The bad news is that The Cable Company is waiting for a shipment from GutWire. They say it will be 9-12 days before I get it 😢
The good news is, my system already sounds great 😀 I recently got some RCA shorting plugs for the unused inputs on my pre. They definitely lowered the noise floor, and made a nice improvement. I do wonder if they are already taking care of some of the noise that the ground cable would otherwise?
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It's on its way, supposed to be here tomorrow. Really looking forward to getting this into my system and hearing what it does.
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Got it today. Initial results after plugging it into my pre are very encouraging. More transparency, resolution and sense of space. Musical details and textures are more apparent. Pretty much in line with the reviews. I'm looking forward to it being fully broken in.
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lalitk,
The Purifiers sound interesting, especially at the price. I look forward to your report on them.
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I am trying very hard to be objective and not rave about this cable. To not say something like: “The reviews nailed it, JUST GET ONE!”.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program...
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Yes, definitely. My experience so far agrees with the reviews. The areas where I hear improvement read like the proverbial audiophile checklist (transparency, resolution, texture, sense of space & air, palpability, dynamics, musicality, involvement etc.). It still has that bit of brightness, or glare, that I’ve learned to expect during break-in, but pretty much everything else has improved quite significantly.
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I'm not sure if my Ultimate Ground has fully broken/settled in yet, but the break in brightness is gone, and my system is sounding amazing. Realism, musical involvement and enjoyment have been raised to a new level.
Prior to adding it, I had already taken extensive measures to deal with various types of noise. Most recently I put RCA shorting plugs on all the unused inputs on my pre. This made another very nice improvement. I was wondering how much further could the Ultimate Ground lower the noise floor? The answer is, “Quite a bit”.
One note: the Ultimate is definitely in the stiffer “garden hose” category of cables (although the section close to the RCA end is narrower). You will need some space behind the component to fit it. If this is a concern, you may want to consider going with the Perfect. The standard length is 6’.
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Wonder why jaybe's post was removed? Nothing offensive, or against the rules, that I could see.
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Yes, they are also called terminators, or termination plugs. I use one on the SPDIF out of my CD transport and the BNC input of DAC. They made a difference (at least in my system). The nice thing is they are fairly cheap. As far as the RCAs, make sure they are actual shorting plugs, with a resistor, not just caps, like these: https://www.hificollective.co.uk/accessories/rca-shorting-plugs.html |
Apparently it needed a little more break in. The sound opened up further today, and I am one happy camper 😁
The Ultimate has taken my system, which I was already very happy with, to the next level. If you haven't already implemented a grounding solution, you might want to see if it does the same for yours.
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You know the audiophile cliche about hearing things you never heard before in familiar recordings? Well... |
I’m loving what I’m hearing with the UG in my system. The bass is tighter, cleaner, has more texture, and is more impactful. The tone of instruments and voices are more realistic. There is more air around them, and the space they are performing in is easily heard. PRAT and dynamics are also nicely improved. There is a greater sense of ease, which allows me to relax into, and enjoy, the music more.
I am now convinced that dealing with noise in the signal ground is essential, if you want to hear your system at its best. The UG is one excellent and cost effective way of doing so.
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When I first got the UG, I briefly tried plugging it into the unused SPDIF output of my CEC TL-5 CD Transport, to see if it would make any difference there. I believe I heard an improvement. With the excellent results on my preamp, I decided to order another one for the CEC. Looking forward to hearing what it does.
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I suspect the Ultimate offers more benefit, but the Groundhog may be a good way to try out the concept at a minimal cost.
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If anyone wants to try something like the Ultimate or Perfect Ground, on the cheap ($50), I found the iFi Groundhog. https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-groundhog/It has an RCA on one end, and a female IEC connector on the other, with only the grounds connected. That way, you can use whatever spare IEC power cable you have lying around to connect to the wall. |
Got the second UG for my CD Transport today, and ran it from the unused SPDIF output to the wall. I noticed increased transparency, palpability, and a greater sense of ease, right off the bat. There is just a slight bit of haze (not unpleasant), that I suspect will disappear as it breaks in. One of my favorite songs, “Bad” off of my Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc II CD of U2's The Unforgettable Fire, sounds amazing.
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a25105,
Hard to say for sure until it’s fully broken in, but I think the UG on the SPDIF is going to make at least as much improvement as the one on my pre. It needs 50-100 hours before it really opens up and reaches it full potential. It's worth the wait, though.
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joecasey,
How long did you leave the cable(s) in your system? In my experience, cables (of any type) can sound like what you’re describing during the initial break-in period. I find that when you first put them in, they give you a little taste of what they will sound like after they are broken in. Then, things get strange, and the sound can vary all over the place, until they finally settle in.
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The second UG on The SPDIF output of my CD transport has definitely made further improvements. The sound of voices and instruments is weightier, more solid. Individual lines are easier to follow in complex music. Performances are more fleshed out, more real. Very nice!
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You're very welcome 🙂 Others here have done the same for me, so I'm paying it forward.
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On the RCA end of the UG, you want to treat the collar (which is the ground) not the center pin, and you only need to treat the third (ground) pin of the AC plug.
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