Did anyone experience Audio Prism's Ground Control

Budp, I thought it was important for me to post since I was so negative previously on this post.
I dont have any idea why a short little thing like these Ground controls work, but they do.

Review of the Audioprism Ground Controls.

First, the Standard Ground Controls.
Spades

First set
Well I finally have one of the Ground Control spades installed for about a week.
I will admit that these little things don’t look like much but they do provide a marked sound quality improvement in my system.
Music seems to be much more relaxed or natural sounding. The soundstage is deeper and wider. Vocals are very nice and defined closer to the real thing.
I liked the Ground Control device so much that I ordered another set for my Bi-wire speakers.

Second Set
Now that I have installed the second set of Ground Controls on my biwire speakers (Andra 2), I can’t believe how clear and defined the bass has become!
This product should be standard with all speakers!
How can I invest?

Third Set
I just got my third set of the Ground control units. I now have 2 sets on my biwire speakers and a set at my Amp end.
I can’t believe how much improvement these little items have made in my musical enjoyment.
The bass has become much stronger and defined. So much so that I had to turn down the setting on my JL Audio sub. Cymbals crash and shimmer much more like real cymbals. Vocals sound much more relaxed and real.And the soundstage is very deep and wide. I can’t say enough good things about these little Ground Controls.
The ONLY negative is they could be cheaper for what they appear to be made of. But sound quality wise the cost is cheap compared to the sound quality improvement.
Way better than HIFI fuses. Way better than most interconnect and power cable upgrades.

The Reference Ground Controls
Spades

The Reference GC’s cost quite a bit more than the standard GC’s and they use the premium Shadow connectors. I first tried the Reference spades on my Andra 2’s on the upper part of the Bi-wire setup. On the bottom I was still using the standard GC’s.
The music lost the wide soundstage. Also,the treble and bass became much weaker. Not a good sound.It was almost like an impedance mismatch. I then tried the Reference spades at the Amplifier end with the standard GC’s now on both the top and bottom on my Andra 2 speakers. The soundstage was a little better but defiantly not as good as when I used all standard GC’s.
So, off the Reference spades went banished forever from my 2 channel setup.
I then tried them on my Home Theater setup on some B&W speakers. Now there, the Reference spades sounded great! Very strange indeed.

Ground Control Reference
RCA’s
So, I then tried the GC Reference RCA’s. I first inserted one in one of my two Cary 306 Pro CD Player outlets and let it play for several days. This time nothing bad happened to the sound, but nothing good happened either.I noticed no change with the Reference Ground Control plugged into the outlet on my Cary CD Player.I then tried that Reference GC’s into one of my unused inputs on my Pass Labs Preamp.
Eureka! There was added resolution and a livelier presentation. Still strange indeed.

Summary

So, there is my experience with these small strange items. When they click with the equipment you will think you have upgraded to an ultra $$$ System. The Music becomes lively, toe tapping and makes Music sound as real as I have ever heard on any system.
The Ground Control Reference units though costlier are more a hit or miss on potential improvements.
Of Course everyone's system is different so the GC's may perform differently, but definatly worth a try to see if the magic they can provide will be created in your system.

Well next, I will be adding a standard GC RCA to either (again) to my Cary CD player or perhaps side by side in my Pass Labs Preamp input where the Reference RCA is already inserted. I may even try it into my Pass Labs Amplifier since I am only using the balanced inputs and the RCA inputs are unused (just as with my Cary and Preamp).

Associated gear
Cary 306 Pro CD Player
Pass Labs XP-10 Preamp
Pass Labs X350.5 Amp
Eggleston Works Andra 2 Speaker
Synergistic Research Powercell, Apex Interconnects, and speaker cables

Scottmac62 , I found I believe, the resistors and caps that Walker is using. Albeit they will not be cyroed.
Now to get some silver wire and spades.
Nice DIY project.

I tried really hard to get a Demo set from the Manufacture but best he would say is to buy one from a Mail Order site and if it didn’t do anything try to get a refund.
Seems no real dealers carry it.
Probably a piece of junk if the manufacturer is so paranoid.

I have tried to find out some info on these items to no avail. Does anyone know where I can demo these?

I think they were more like $170 for the pair

Budp, Dont you need to disclose that you are a dealer for Audioprism???

Budp, Thanks for the response.
I've got to say the discription you have provided sounds a little like hocus pocus.
But, the tweaker that I am ,I would have loved to been able to try it and if it had merit I would have bought it.
But I am not going to try something this iffy for $150 plus shipping costs and then try to get a refund.

The 6 Moons review didnt sound too positive to me. One reviewer ( below) saw no merit to it the other (below at bottom) thought it maybe made a improvement.

First Reviewer
"After 'breaking them in' for the equivalent of 40 hours or so, I experimented with the devices in three systems in three different venues; with three different speakers, two different preamps, two different amps, one integrated, one receiver and one CD player. Over a series of sighted A/B listening sessions, I sometimes reckoned that I heard a touch more body and low-level dynamics in the mids. But the differences weren’t tenacious enough to trust. In unsighted—not double-blind—A/Bs it became clear that I could not dependably identify when they were in or out. The same held true over periods of long-term listening. Since I was unable to reliably detect the possible differences in or out of the various contexts explored, I have to say that the Ground Control devices aren’t for me. Your mileage may vary."

Second Reviwer
"I will go so far as predicting that some audiophiles might not hear any improvements either due to their systems not revealing them or their lack of sensitivity to the particular sonic benefits the GC devices convey."

Still for $150 bucks plus shipping it still sounds like a "maybe/iffy" product.

Well did you also state this???

"How large is the effect of these devices? More than I hear from the Isoclean fuses but not as much as an interconnect or speaker cable upgrade. However, what the GC devices do may be unattainable from a cable upgrade. I have rarely, if ever heard this combination of virtues from a cable upgrade."

Mesh50, I really wanted to demo them. But unlike for you a professional reviewer the Manufacturer does not support demos. There response to me was to purchase them and if I did not think they did anything try to get a refund.
I have bought items on those terms only to have a real hassle getting my money back

Well, I finally bought a used pair of the Ground Control spades. Man are they really small.
Just hooked them up and I will give them a try for while.
i will report back in about a week.

I dont think so. He said he had an extra pair.

Well I finally had one of the Ground Controls for about a week.
I will admit that these little things dont look like much but they do provide a marked sound quality, improvemnent in my system.
Music seems to be much more relaxed or natural and the soundstage is deeper and wider. Vocals are very nice and defined closer to the real thing.
I liked the Ground Control device so much that I ordered another for my Bi-wire speakers.

Now, I am using the Synergistic Research Apex Bi wire speaker cables and these have the active shielding. Perhaps because of this the Ground Control complements the cables.
I duuno, but they are worth the price of the improvement in sound even though they dont look like much.
Highly recommended

Almarg, I am using the ground Control spades at my speaker ends.

Now that I have installed the second set of Ground Controls on my biwire speakers (Andra 2), I cant believe how clear and defined the bass has become!
This product should be standard with all speakers!
How can I invest ?

Hjs, Did you find much improvement with the RCA version?

Budp, So would you recomend plugging the RCA Ground Control into my Pass Labs Preamp or my Cary 306 Pro CD player?

Hjs, Thanks for the clarification. Are you using the Ground Control spades at the Amp and the speaker ?

Just got my third set of the Ground control units. I now have 2 sets on my biwire speakers and a set at my Amp end.

I cant believe how much improvement these little items have made in my musical enjoyment.

The bass has become much stronger and defined. So much so that I had to turn down the setting on my JL Audio sub. Cymbals crash and simmer much more like real cymbals. Vocals sound much more relaxed and real.
And the soundstage is very deep and wide.
I cant say enough good things about these little Ground Controls.

The ONLY negative is they could be cheaper for what they appear to be made of. But sound quality wise the cost is cheap compared to the sound quality improvement.
Way better than HIFI fuses. Way better than most interconnect and power cable upgrades.

But I should note that I do have some rather expensive cables in my system.

All in all it could be the sum of all my audio parts.

Moonguy, Yes, I am using the standard Ground Controls. Soon I will be trying the RCA versions.

Well I just posted my Review of the Ground Controls in the standard and the Reference versions in spades and RCA.

Scottmac62, Yes, I now have 3 of the RCA's standards and one of the RCA Reference.
I also just got some new interconnects to demo, so everything is a little mixed up.
But for now what I can tell, the RCA Ground Controls add still more depth and realism. However, they were not plug and play with immediate improvement.
No, these guys needed to be plugged in and played for a couple of days to break in ?
I will very shortly try putting Ref + Standard on the same component and in various locations.
Anyway, I believe the RCA's add to the Spades improvement. So, perhaps the Speaker Ground Controls sort of set up the foundation.

On my SR Powercell, I still like having my Pass Labs Amp plugged into its own dedicated SR Tesla outlet/circuit with a Noise Destroyer also plugged into that outlet.

The Amp sounded pretty good plugged into the SR Powercell. But, I also had many other items (like my Home Theater items) plugged into after overall using only one dedicated outlet/circuit.
But, IMHO, the Amp sounds better with more dynamic's plugged into its own power source.

Just an update.
I now have 4 sets of the Ground Control speaker spades.
One at Amp and two on my Bi-wire speakers and a set on my Supertweeters.

I also have 4 of the RCA's.
One on my CD Player, Preamp, Amp and one of the Reference RCA's that I am still experimenting with.
I have tried it on my LCD TV, and Blue Ray player. Both of these places seemed to improve in picture quality.
I also tried it on my Squeezebox Touch but there it seems to add too much detail.

But, overall there is am improvement and no downside with all of them being used.

Moonguy, Welcome to the strange world of the Audioprism Ground Control's.
You'll be surprised at your first glance as to how small they are.
But, you will be impressed with the sound improvement.

Moonguy, Congrats! Hard to believe that something so small and simple could make such a difference.
Bud sure knew what he was doing.

Just an update.
I have found that using a Reference RCA along with a standard RCA on my Cary 306 Pro CD player provides the best of both of the RCA qualities.
That is, large deep soundstage and precise highly detailed imaging.
In addition to those two RCA ground controls I now have one on my Oppo BP-83SE, one on my LCD and one on my Squeezebox Touch.

Note:
I removed the RCA ground controls from my Preamp and Amp; there they provided little if any value.

I also have the 2 sets of spades of standard ground controls on my Andra 2 Speakers along with a set on my Amp.

On my Home theater speakers, (B&W) I have a couple of sets of the standard spades. Soon to aquire a few more to complete that system.

Bud, I still say you are a Genius!

Oddeophile, I'm thinking that the Ground Control RCA's are best used on front end equipment.
Such as a CD Player,Squeezebox Touch, Blu Ray player and yes a LCD TV.
The TV is a tough one though. I have gone back and forth between the Ref and the standard RCA and still cant decide which is better. Right now I would say the ref. I have it plugged into one of the video composite inputs. But I suppose any input would suffice.
The improvement is a slightly sharper picture with more depth and deeper colors. And of course then the TV Audio is sent through my Multi channel Receiver where that is also improved.

I also own a JL 113 Sub but have never tried a GC on it.
Yet...

Moonguy, I am using the RCA type Ground Controls on my Cary. The Cary has both Balanced and RCA's out. The balanced outputs are sent to my Preamp leaving the RCA's open to be used with the Ground Controls (left and right channel).
I found the Ref RCA to be highly detailed with a somewhat narrower soundstage than the standard RCA. So, using one standard and one Ref RCA provided the wider soundstage with more detail. If I were to use only one RCA on the Cary I would use the standard.
I also prefer the stanadard spades on my speakers.

Oddeophile, The Ref will not limit or reduce the soundstage , but the standard will increase it.
The Ref seem to add more center presence and more detail. I prefer the standards, but that is just me with my equipment.
Sometime though, you should try a set of the standards for your own reference,

I havent tried using the RCA Ref & Standard GC's together on anything but my Cary Pro 306.

Oddeophile, So far, I like the effect with using both the standard and the ref RCA's on my Cary Pro.
But, having both the ref and standard on hand to try in different places is a plus.

Received 3 sets yesterday of the EVS Ground Enhancers.

These look very similar to the Ground Controls except without the spades or bananas. Mine have just a straight wire that I placed into the hole on my speaker spade lugs.

I am using these Ground Enhancers on my Home theater system along with several of the Ground Controls.

Well, immediately I noticed much more presence in the surround channels along with more weight and definition.

Thus far, I consider EVS Ground Enhancers to be the equal in sound improvement to the Audioprism Ground Controls.

Oddeophile, Good thing you did'nt sell your GC's Ref when you were thinking of getting the GE's.

I have only used the GE's on my Home theatere system. Except, I do however have one GC Ref RCA on my surround receiver and it seems to work well there.

My 2 channel system has all standard GC's.
I will state that I had the GC's Ref in both spades and RCA's and they did not sound very good with my system. It was too much upper midrange/treble glare along with a shrunken soundstage.
So, I only use the Standard GC's. I'm thinking that your combo of the GC Ref's + Walker links is what is making the sound connection for you.
Have you tried just the GC ref's without the Walker links?

Anyway, just goes to show that everyones system is different and experiment is the key.

P.S. I also tried Bud's simple 2 foot loop wire trick and it also worked pretty good . About 50% of what the GC's provide.

Oddeophile, Tried to email you. Send me a email

Scottmac62
I am no longer using both the Standard and the Reference RCA GC’s on my Cary. I am now just using the standard on it.
Again, my experience with the GC Reference is that they do not provide a positive quality with my 2 channel system. They seem to constrict the soundstage and increase the upper midrange/lower treble.
The weird thing is the Reference GC's seem to work great with My Home Theater Equipment. For my Home Theater Receiver (Denon 5803) I have the put the GC Reference RCA on one of the 7.1 inputs since I am only using the 5.1 inputs. I also have a Standard RCA on my Oppo BP 83SE unused 7.1 outputs.
So, I guess experiment is the answer

Bud, How about if I try it at the Speaker end?

Well I just tried it . I used some of the Radio Shacks 9V battery clips and soldered them to a RCA. Plugged the RCA into one of the unused RCA inputs on my Amp (I am using the Balanced inputs). First, I tried it with just one RCA and then with 2.

Resultd so far , not as dramatic as I hoped but perhaps more detail and dynamics.
But then I added another one of these to my Dac along side a Ground Control, it seems the soundstage and detail increased.

Have'nt tried it on my speakers yet So, I will experiment further.

Scottmac62, for a way cheaper alternative to the Walker Links, try the Detail Magnifiers.
I just received a set of 4 (Bi-wire speakers).
So far , quite impressed.
See the thread I started about these.

Oddeophile,
The Detail Magnifiers now claim to also use higher grade parts and wire/spades.

Here is from the website.

"Our latest design uses much higher quality parts than the original and sounds much better! It has silver spades, WBT silver solder and solid silver annealed wire with a clear teflon cover as pictured above. What you can't see is the new better 10 section PPFX Multicap and better resistor being used! "

Of course a direct comparison between the Walkers and the Detail Magnifiers would be very useful.
But, there is almost a 6x cost difference in the 2 products.

Bud, On AA there is a thread that states to further improve on the Ground Control idea attach a wire from the negative side of the Amp to a 9 Volt battery negative side only.
Claims are to greatly increase dynamics and increase all the good stuff that the Ground Control does.

Huh???

I've got to try this later today...

Scottmac62 , I did'nt go for the Cyro version of the Detail Magnifiers. Probably because it would have added about 4 weeks to the order. But, I would like to know if it does provide any sonic improvement.

Keep me posted on any difference when you try the Walkers.
I will also look into the your other tweaks.

I no longer see any benefit with the 9V battery idea. The Ground Controls are still wayyy much better. But at least I got to try it for myself.

Scottmac62, I have not unplugged my SR Powercell but I do periodically unplug my Preamp. My Preamp has no on or off switch so it is on 24/7. Sometimes it just seems like the Soundstage has gone flat. Unplugging the Preamp for a few minutes then plugging it back in seems to rest it. I might try unplugging my Powercell, thanks for that tip.

I think you meant to type that the Cyro version is warmer?
My system leans toward the warmer side already. The Detail Magnifiers seem to bring out the bass quality quite nicely.

I don’t know if we will ever hear a fair comparison between the Walkers and the Detail Magnifiers. Because when big $$$ are spent on the Walkers I doubt if anyone would say the Detail Magnifiers are as good or better.

Perhaps if the Walkers had a trial period, I would try them myself.

Getting back to the Ground Controls. It seems the latest buzz is connecting a 9 Volt battery to its negative side only and then attaching that to the negative posts of either spades or RCA.
I have tried it in several places and though it seems to be ok in places I do not have the Ground Controls, they do not add to the Ground Controls enhancement.

Oddeophile, thanks for your comments. You do know that there is a newer version of the Detail magnifiers and they also are said to use higher grade silver parts ?
Is that the version you compared to the Walkers?

On your Blu Ray player, are you saying that you are using the Ref GC's with the Walkers how is that possible?

Bud, I just removed the RCA Ground Controls from my system and the bass and overall sound quality seemed to improve.
I still kept the spade Ground Controls at the speaker and Amp ends.

Is it possible that I had too much of the Ground Control?
Or perhaps there is a need to remove them for a period of time every so often?

Bud, Replugged one of the RCA Ground Controls into my CD/Dac after being unplugged for 24 hours. The sound is back at where it was that originally impressed me.

Based on this I will periodically unplug the RCA Ground Controls, perhaps about once a month.

Well, I thought it was time to summarize my experience with the AudioPrism Ground Controls (GC's).

On my Amp and Preamp.
The RCA GC's didn't sound so great on my Preamp or Amp. On this equipment the GC's produced sort of a closed in sound. I don’t know if it’s specific to my Pass Labs equipment or if the GC's are just not right for all analog equipment.

On my JL Subwoofer.
I recently put a RCA GC on my JL subwoofer. The powered sub gets its signal from one of the 2 outputs on my Pass Preamp.
Again, the overall sound quality suffered and became closed in. When I removed the GC from the subwoofer all was well again.

On my Bolder modded Squeezebox Touch.
Excellent Soundstage imaging and frequency extremes.

On my Cary 306 Pro CD/Dac.
Excellent Soundstage imaging and frequency extremes.

On my Eggleston Works Andra ll speakers.
Excellent, utilizing both GC's spades on the speaker biwire lugs and also a set at the Amp end.

On my Oppo 83 SE.
Excellent, surround quality enhanced and remarkable overall sound quality improvement.

On my Denon 5803 Surround Receiver.
Added + sonics to the already excellent sound quality of the Oppo.

I also noticed that too many RCA ground controls can also degrade the sound. So keep the RCA GC's to one per piece of equipment.

And, every so often ( once a month )remove just the RCA GC's for a day or two. When you replace the RCA's back in there will be a jump in quality. Perhaps this means over time the GC's settle and need to be rested. I really dont know why , only Bud can explain.

Again, these are just my observations YMMV.

So after all this time, I decided to try once again a used pair of the Reference spades for my speakers. 

Its funny because the Ground Control items became all the rage for quite a while then disappeared completely. (including usage by myself). 
I can't remember why I stopped using them and then sold them. Anyone else comment on this ?
Anyway, I decided to try them again on my speakers I should have them later this week.

ozzy

jay23,

Yeah, I agree. Still I wonder about the attraction for these devices.
Has everyone stopped using them or are there those who still use them?

ozzy