Another ground boxes' competitor ?

extracampine

New Member
Jul 12, 2016
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Thanks - but would be handy for a schematic on how to put it all together. Don't want to accidentally blow any equipment or worse, electrocution!
 

XCop5089

Well-Known Member
Sep 5, 2015
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Don't plug it into a chassis RCA connector that has a plastic insulator ring.

Kevin

Would you care to expand on your comment please?

Steve
 

Speedskater

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2010
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The circuit designer installed that plastic insulator ring for a reason. By connecting the RCA shell to the AC power Safety Ground, you just created a large ground loop or at the least bypassed the reason for the insulator ring.

* * * * * * * *
Note that Neil Muncy (RIP), Jim Brown and Henry Ott all think that those insulator rings are a bad idea.
 

XCop5089

Well-Known Member
Sep 5, 2015
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Winchester, UK
The circuit designer installed that plastic insulator ring for a reason. By connecting the RCA shell to the AC power Safety Ground, you just created a large ground loop or at the least bypassed the reason for the insulator ring.

* * * * * * * *
Note that Neil Muncy (RIP), Jim Brown and Henry Ott all think that those insulator rings are a bad idea.

Thanks for the explanation!
 

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
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Other reasons for an insulating ring on an RCA is that the component has a transformer input, in this case the ground wire wouldn't work and you'd be destroying the isolation the trafo provides which can be very bad. Or, the RCAs might be grounded with wire to a single spot, this is how I do it rather than depending on the RCA contacting the chassis as you need bare metal for this to work and my chassis are often painted or anodized, which will insulate the jack. In this case it will work, but see below...

This kind of ground connection bypasses any isolation between the IEC and chassis the component designer probably used to prevent ground loops, and to prevent the return signal that flows along ground from using the safety ground wiring rather than the IC wiring. Because of this I'd expect fairly random results from grounding components like this, it is technically WRONG, and there is no doubt about this, but in certain situations it might actually be an improvement as long as it doesn't form a ground loop and your grounding system was poorly designed and inadequate in the first place, which is sadly often the case.
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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(...) Note that Neil Muncy (RIP), Jim Brown and Henry Ott all think that those insulator rings are a bad idea.

Perhaps. But as some of the best sounding single ended equipment I have listened to uses insulator rings in the RCA's, I am happy that great audio designers have bad ideas! :cool:
 

marty

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Apr 20, 2010
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Yup, as long as V=IR holds true reducing R in the context of grounding reduces V. It's pretty simple yet few seem to get it.

The 16g round wire is one of the worst possible choices for a ground wire. It would be far better if it were both lower gauge and made of a litz wire or braided strap.

I'd bet carbon and piezo minerals are in the box like the others.

These high priced grounding boxes are ridiculous, I need to make my own and sell them for reasonable prices like my cables. And they will have proper ground cables. ;)

Agree. DO IT!
 

Speedskater

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Sep 30, 2010
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Perhaps. But as some of the best sounding single ended equipment I have listened to uses insulator rings in the RCA's, I am happy that great audio designers have bad ideas! :cool:
I'm glad that you have has good luck with potentially poorly designed equipment.
But I still wouldn't connect an insulated RCA jack to an AC power Safety Ground.
The check for poor designs is the John Windt 'Hummer Tester'.
 

DaveC

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Nov 16, 2014
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Agree. DO IT!

Maybe once I get the speaker done! :)

I also have amp and preamp designs, I need to make clones of myself...
 

Lee

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Feb 3, 2011
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Haven't tried any of the ground boxes (Entreq, Tripoint, etc.) because of the high cost. However I realized a lowering of my system's noise floor by connecting one of Gutwire's "Perfect Ground" cables between an unused rca input on my modified Pathos TT RR and an unused wall socket.

Try an SR Ground Block. Much less expensive than Entreq and it was very effective in my system.
 

Glassback

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Jan 11, 2018
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Having read this thread with a somewhat open minded, what do all these boxes themsleves connect to. What type electical delivery system to the propery is used can make a big difference.
All earth (technical earth) is to the ground we walk on, but have you had the impedance from your property to you suppliers earth point tested, this can depend on what system your wired to, if like some in the UK use the TT system it becomes dependant upon where your earth rod is positioned and the dryness of it's surroundings, then if on the PMT system, then every trid property on the phase your on injects their mush from computers, line adapters for baby monitors etc.
So we need to look for the noise coming into our propery from others and isolate this, thus a balanced mains transformer along with dedicated earth rods within your garden well soaked regualy then listen and hear the difference.
 

Speedskater

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Sep 30, 2010
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'technical earth' often comes with a very technical specific definition.
However the connection to Planet Earth, the ground we walk on is only there for safety during high voltage emergencies and to keep the Neutral's potential near Planet Earth's.
The earth rod connection has nothing to do with day-to-day AC power quality.
Planet Earth does not act as a sink or sump for bad electricity.
 

IanG-UK

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Apr 11, 2011
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Just back from the North West Audio show where CAD were one of the exhibitors.

Their room was empty and the sound was unpleasant but I was comforted to learn that they were using both GC3 and GC1 ground control boxes!

As Roy Gregory said in his audiobeat review of the GC1 and the GC3, "things took a huge step forward when we upgraded ... from a GC1 to a GC3". So had there just been a GC1 in use, things would have taken a huge step backwards. Thank goodness I did not have to hear that.

More seriously, at $4,500 for a GC3 with three cables, the manufacturer, distributors and dealers must be rubbing their hands. I bet the unit leaves the factory at a cost under $100.
 

Barry2013

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Oct 12, 2013
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Thanks...totally agree; I may try the Entreq when time and funds make themselves available. In the meantime, I've been very happy for years with my Granite Audio Ground Zero star-grounding box and for the last 2-3 years, Environmental Potentials Ground Filters installed in my whole house panel feed to my sub-panel and on the dedicated circuits themselves in my sub-panel. The combination of ground filters and star-grounding will be (IMHO) tough to beat. One other thing,...I have dual grounding rods on the house with CADWELD bonding employed to permanently bond large gauge solid copper ground leads to both rods. The total solution overall is what gets me the playback quality I enjoy today. It will be interesting to see if adding Entreq or Nordost grounding offerings would make any appreciable difference; Entreq is reported to be one of the best clearly, I personally wish they had a bit different appearance than the light wood cases but that's neither here nor there with respect to overall sound quality. Thanks for the recommendation!

A bit late to this thread but I just wanted to endorse caliaripaolo's recommendation of the Entreq Poseidon and negative speaker terminal grounding. A very effective application in my experience and in my system (full details on my profile)
 

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