Yes I suppose I am.
I don't see how the box can act as an earth as it isn't big enough. Actually now I think about it we already had this discussion the other day...
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All these 'grounding boxes' have a connection point, or points, in common, being the Ground Plane / Zero Volt rail / Signal earth or whatever you like to refer to it as.
Just because a large fill of copper on a pcb, for instance, is put there to act as the reference for signals and supply rails and is often referred to as the zero volt rail / plane, doesn't mean there are no currents (signals/pollutants) flowing in/across it.
One can surmise that these pollutants can come from many sources as we are talking about low levels. If the levels were high then I suggest they would be heard as hum or noise or smearing of the sound at normal listening levels.
These pollutants probably include clock or switching noise in digital equipment, residual power supply noise, protective earth conducted noise and a wide range of radio frequency interference in all equipment.
The big question for everyone is how is all this crud 'attracted' to a grounding box. I'm sorry to say but I don't have an explanation, but given the wide bandwidth I know that the materials used are very important.
If and when I can come up with a scientific explanation I will share it on here.
So its affectively a bandpass filter, attracting specific groups of frequencies [noise] out of the 0 volt line, or groundplane of each piece of equipment, and then doing what with them ? releasing them into the air ??? or absorbing them within the secret mix of materials in the box ?
Trust me, if it has an insidiously negative effect on the music [and that doesn't mean an immediately noticeable detrimental one], and your ears are any good, it'll creep up on you through time and become obvious... Usually when you find yourself not listening to or enjoying music, as much as before the 'box' (or whatever) went in.
It's very easy, on first listening of anything you're told, or expect to give an improvement, to believe that's the case when you hear it [expectation bias]. That's why the *only* subjective way of properly assessing for these things is to install it and live with it for two weeks, or so, and get used to what it does in your system, musically.
Then take it out, and with a familiar piece of music, listen again and decide if what you're hearing at that point is better or worse. If something is producing a *genuine* (not imagined) beneficial effect, it will usually pass that crucial test;)
That's what I do with all these types of things, and cables.
Marco.
Hi Mike,
Indeed, but for curiosity purposes only. What could it possibly prove, or would one be able to learn, other than the grounding box in question (arguably) works in your system? It won't prove that it's going to work in his, as the operating conditions will be different...
Is this chap near you, and if so, is there a possibility of taking the box round to his place, and installing it in his system afterwards, and having another listen there? That would make for a far more interesting [and valid] write-up:)
Marco.
Thinking about it in a different way; if it works by frequency selection, then it could easily also be working as a frequency transmitter, which picks up RFI from the air [by acting as an aerial] and imposing those frequencies on the 0 volt line, causing some form of crude nulling of other frequencies present on the 0 volt line ?
If you actually read the review - link posted in post 269 - it does mention converting the 'noise' into heat