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Both mentioned the more vibrant colors. The players’ jerseys, especially Chicago’s, looked fantastic. The red really stood out and the reddish-brown, green, white and black highlights on the crest were more defined and natural. My keen-eared spouse and son also picked up on the improved sonics; "smoother, clearer and not as bright or hard on my ears as before. Voices are clearer and stand out more". They both looked at the components on our shelf trying to figure out what was different. They even looked at the cabling. I eventually pointed to the red outlet behind the right speaker.
"That’s all you changed?" "Yep, that’s it."


I then explained that this wasn’t just an ordinary outlet but one designed specifically to improve the AC feeding audio/video equipment. Our TV system is hardly state of the art but the whole family was truly surprised and impressed with the improvements offered by the Z Duplex Super. Finally, a component the entire household could enjoy. Even the missus was okay with the price. As I am sure most readers can attest to, maintaining good spousal relations in this hobby can be challenging. While you might spend the next three weeks on the couch for that $10,000 preamp you thought you could slip in unnoticed, I doubt the same would happen with a $200 outlet.

Having compared the aR1p and Duplex Super in my audio system, I tried the same with our TV system. Luckily, the outlets in our room are on two different circuits, therefore I could keep the parallel filtering of the Duplex from skewing the results of my little A/B test. Interestingly, while I cottoned to the aR1p in my audio system, I easily preferred the Duplex in picture quality. Colors, image definition and depth were clearly superior with the MIT outlet. How could this be? If I thought the aR1p superior in my audio system, I should have preferred it in our TV room too. I think the answer lies in the subjective nature of reviewing. We mostly rely on what our senses tell us rather than what measures better. We all bring our experiences, biases and preferences to the table to affect our perceptions. It could very well be that the Duplex has measurably superior noise reduction capabilities than the aR1p yet the latter better met my own set of sonic preferences. You may find the reverse.

Whether used in audio or video applications, recommending the MIT Z Duplex Super is a no brainer as they say. Ideally one would replace all outlets feeding an AV system with Z Duplex Supers and possibly add a more capable line conditioning unit such as MIT’s Z Powerbar and one or more of MIT’s AC cables. However, for those on a budget, $200 for decent protection and filtering is a sweet deal. And if that is still too steep, MIT offers a less expensive albeit less effective outlet for $99. If you are like me and have a relatively simple system run off a single wall outlet with acceptable local power mains quality, one Z Duplex might be all you need. Add a decent power strip (or better yet, build your own) and be done. Regardless of application, the Z Duplex Super is definitely worth considering.

Quality of packing: Excellent.
Reusability of packing: Several times.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Quality of owner's manual: Simple and straightforward.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect.
Website comments: Excellent. Plenty of info including patent information. Good pictures. Updated regularly. Check out MIT’s white paper on powerline noise and this excellent U.S. Government paper on power factor correction
Human interactions: Professional and friendly.
Warranty: One year parts & labor.
Pricing: Awesome..
Final comments & suggestions: If you are uncomfortable messing with your house wiring; call a licensed electrician.


Manufacturer’s reply:
Hello Paul,
It's always good to see what others have to say when they are left alone with new MIT products. I certainly appreciate your time and thoughtful reporting. You make an interesting distinction between the MIT Z Duplex Super and the Audience aR1p; (you state that you preferred the sound of the aR1p). However, you later found by installing the filter on a video monitor that the video had improved by a surprising degree when powered by the MIT Z Duplex Super unit.


In the world of audio versus video, people will sometimes prefer a bit of noise or grunge if you will, to create a "jagged" leading edge to the transients. It gives the sound a little "zip" for lack of better terms. Others, like recording engineers or musicians, would "fight to the death" for a drop in the noise floor and a smooth and natural leading edge that can be easily heard, recorded, and reproduced. Few would disagree that audio is a subjective hobby and personal tastes will vary, but a video presentation is in many ways an eye test. Less noise = better picture. This video test makes a salient point that proves the superiority of the MIT parallel filter over notch filters or baluns in terms of noise elimination and Power Factor Correction. (PFC works to maintain the ideal phase angle for converting voltage to working power which is becoming more of a green issue these days.) For an example, if you are the last consumer on your street for power service, the utility sets the PFC ideally for you, the end. If you are anywhere else in between, phase angles are going to be all over the place. Either you get close to the source with reduced opportunity for induced noise at the sacrifice of bad power factor; or you get perfect power factor at the sacrifice of increased field-coupled RFI and EMI, ot to mention all of the line-coupled spikes and brown-outs that being on a grid has to offer. Tough choice!

Once again, thanks.
Kent D. Loughlin
V.P. MitCables brand and CVTL Inc.

MIT Cables website