Puritan Audio Labs GroundMaster CITY & RouteMaster grounding system

I have the RouteMaster & GroundMaster City combo and love it. I wanted to share something I recently added to it, which has improved things even further.

It’s called the Ground Box Booster, from my friend Krissy Tetrault at Heartsound Audio. It is an unassuming, but weighty, black box with a single 5 way binding post. The contents of the box are proprietary, so I don’t have any info to share about that. It is a passive device, no power cord. You simply wire it into an available port on the RouteMaster (or other similar ground box). At some point I need to get around to trying the Puritan cable that my components are plugged in with, but, for now, I am using wire from some old TARA Labs ICs I had lying around.

Upon adding one to my system, a little more than a month ago, I I heard an increase in clarity, sense of ease, natural detail, and dynamics. Voices and instruments were simply more “real” and emotionally engaging. Shortly after, I wired in another one, these qualities increased even further, and I have been enjoying them ever since.

Disclaimer: Krissy is a friend, and I received these products in exchange for testing them.

Having said that, the Ground Box Booster has been a real game changer in my system, and I don’t anticipate it ever leaving.

A couple months ago I inserted the GroundMaster CITY into my main system and would like to share my thoughts. I have a PSM156 so this was an inexpensive and easy upgrade.  I wasn’t expecting much but boy was I surprised!  It’s very easy to test - just unplug the cable from the port on the PSM156 and listen.  What I (and my wife who could care less about it) noticed, was an immediate bump in clarity.  The music got slightly louder with increased clarity, tighter bass and better space.  At $250 this is probably the best bang for the dollar upgrade I have ever made.  Considering I have a dedicated circuit, quality PCs and a PSM156, it was hard to believe that there was still that much noise on my lines. 

I was so impressed I immediately ordered the GroundMaster CITY and RouteMaster to ground my signal-based components.  I plugged the RouteMaster cables into my DAC, pre and amp.  The result?  Nothing.  I could not hear any discernible difference.  I tried the RouteMaster with and without the PSM156 connected to the GroundMaster CITY.  There may have been a very slight uptick in SQ when the PSM156 was disconnected from the GroundMaster CITY but it wasn’t consistent.

Maybe I need a more resolving system for the GroundMaster CITY/RouteMaster combo to make a difference?  Or maybe draining the noise from the mains filter takes care of 95% of the problem? There probably isn’t a lot of noise being generated by quality electronics downstream of the mains filter. However, if you don’t have a PSM156 with a convenient port to ground the chassis, maybe the GroundMaster CITY/RouteMaster combo is the next best thing?

I currently have the GroundMaster CITY/RouteMaster combo on my second system but it does not have enough resolution to show a difference.  I will probably be selling the  GroundMaster CITY/RouteMaster combo but will keep the GroundMaster CITY connected to my PSM156  forever.  As a matter of fact if I were to order a PSM156/136 in the future I would just add the GroundMaster CITY to the order up front.

What’s inside the Box? Is it just a point for connection?

See link below for a more complete discussion and additional photos:

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/grounding-boxes.31401/page-4#post-778466

Note that I am using the Russ Andrews rca grounding cables since there are none available individually from Puritan.

I have two Groundmaster City units.  One, for signal grounding, is connected to unused rca plugs on my Pathos TT RR integrated, and Modwright Marantz SA8005 sacd player.  It replaced a Gutwire Perfect Ground cable on the Pathos amp, which provided a subtle reduction in noise/increase in articulation and musicality.  I tried to use a 2nd Gutwire grounding cable on the sacd player but it must have created a ground loop because I gut hum.  Just comparing the Groundmaster City with the Gutwire cable on the amp, the Groundmaster unit is about 40% better.  And connecting a Groundmaster City to both amp and player at the same time created no hum or other issues, and surprised me with the resulting improvement in sound quality.  My system had no obvious noise or electronic artifacts to begin with, but with source and amp connected to the Groundmaster city the sound was noticeably more relaxed,  natural, and articulate.  My 2nd Groundmaster City is for chassis grounding.  It will be connected to casework screws on my Bybee Stealth Power Purifier and Modwright PS 9.0 power supply, once I receive the cables I ordered for this purpose.       

Thanks for that needed correction.

So, has anyone tried or compared the city version, other than the author?

ozzy

Please note the title of the thread. This is the CITY grounding system which is offered specifically for those who cannot provide for a rod to be installed (as per Puritan's website).

I guess my concern with a separate ground rod is the potential for 2 different ground systems during a lightning strike.

ozzy

i think 1 meter is too short, you should prob be doing atleast 2-3 meters deep but this is a guess.

I am told by another electrical engineer the deeper the better but Puritan claims 1 meter should work fine. Iv never tried 1 meter but if it works fine it can save the hassle and cost of using longer copper Rods and the cost/expense of drilling.

I had the Silver Tellus and Posidon.

I connected the Ground Master to the a Rod which goes down 20 meters into the ground. I had someone come in to drill very deep.  Here in Indonesia we use Ground Water which is filtered so another part of the garden was used just for grounding rods.

Puritan just worked allot more better for me in my room.

phantom,

Did you pound a new ground rod in the yard? I am told that is where the Puritan unit really shines.

And which Entreq model did you compare it to?

ozzy

Iv owned all the Entreq, Now i own the Puritan Labs, No contest the Puritan to my ears is a better sounding unit, I also have the ground master.

The basic (non-active) SR Ground Block costs about $600, same price range as the RouteMaster.

Considering the huge price difference, I'm not sure anyone would want to. This is not rocket science. The concepts are pretty basic. Synergistic, Nordost, Entec, etc are just exploiting the electrically naive.

Terry,

I am wondering if you (or anyone else) have compared the GroundMaster City/RouteMaster to the Synergistic Research Ground Block?

By the way Amorstereo Terry, I emailed Ground Master based on the email link you provided in your review. Never got a response! Perhaps you should tell them to check their email?

ozzy

I own the Entreq Silver Tellus which I think is great. However, I may be interested in the Ground master if it worked on the AC ground.

ozzy

Cool