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A New Ground -- Benefits of introducing the Synergistic Research Active Ground Block SE

Dedicated ground solutions are not a novel idea but over the past year it seems everyone has been coming out with their version. For a few months I’ve been thinking about introducing one to my system and had considered Entreq, Telos, Nordost and others. Although I have a bunch of Synergistic Research (SR) kit I had dismissed their older basic ground block as too rinky dink -- however when I heard about the new Active Ground Blocks I thought that could be the way to go. The Active Ground blocks are smallish devices with a mains connection and a plethora of outlets for grounding cables to every component. They incorporate a range of the latest SR UEF tweaks
http://www.synergisticresearch.com/isolation/ground-isolation/active-ground-block-se/

While the blocks alone are quite expensive ($2995) you will also need to lay out for connections to all of your components -- ideally the HD links. In my case as I have two distinct zones in my system I needed two ground blocks and 13 links -- quite an outlay

Question is is it worthwhile? Most certainly yes. The impact of implementing a full grounding solution in my system was one of the most profound changes I’ve experienced. It’s not a change that can be described in the usual audiophile terms of dynamics, frequency response, transparency etc. Instead it’s a shift in the wholeness, the verisimilitude, the gestalt of what you are hearing. Probably this is most obvious in a couple of places. Firstly is in background washes of sound (e.g. classic synth backings, or massed strings, or the whoosh that opens "Private Investigations") -- which now take on a scale, texture and clarity that had previously been completely masked. Secondly in vocals where a whole level of shading, nuance, breathwork, and subtly inflections are now audible. This is not simply more "detail" or a "reduction in the noise floor" it’s as if things which you did not know previously existed are suddenly there, as they had been all along

The effect is enhanced the more things you ground -- obviously all active components but even stands (my GPA stands are conductive so I connect a basic ground link to the bare metal inside the stand posts -- the surface metal is varnished and non conductive).

While I obviously can recommend the SR products I imagine any ground solution will bring similar benefits and would strongly suggest that anyone with a high resolution system explore some form of ground solution

ps For those in the now the music to accompany this review is A New Ground

128x128folkfreak
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak OP
1,349 posts
 
Quick update on this thread to present a solution to ground for the front end of your phono system. As noted in prior comments on this thread grounding the first stage in your phono chain (be it the arm, table, step up or phono stage if no step up used) to the SR Block made the sound worse -- more congested and constrained. 

Convinced that their might still be benefit in giving the cartridge, tonearms and deck its own dedicated ground I was intrigued to see the Akiko "Phono Booster" -- which is in effect a miniature grounding block dedicated for phono stages
https://www.akikoaudio.com/en/akiko-audio/akiko-audio-audio-accessories/549-akiko-audio-phono-booste...

I took a chance on this (21 day money back from Jaguar Audio) and have been very pleased with the results. I have it connected to my step up (the phono stage itself is now grounded to the SR Block) and the effect is very worthwhile. Most noticeable is increased separation between instruments -- in loud orchestral passages each instrument has its own bubble of air around it and you can keep track of more as the volume and complexity increases. The down side in this is that it can at first listen seem a bit thinned out and bass shy but I believe this is in fact the removal of a coloration. The effect is very LP dependent and in every case with the Akiko in I can hear more information -- but in some cases the prior coloration was definitely euphonic.

One nit I have is that the wire is rather stiff and flops under its own weight (which is an issue as grounding cables need to be carefully dressed and kept away from other cables) and that the spade is a small one -- my step up ground lug is the larger size, but I was able to show it in. I think I'll explore having Mike at Verastarr make me up a replacement cable and will report back on that
ptrck887
84 posts
 
Hello all,
Maybe a bit late to the party but thought I'd chime in...many thanks to folkfreak as your suggestion to run the Active Block SE into the spur that's being used to run all my front end gear thru the PowerCell 12....I,  like 68pete originally powered it via a SR QLS6 linestrip and the results were terrible...actually reduced the sound stage and thinned it out which, according to other users I know was exactly the opposite I was expecting...after reading folkfreaks post rearranged some MPC's and was able to free up the additional socket on the same duplex as my front end gear.....the results were shocking!!!  I couldn't be more pleased.  My efforts the last 6 months to find more detail thru Symposium Acoustic platforms and rollerblock 2's got me the soundstage, detail and layering I was looking for but seemed to have lost some body and weight which made the sound less musical IMO....the Active Grounding Block brought back the body and weight in spades!    Can the HD cables actually improve this more???  If so sign me up!
These forums once again proved to be a terrific source of information and guidance.
Thanks 
P
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak OP
1,349 posts
 
Just wanted to post some musings in additional impacts of getting grounding right with unepexected benefits from the oddest of places.

While I’m still getting great results from the SR active blocks as my primary ground solution I have started to add additional Taiko ground blocks (primarily the D3 model, new and currently not listed on their web site). 

The two areas where adding a dedicated ground has had the most impact are unexpectedly a) the power supply to my Herzan isolation for the turntable and b) the Mutec 10MHz Reference clock for my DCS stack. In both cases adding a dedicated ground substantially clarified instrumental and vocal lines placing players so much more securely in space and bringing out differences between players and singers that had previously been masked. It seems that in both analog and digital replay the effect of micro level timing disruptions whether from the clock (in the digital case) or acoustic interference (in the analog) has a profound effect in messing up tiny timing cues that are basic to creating the impression of a real sound space.

Once again an example of how as you optimize your system the smallest details take on ever more importance, quite the opposite of the diminishing returns principle!
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Once again an example of how as you optimize your system the smallest details take on ever more importance, quite the opposite of the diminishing returns principle!

@folkfreak  Perfect!
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
Atmosphere said:

I did a survey of a number of grounding systems by interviewing the owners and having them do a few tests (as best as I can make out, these were similar to the SR, but none of them were SR units). 

What I found was that in audio systems where a grounding system made an improvement, universally there were also bugs in the way that the associated audio equipment was grounded, which is why the grounding boxes were helping.

My conclusion was that if a grounding box was helping, that was an indication that the associated equipment had design flaws in their grounding implementation. 
As usual Ralph, you make utterly and completely perfect sense. The very notion that equipment ground needs to be implement by some convoluted “active” grounding hokum implicates SR as being a purveyor of fallacious merchandise, and worse, the promulgator of carelessness towards electrical standards and safety. 

The simple test that everyone should conduct for themselves is this: measure the AC voltage between the chassis of each AC powered component and the supply receptacle ground. For equipment that is grounded by a grounded power cord, this reading should be zero. For non-grounded equipment with a non-polarized plug, the reading should be nil with the plug oriented one way - in such equipment, consider replacing the cord set with one with a polarized plug. For non-grounded equipment with a polarized plug, the above voltage reading should be nil. In some cases, it is worth upgrading to a grounded power cord, and connecting the ground to the chassis - only if it is isolated from signal ground. 
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