearing or what? Anyone shares the same thing with me after these plugs?

Actually you do need to realize that plugs too needs running in (yes, wierd but true according to my experience).

I will buy some MK plugs to replace my current ones.
Let's see what they can do.

WongKN sifu

So u saying what I am experiencing is true? What other things I might get after runnning in? Tq

I just bought one 'normal' MK plug from a hardware store yesterday.. not my first MK plug, this one costs RM10.
This is to replace a 'non-MK' plug that I am using, since I am replacing the power cord, might as well use a good plug too!

What's the difference between normal ones and those Toughplug?
I saw different kinds of MK plugs in Farnell webpage.
"Company Property" punya pun ada...

Pls take note,
there new n old version of hospital grade mk plugs, the old version r much better sounding, but those new ones might not as good normal mk plugs.

dennis611 wrote:WongKN sifu

So u saying what I am experiencing is true? What other things I might get after runnning in? Tq

The sound will mellow down and there will be more bass, i.e. it won't be so bright anymore. I think you usually need around 50 hours. It can be surprising how everything also need to run-in. Even now LPs also needs to be 'de-hroned' for e.g.

why do i see loads of silver plated & cryo treated MK plug selling in UK? is silver better?

AFAIK, silver is the best conductor. I still do not know why there are still many ppl going 'ga-ga' over gold plated (not referring to plugs).

noodle88, do you have the photos of the old ver? Btw, how old is old? TIA.

people still gold plate speaker terminals, rca plugs (male and female) etc because gold tends not to oxidise and does not corrode.

silver does oxidise (but the layer of silver oxide is still conductive).

that is why many plugs and sockets with silver plating have a rhodium plating over the silver to protect the silver.

good example is "cardas grmo rca male plug non-magnetic, eutectic Brass, Rhodium over Silver Plated, gold Plated, Brass cover"
non-magnetic, eutectic Brass, Rhodium over Silver Plated, gold Plated, Brass cover

htkaki wrote:AFAIK, silver is the best conductor. I still do not know why there are still many ppl going 'ga-ga' over gold plated (not referring to plugs).

noodle88, do you have the photos of the old ver? Btw, how old is old? TIA.

I do have problem with uploading picture wt my I phone. Can u help me on this? Or else send me your email, I will email u the picture.

noodle88 wrote:

htkaki wrote:AFAIK, silver is the best conductor. I still do not know why there are still many ppl going 'ga-ga' over gold plated (not referring to plugs).

noodle88, do you have the photos of the old ver? Btw, how old is old? TIA.

I do have problem with uploading picture wt my I phone. Can u help me on this? Or else send me your email, I will email u the picture.

Do you use your iPhone as a standalone phone, or do you use it with a program called iTunes as well ?

noodle88 wrote:

htkaki wrote:AFAIK, silver is the best conductor. I still do not know why there are still many ppl going 'ga-ga' over gold plated (not referring to plugs).

noodle88, do you have the photos of the old ver? Btw, how old is old? TIA.

I do have problem with uploading picture wt my I phone. Can u help me on this? Or else send me your email, I will email u the picture.

Np, maxx@htkaki.com

from noodle88,

Old MK



New MK



Old MK Hospital grade wt ACE hardware cable

Hi all,

I changed my amp's OEM power cable plug to a MK plug yesterday and noticed that the sound had become more forward, albeit more lifelike (or is that just an illusion?). Considering that our typical mains supply is "dirty" anyway, I was wondering whether a good plug might actually accentuate that dirtiness instead of ameliorating it...ie I wonder if the sound I'm now getting is a result of the effectiveness of the plug allowing more of the 'dirt' thru....? Am I wrong here?

Old MK Hospital grade wt ACE hardware cable

[/quote]

Just followed this thread... hmm, these look familiar, have same cable from ACE and red MK 'softcover' plug, and perhaps use a leftover Furutech IEC from one of my 'never took-off DIY' projects . Not sure about the cable length, silver bussman fuse or 'UK' MK plug though but remembered that when buying the cables were from ACE were pretty impressed with the thickness of the cable relative to price at that point of time. Even thought a bit of a squeeze to fit in the MK plug. Might give it a go over the weekend. Thanks guys...

Cheers,

zb

Suggestion, try looking for power cables at "BIG BIG WholeSale"
Electrical shops and you would be suprised the types of power cables that you can purchase at very very relative pricing ? Have seen two core power cables with aluminium foil sheilding and some come with the wire mesh.

Purchased silver core "signal cables" for my DIY INTERCONNECTS.

cheers

'New' MK plug doesn't look good to me..

Where to get old MK plugs as good as unused?
I mean if we are to swap the old MKs from say, our old irons, to our power cords, is it a good thing?
Is there any wear and tear and degrade in conditions of the old MK plug after so many years of service?

Since there are no moving parts, there wouldn't be 'wear and tear' as per se.. maybe the metal have 'aged'.. Can 'aged' be better like wine? Don't think there woul dbe any corrosion too.
I still can get the 'old version' of MK plugs here.. maybe I shud get and keep a few before its all gone and replaced by the 'new' version...

Hey guy, need not take the hard way to find the old mk hospital grade plug.
The breakable mk plugs can be as good or even better than the hospital grade ones. Non hospital grade has more solid built. Hospital grade only have the advantage of unbreakable. Sound wise, I will go for normal mk plug with suitable fuse. Don't find troble to get the old hospital mk plug......

Don't ask me where I got my hospital mk, if u r so keen to get 1 , pls go to the nearest hospital see if u can get one .... Hahaha.....

I dunno what ALL the FUSS is this about TRYING so hard to stinge and scrunge for all these el-cheapo yet hard-to-find plugs lah, cable lah , fuse lah.

If you so truly believe in dedicated AC power cords, there is an abundance of PS Audio, Oyaide, Furutech, Shunyata Research etc etc to choose from.

If u want budget bang-for-buck from a specialist CABLE Mfg, there is always Belden.

Same goes for plugs & fuses, Furutech cryotech this, silver that, all the boutique stuff to choose from. Just make sure u are prepared to pay RM200 for one piece ofsuper duper magic treated fuse.

Why bother hunting for some obsolete "old MK plug", only to pair it with some off the shelf generic cable. Or go to hospital to gasak their plug, or some other lame-ass activity; etc etc etc.

Like that cantonese saying, this is all "Chuuk Chuung Yaap See Faat" (catch worm to stick it up your ass). Unless of course, someone here really enjoys such activities.

As expected..

The major difference with these boutique and budget accessories is cost.

Naturally people would start sourcing out for similar products which are way much cheaper, which has its individual charateristics or similar charateristics with these boutiques accessories. ( maybe )

An example, in this forum " a set of Monster Audio interconnects" going less then $2xx.xx, whereelse at a well established audio centre its 40% or higher.

Which I myself have done and with no regrets. Matter of personal preference.

Naturally, price would drive most, if not all to seek for cheaper options.

cheers

Hey guys,
buying the cable is just the very begining part of the whole story. The tuning part which will be the most exciting part.

This small amount of money will let u all experinces a tuning process that Hifi people will not tell. These r all their secrets for a living. As I m not someone who in the Hifi business, I'm just a Hifi DIY lover, I will share the knowledge with u all.

Some may disagree with me, as they may have their own motive.....

mugenfoo wrote:I dunno what ALL the FUSS is this about TRYING so hard to stinge and scrunge for all these el-cheapo yet hard-to-find plugs lah, cable lah , fuse lah.

If you so truly believe in dedicated AC power cords, there is an abundance of PS Audio, Oyaide, Furutech, Shunyata Research etc etc to choose from.

If u want budget bang-for-buck from a specialist CABLE Mfg, there is always Belden.

Same goes for plugs & fuses, Furutech cryotech this, silver that, all the boutique stuff to choose from. Just make sure u are prepared to pay RM200 for one piece ofsuper duper magic treated fuse.

Why bother hunting for some obsolete "old MK plug", only to pair it with some off the shelf generic cable. Or go to hospital to gasak their plug, or some other lame-ass activity; etc etc etc.

Like that cantonese saying, this is all "Chuuk Chuung Yaap See Faat" (catch worm to stick it up your ass). Unless of course, someone here really enjoys such activities.

Dont la splash cold water on this topic so fast lar..
I am in the middle enjoying all the fuss with some questions..
Let our fellow members here share share their views and come up with answers.
Sometimes I enjoy reading the answers coz there are creative answers. hahahahaha..

This is not splashing cold water. DIY is fine .... but some good common sense should be put in place. Not to the point of scavenging for something thats made up to be so "rare" and "hard to find" of some out-of-production item.
This is really like pushing the luck and jacking up the value of some otherwise plain vanilla item ....
Like .. " Ohh... i got this oh-so-special old edition MK plug, cannot buy already lor! New ones don't sound so good!".

C'mon ... how much lamer can this get ?

The point is this, there is an ocean of choices for DIY items out there. Who knows, maybe some Made-in-Malaysia unknown plug may turn out sounding better than that "rare MK plug". All these hype for nothing.

Or just be adventurous and get that RM50 16Amp plug + wall socket. Up-spec it and see how it sounds. Doesn't cost a bomb and adds a totally new twist of element into all this DIY dabbling.

mugenfoo wrote:
This is really like pushing the luck and jacking up the value of some otherwise plain vanilla item ....

Not bad eh.. If the price jack up till universe high, I am willing to let go mine.
hahahahahaha...

My mom old iron is using MK plug too. Then, I found out the old rice cooker also using the thick MK plug. Maybe have to ask her any difference in cooking time after changing to the MK plug as I don't think it is stock std plug (no pun intended).

I'd a customer who actually tried his Supra Lorad on his electric kettle. He claimed it did boil faster Unfortunately, the water tastes the same

Interesting! If water does not taste like water, what can it be then..?

He expect it to taste better. LOL...

need experiment also....
belum try belum tau..sudah try tiap tiap hari mau...
i will try this....

"Perrier" anyone....???? Home brewed.

cheers

Maybe it did, could be that his equipment(tongue) was not up to it..! LOL!

htkaki wrote:He expect it to taste better. LOL...

bro,
Take it easy lah.. don't get so uptight and aggravated!
No, I am not picking up a fight.. its a waste of time especially with you and thats a compliment!

This is the way things are.. some if not most people don't see things we see eventhough the facts are staring them right into their face!
Life as we know it, is full of choices, not necessarily the right ones.
The way I see it, its their time, money and logic that they pursue what they wanted to acquire, part of the 'fun' in learning process.. It may lead to something or may be nothing but who cares??? Its their fun!

Here. You throw this line to me once, it's time for you to 'swallow' your own words,

"No one's putting a gun to your head and forcing you to read this thread,
right ?"

You have a great day ahead..!

mugenfoo wrote:This is not splashing cold water. DIY is fine .... but some good common sense should be put in place. Not to the point of scavenging for something thats made up to be so "rare" and "hard to find" of some out-of-production item.
This is really like pushing the luck and jacking up the value of some otherwise plain vanilla item ....
Like .. " Ohh... i got this oh-so-special old edition MK plug, cannot buy already lor! New ones don't sound so good!".

C'mon ... how much lamer can this get ?

The point is this, there is an ocean of choices for DIY items out there. Who knows, maybe some Made-in-Malaysia unknown plug may turn out sounding better than that "rare MK plug". All these hype for nothing.

Or just be adventurous and get that RM50 16Amp plug + wall socket. Up-spec it and see how it sounds. Doesn't cost a bomb and adds a totally new twist of element into all this DIY dabbling.

jazzy939 wrote:bro,
Take it easy lah.. don't get so uptight and aggravated!
No, I am not picking up a fight.. its a waste of time especially with you and thats a compliment!

This is the way things are.. some if not most people don't see things we see eventhough the facts are staring them right into their face!
Life as we know it, is full of choices, not necessarily the right ones.
The way I see it, its their time, money and logic that they pursue what they wanted to acquire, part of the 'fun' in learning process.. It may lead to something or may be nothing but who cares??? Its their fun!

Here. You throw this line to me once, it's time for you to 'swallow' your own words,

"No one's putting a gun to your head and forcing you to read this thread,
right ?"

You have a great day ahead..!

I TOTALLY don't get what you're trying to say here ....

What he is trying to say.....

Remember one of my favourite jokes ?

"Don't want to listen ? Don't want to waste my time then"
"Because"
"What I know that you don't, well it sure doesn't hurt me !".

Not meant to target anyone of course !! Just joking around...