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My results with stainless steel outlet plate cover.

I just finished a five-way comparison of outlet cover plates (on 2-gang metal box):

1. no outlet plate (old standard);
2. magnetic SS outlet plate with Nylon screws (verified not grounded with ohmmeter);
3. same, but with one steel screw to ground it;
4. same as 3. with magnets stuck to outside of plate;
5. High-abuse Nylon plate with Nylon screws. Also tested with both 2-gang boxes covered with Nylon plates.

Test CD was Shirley Horn, _You Won't Forget Me_, Verve 847 482-2.

Numbers 1 and 5 were so close I decided to leave the Nylon plates in place.

Number 2 gave an added sense of air and resonance, which led me to test the SS plate for acoustic ringing. It rings like a bell with a pure, sweet, high sustained tone, and a lot of atonal immediate crash like a cymbal. With this thing vibrating near the outlet and not grounded, it is acting like a dynamo and converting acoustic vibration into electrical noise within the power circuit and/or safety earth.

Numbers 3 and 4 dulled the sound compared to number 1: not in the sense of lost treble, but in a lack of midrange presence. With my system tuned up, I can hear Shirley smile as she sings, "...should there be eyes like [:)]yours..." near the beginning of track 12, "You Stepped Out of a Dream." This sense of a smile was diminished with treatments 3 and 4. The piano tone was also less appealing in general. Her voice seemed less cohesive over her range.

Thus, my results are similar to yours with respect to grounded versus floating plates, but I believe the apparent improvement with the ungrounded plate is due to euphonic coloration rather than increased detail retrieval. You can confirm this by listening carefully with the ungrounded plate in place, and then with it removed. Other inmates have observed improved performance with no plate at all on the outlet, but clearly this is not safe for most people and violates code. In my case, anyone who approached the uncovered outlets would probably have died from tripping over the equipment and cables before reaching the outlets, so I was not concerned about the safety aspect. The Nylon plates' appearance matches the other outlets in the room, so I will leave them on.

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