Shunyata Altaira Grounding Station ........has anybody purchased this new product ?

I got off the phone with a client yesterday.  He went through the entire process I specify.  He reworked his grounding, panels, subpanels, branch wires.  He got rid of as much aluminum as he could.  He did it all accept for install an isolation transformer.  After he finished the work he tried an Altaira.  He heard nothing, so he returned it.

I have had other clients do the same, rework their electrical.  When done, they get rid of filters they plug into the wall.  Not all of them.  Some.  A few filter in particular go, and a few stay. 

Reworking your electrical can be as expensive as a component.  And you can't remove it and sell it for 40% of what you spent on it.  But I believe it is the foundation of all audio based music.  It is as necessary as a speaker, amp and source.  If you are missing any one of the 4, you don't have a functional audio reproduction system.   You can live without everything else.  You don't need a stand, room, footers, ground box, filter.  You don't need any of it.   

If I was  spending $$$ to upgrade my audio performance, I would put a ground box as very low on the list of to do.  I would put optimizing your electrical up there with speaker and room.  It’s a very audible change the investment.   I would put an isolation transformer in well before a ground box.  They cost close to the same or less when you start adding in all the ground cables.

@kingrex

Oh, the comments about how one should set up a plain ground bar were in a video on YouTube. If you search for "Shunyata Altaira" and then click on the one with "Mike & Rick," Caelin talks about it there.

For a nice simple copper grounding bar I like the SMD UB-8 (Universal Power/ Grounding Bar - 8 post).

i currently am trialling the Altaira.  it is connected to analog components (power supply for TT, RIAA, Integrated Amplifier and Step up Transformer).  i installed it only last night.  all of my system is from audio note.

i immediately noticed the SUT hum was gone entirely.

the noise level has been significantly lowered.  so much so that i am still getting used to it.  it makes some music sound better, it makes some music sound less flamboyant (i think because it removes some distortion which can be quite fetching in some contexts).

i found the accompanying literature very edifying (basic grounding concepts).

i don't imagine there would be too many people who wouldn't get something out of this.  i do wonder if certain components are voiced such that with the grounding sorted we lose some of that voice/thickness. the detail is beyond the pale though.  last night it was Silkworm's "Lifestyle" and for the first time ever i heard overtones on an electric guitar (similar to what i hear when i play in my home). so it seems to be allowing harmonic information to come thru that i do not normally get.  

worth a shot is my advice.  you might like it.  it certainly does quite a bit in my system although i am as yet unsure as to whether or not i will buy it (slightly more to do with available funds than anything else though).

Thanks HolyDean. That Mike & Rick interview with Caelin is very helpful.

So after watching that and reading the Shunyata website I got out the Ohm meter and found screws on each of my components that showed 0 resistance to the ground input plug. I set up a star ground with 10 gauge wire that drains any voltage from each component’s chassis to the grounding lug on my Denali.

Wow.

The system hum is down maybe 80-90% to the point where I only hear it if my ear is within 18" of the speakers. No longer filling the room with a soft hum. But the important result is that whole system sounds better. I already though it was good and went after the hum as an academic exercise. I wasn’t ready for how it seemed to move me up from the 10th row to the 3rd in terms of clarity and palpability of the singers and instruments. (CJ tube pre/amp and dcs player) The music is more engaging now.

I already had a grounding buss sitting around and just bought some spade clips and the wire. This all cost under $25. Cheapest system upgrade ever!