Entreq and Innuos?

This is a timely topic for me.  I have my three Innuos boxes (network switch, streamer/server, USB reclocker) plugged into my Torus RM20 which is plugged into a dedicated 20A circuit.  My Diablo 300 is plugged directly into a second dedicated 20A circuit.  However I found that when I instead connect the U

Innuos USB reclocker to a third shared household circuit, I get better bass and better dynamics, and a deeper soundstage.  My other Innuos boxes sound best plugged into the Torus.

I contacted Innuos and Nuno Vitorino responded.  His theory is that I have a grounding issue.  He said the USB reclocker does something the other Innuos boxes don’t do - it connects to both dedicated circuits via USB - the Innuos player and the Diablo DAC module.  He suggested trying a ground box.

I’ve never heard of the Entreq boxes.  Apologies for my ignorance but how do you connect them to the Innuos boxes when the Innuos boxes have not ground terminals?  My Torus and my Diablo both have ground terminals however.  

Ah, just realized these boxes are not what I thought they were. What I need is some sort of device to link my grounds of my two dedicated circuits.  But these Entrq boxes are also intriguing!

@lollipopguild , yes you are right, my PhoenixUSB sounds best plugged directly into the wall on a circuit that is not used by any other gear. And the rest of my Innuos gear absolutely sounds best when connected to the Torus.

When the PhoenixUSB is plugged into the Torus, “bright” is one way to describe the effect but it wouldn’t fully describe what happens to the sound. Weight and bass goes away, the sound is smaller in scale, and there is less air around instruments and vocals. The midrange also is closer to you.

Interestingly my Zenith produces a more full and rich sound when connected to the Torus. Sound becomes thinner when connecting it to the wall.

Nuno at Innuos said ideally all my Innuos gear would be on one circuit. He could only speculate that the reason why the PhoenixUSB is behaving differently from the other devices is that it’s the only device that has connections to two different circuits with the two USB cables.

I told him I was concerned that while I currently have a workaround that sounds good, I was worried that this workaround wouldn’t be available for when I try the Pulsar network streamer which has a reclocker inside it.  I could only plug it in the Torus or the wall, and I wouldn’t have the ability to connect the player to the Torus and the reclocker to the wall like I currently do.  
 

Will try the demo Pulsar that Innuos is coordinating sending to my local HiFi shop and see…  

Well, we had already talked about using grounding devices like the Nordost QCore.  He said he these have definitely made positive differences in people’s systems.  My issue with that approach is that I think it only makes sense if you don’t use a conditioner of any kind.  Otherwise you end up with distributors plugged into distributors (as the QCore is a distributor).

Also I don’t want to bug the guy too much, he’s got a company to run!  
 

As an aside I did just now try connecting a 14AWG wire between my Torus and my Gryphon amp, meaning all grounds should be bonded and common.  The negative effects of the PhoenixUSB plugged into the Torus still persisted.  That aside, I am not quite sure if I detected the slightest improvement with grit and firmness of the sound.  Could be my imagination, but I will leave the ground connection in place!

So I think my only hope is that the Pulsar demo that is incoming for some reason doesn’t have the same behaviour when connected to the Torus.  Otherwise I’ll be sticking with my current setup with the PhoenixUSB connected to the wall, which frankly I can happily live with.