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A New Ground -- Benefits of introducing the Synergistic Research Active Ground Block SE

Dedicated ground solutions are not a novel idea but over the past year it seems everyone has been coming out with their version. For a few months I’ve been thinking about introducing one to my system and had considered Entreq, Telos, Nordost and others. Although I have a bunch of Synergistic Research (SR) kit I had dismissed their older basic ground block as too rinky dink -- however when I heard about the new Active Ground Blocks I thought that could be the way to go. The Active Ground blocks are smallish devices with a mains connection and a plethora of outlets for grounding cables to every component. They incorporate a range of the latest SR UEF tweaks
http://www.synergisticresearch.com/isolation/ground-isolation/active-ground-block-se/

While the blocks alone are quite expensive ($2995) you will also need to lay out for connections to all of your components -- ideally the HD links. In my case as I have two distinct zones in my system I needed two ground blocks and 13 links -- quite an outlay

Question is is it worthwhile? Most certainly yes. The impact of implementing a full grounding solution in my system was one of the most profound changes I’ve experienced. It’s not a change that can be described in the usual audiophile terms of dynamics, frequency response, transparency etc. Instead it’s a shift in the wholeness, the verisimilitude, the gestalt of what you are hearing. Probably this is most obvious in a couple of places. Firstly is in background washes of sound (e.g. classic synth backings, or massed strings, or the whoosh that opens "Private Investigations") -- which now take on a scale, texture and clarity that had previously been completely masked. Secondly in vocals where a whole level of shading, nuance, breathwork, and subtly inflections are now audible. This is not simply more "detail" or a "reduction in the noise floor" it’s as if things which you did not know previously existed are suddenly there, as they had been all along

The effect is enhanced the more things you ground -- obviously all active components but even stands (my GPA stands are conductive so I connect a basic ground link to the bare metal inside the stand posts -- the surface metal is varnished and non conductive).

While I obviously can recommend the SR products I imagine any ground solution will bring similar benefits and would strongly suggest that anyone with a high resolution system explore some form of ground solution

ps For those in the now the music to accompany this review is A New Ground

folkfreak

Showing 3 responses by sleepwalker65

sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
JEA48 asked Atmasphere:

Would you please expand..... What is the reference for the arm ground wire connection to the ground terminal/lug on the phono preamp chassis? 

I guess I always thought it was the DC power supply ground. Isn’t the signal ground also connected there?

Ralph, forgive me for barging into this... the arm ground wire on a turntable is meant to be chassis ground, which must be maintained to the  phono stage chassis, and remain isolated from signal ground, which is usually DC ground in transformerless signal paths. 
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
Atmosphere said:

I did a survey of a number of grounding systems by interviewing the owners and having them do a few tests (as best as I can make out, these were similar to the SR, but none of them were SR units). 

What I found was that in audio systems where a grounding system made an improvement, universally there were also bugs in the way that the associated audio equipment was grounded, which is why the grounding boxes were helping.

My conclusion was that if a grounding box was helping, that was an indication that the associated equipment had design flaws in their grounding implementation. 
As usual Ralph, you make utterly and completely perfect sense. The very notion that equipment ground needs to be implement by some convoluted “active” grounding hokum implicates SR as being a purveyor of fallacious merchandise, and worse, the promulgator of carelessness towards electrical standards and safety. 

The simple test that everyone should conduct for themselves is this: measure the AC voltage between the chassis of each AC powered component and the supply receptacle ground. For equipment that is grounded by a grounded power cord, this reading should be zero. For non-grounded equipment with a non-polarized plug, the reading should be nil with the plug oriented one way - in such equipment, consider replacing the cord set with one with a polarized plug. For non-grounded equipment with a polarized plug, the above voltage reading should be nil. In some cases, it is worth upgrading to a grounded power cord, and connecting the ground to the chassis - only if it is isolated from signal ground. 
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
@folkfreak why do you endorse products that are obviously overstating their technical merits? Why avoid debate and discussion on the very topic that you posted?

The claims made by akiko audio regarding their so-called “phono booster” are nonsensical. There can be no benefit to connecting an empty box
“without using electrical components or active power filtering”
with a single piece of “flexible black wire to the phono stage chassis ground. Yet, for $332, this thing purports:

“Lowering the noise floor in the rendering chain is our speciality. A high noise floor results from contaminated electricity and high frequency radiation. The electrical signal from your record player is especially sensitive to these disturbances. You have consciously chosen for analogue rendering, so of course information from the record groove shouldn’t be polluted with high frequency noise.

We developed the Phono Booster, a device which effectively reduces high frequency noise, to render your music naturally and cleanly. Reducing the high frequency noise leads to a very pleasant music rendition in the audio spectrum. This leaves you able to enjoy your record collection at its finest!


The Akiko Audio Phono Booster: an entirely new device which lowers the noise floor in a unique way, without using electrical components or active power filtering.

On the inside, the Phono Booster consists of two compartments with a clever AA-1425 mix of natural materials joined together with internal wiring. The content is stabilised with special black resin, which properly suppresses microphonic effects. The case is made of thick aluminium and has an input connection at the back.”

Note that this device as admitted by the manufacturer, is just an aluminium box with a single bananna jack, filled with black resin potting. Nothing is inside the resin. It does not connect to signal ground at any point, and therefore is not able to affect it. It cannot affect the so-claimed “contaminated electricity”, as it does not intercept the path of electrical current powering any part of the sound system. This thing does nothing but reduce your disposable income by $332.

I want to openly discuss how this thing can add value. What means of empirical research and measurements did you use to arrive at your conclusions? Running away from the discussion only raises suspicions about the technical validity of these products.

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