Grounding boxes - The real deal

[Marco]

What on earth are you using, time for a
bigger screen, or perhaps you need to turn down the zoom or go to spec savers

LOL... Nope, I've got a Mac Pro laptop with a 15" screen, which is perfectly adequate for viewing most things. However, when I click on that link, about a quarter of the screen is full of ads, crammed into the middle of which (if you scroll down) are the words "Interesting ground box project", which details what you're referring to.

The page is extremely untidy looking, to the extent that I'd normally pay no attention to what was written of any importance, as the plethora of bullshit ads completely distracts from it!! Anyway, I'll read the article later

Marco.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Has anyone actually gone to the trouble of making one of these, Oli weren't you supposed to be having a go?

[NRG]

I paid Tony a visit today, mainly to have a listen to his PWM amps (more on that later in the relevant thread), but also to see/listen for myself what these grounding boxes can do. Essentially there is a step change/improvement in SQ. All what has been said applies - improved ability to 'see' into the music, greater definition, more space around the instruments/voices, widened soundstage. To paraphrase Sugden, the music was rescued.

Tony amply demonstrated the effect by disconnecting all cables from the ground box and, leaving preamp levels unchanged, slowly connected one-by-one the various cables (e.g. from the DAC, preamp etc) back to the grounding box. Each step there was an appreciable improvement to the SQ. My ears did not deceive me and even though there was no blind AB (or ABX) testing I feel I'm sufficiently confident of not letting expectation bias creep in.

I don't have sufficient technical knowledge to explain 'why' it is happening. I'll leave that to others to do. However I feel sure there is some good science underlying it and not simply foo.

Thanks Tony for being so generous with your time.

Cool, it works in his system. Now take it to your system and try again.

[NRG]

Has anyone actually gone to the trouble of making one of these, Oli weren't you supposed to be having a go?

Maybe I’m a cynic....Oli found something on the internet that that could be the secret sauce. We may have a Bigbottle version soon.

[Wakefield Turntables]

It's not difficult to make one of these once you've had a look at the various "keywords".

[montesquieu]

I paid Tony a visit today, mainly to have a listen to his PWM amps (more on that later in the relevant thread), but also to see/listen for myself what these grounding boxes can do. Essentially there is a step change/improvement in SQ. All what has been said applies - improved ability to 'see' into the music, greater definition, more space around the instruments/voices, widened soundstage. To paraphrase Sugden, the music was rescued.

Tony amply demonstrated the effect by disconnecting all cables from the ground box and, leaving preamp levels unchanged, slowly connected one-by-one the various cables (e.g. from the DAC, preamp etc) back to the grounding box. Each step there was an appreciable improvement to the SQ. My ears did not deceive me and even though there was no blind AB (or ABX) testing I feel I'm sufficiently confident of not letting expectation bias creep in.

I don't have sufficient technical knowledge to explain 'why' it is happening. I'll leave that to others to do. However I feel sure there is some good science underlying it and not simply foo.

Thanks Tony for being so generous with your time.

Looking forward to your Class D thoughts Edward.

Well that's Edward and Alan both convinced ... enough to suggest a home trial could be interesting.

[Edward]

Cool, it works in his system. Now take it to your system and try again.

Yeah Tony said he would lend me one, hopefully soon when he has one spare. He had several there but all spoken for. I need to drop off his amp in a week so hopefully then. But let's see.

[Joe]

I dunno. How would one ascertain that one 'needed' a grounding box? Surmise (based on extremely limited technical understanding) that all these SMPS thingies were injecting inaudible but deleterious 'noise' into the system? Vague discontent with how the system was sounding, and an associated guess that some sort of gizmo might cure this? (Even though other assorted gizmos have failed to do so).

It all seems a bit 'audiophilia nervosa' to me.

[Macca]

I dunno. How would one ascertain that one 'needed' a grounding box? Surmise (based on extremely limited technical understanding) that all these SMPS thingies were injecting inaudible but deleterious 'noise' into the system? Vague discontent with how the system was sounding, and an associated guess that some sort of gizmo might cure this? (Even though other assorted gizmos have failed to do so).

It all seems a bit 'audiophilia nervosa' to me.

People like to try to tune up their systems same as they might tune up their cars, seeing if they can get a few extra horsepower. It's part of the hobby. Don't see what the problem is with that.

[Joe]

People like to try to tune up their systems same as they might tune up their cars, seeing if they can get a few extra horsepower. It's part of the hobby. Don't see what the problem is with that.

I didn't say it was a problem. But if you want to tune up your car, presumably you'd have some idea where to start, and what your tuning up would achieve. Tuning up hifi systems often seems to consist of chucking money at accessories in the hope of eliminating problems that either don't actually exist, or which are caused by something that such accessories can't cure (eg room size/shape).