That's correct. However, no one has what Ground Control provides, any more. We used to, back when we had poured ground planes underneath our point to point circuitry. But, those were not high resolution systems, nor low distortion systems. They just had this wonderful "ease" and naturalness, due to the completeness of their back wave.
Nowadays, you must have a fully differential high resolution system, to get that natural characteristic. Otherwise, the strip ground PCB format we are forced to, due to the enormous increase in air borne EMF, forces a low resolution to the signal pulled back through the various loads in our audio systems. This Ground Control item is just there to support retention of this back half of every wave form information that is otherwise lost to noise. And since this loss mechanism is true at almost all levels of audio equipment, Ground Control is just about your only help.
You can try it out on the cheap too. Take a 2 foot length of zip cord, split it into two pieces. Then strip about 2 inches of plastic from both of the ends of each piece. Make a loop and twist one end of each individual piece to the other end of that same piece, making two separate shorted loops of wire. You can flatten the loop out if you like.
Then attach the twisted ends of one loop to one speaker, ground / return or black lug connection point. Then do the same on the other side.
If you notice any change, across about a three hour time span, then your system will respond very well to the much more carefully tuned Ground Controls. Don't expect these loops to provide the holy grail, they have about a 90% chance of changing the sound quality. Could be better, could be worse. The Ground Controls are designed to be better.
Bud |
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. |
Thanks Ozzie. One more piece of the puzzle in place.
Bud |
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 dont know if its 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. |
Okay, I finally got my hands on a used pair of the
Walker Reference HDL's and I have to agree with
Oddeophile all the way. They are amazing and are
a great synergy with the GC's. I also have the
Detail Magnifiers and there is no comparison. However,
the Detail Magnifiers aren't bad for the price.
If you can find a used pair i would advise to grab
them because they are crazy expensive new.
I also have the same experience with the rca GC's as
Ozzy. On my Dac the Reference RCA needs to be unplugged
often or else the sound stage will shrink. I use the
reference when i am in the mood for more detail and spread
out sound stage. However, in my system the stage shrinks
after about 24 to 48 hours and then they need to be unplugged. For the regular rca gc's maybe once a month. |
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. |
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Ozzie,
The only light I can shed on the long term need to unplug Ground Controls, is that I do not need to. The catch here is that my system is not on 24/7. In fact, it is rarely on for more than 4 hours at a time, perhaps 3 times a week. So, my GC's are certainly discharging.
I will say that it takes a full CD before I have wall to wall floor to ceiling and 30 miles deep sound staging from the system. After that, the imaging and tonality remain stable for as long as I care to play music. But that CD worth of sound field expansion happens every time I turn the system on. I had been ascribing it to the tube power amp getting up to temperature and all of the electrical fields becoming stable, as that has always been the case with this Audio Prism Debut amp I have. Perhaps the GC's are also contributing and I just don't notice a difference. It has been a number of years since I mounted these GC's, so my memory for such trivia must be considered suspect indeed.
Bud |
Its said that mixing the Reference GCs with the regular GCs improves the soundstage. So my question is, is it possible to buy GCs that are terminated with Banana Plugs that are not terminated with the Reference Banana Plugs? |
Yes, you can obtain a "Standard" Banana plug. My personal recommendation is the locking style from Radio Shack. You need to place a special order for them as we do not ordinarily provide this. You can contact me through Audiogon directly or google AP Labs (AudioPrism) and email Byron.
Bud |
I had a little grounding issue between my VPI turntable and my tubed phono pre.I decided to try the spade ground control.I took them off my amp and put one on the ground at the phono stage and the other at the ground on the vpi table.
I already had a ground going from the TT to the phono stage.I was surprised that the ground control helped the grounding issue,but also added more clarity as well.
I will be leaving them on the phono stage and VPI turntable and ordering another set for the amp again. |
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
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@ozzy
"But I am not going to try something this iffy for $150 plus shipping costs and then try to get a refund."
A lot has changed in 9 years! 😂 |
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
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