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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
 
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. 
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak OP
1,349 posts
 
@sleepwalker close reading of this thread will have identified instances where grounding of passive equipment (ie stands) and ones not in any way in the signal chain ( ie the Herzan) bring clear and obvious benefits. The claim that this is all down to poor design of active electronics while possible in the limited instances in which it directly applies is by no means the end of the story.

Secondly I suggest you do a little bit more research to understand the difference between the grounds we are discussing here and the safety ground ... the Taiko devices, as with many other similar ones, are purely passive and in no way connected to the mains ground
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
JEA48 asked Atmasphere:

Would you please expand..... What is the reference for the arm ground wire connection to the ground terminal/lug on the phono preamp chassis? 

I guess I always thought it was the DC power supply ground. Isn’t the signal ground also connected there?

Ralph, forgive me for barging into this... the arm ground wire on a turntable is meant to be chassis ground, which must be maintained to the  phono stage chassis, and remain isolated from signal ground, which is usually DC ground in transformerless signal paths. 
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