My 2 channel experiment

[RogerD]

For the few that have followed my noise experiment,I think I am at a end point. To say that this journey has not been fruitful would be a understatement. If I was to say how all this has played out sonically,two main points. One being the positive effect on clarity and the amount of congestion in a recording,especially complex and large orchestras and chorale recordings. Two would be the effects of compression on instruments and voices,or everything in the recording. The compression aspect has kind of blown me away,because the shear weight,power and size of each instrument,and grouping whether large or small has revealed music in a new way that I have never experienced before in a home system,not mine at least.So the lack of congestion and compression has been profound. I started to streamline the ground pathway by replacing the many smaller gauge cables with 1 or 2 gauge size cables.

What has surprised me is the amount of noise in my system,but it shouldn't have, given I use 5 amplifiers which output about 4600 watts. That's why I needed to keep adding to the size of the pathway and I have done this very methodically. Each cable I have added has never failed to bring me closer to the music and I must say if any range of music has benefited it has been the bass,which has been mind blowing,very powerful,controlled with great articulation.

Anyway I now look forward to building my second system which will be tubes and horns...can't wait.

 

[LL21]

You've built a system on your system! That's some serious work...and some serious wattage! Horns, eh? Look forward to reading about your new system...are you ready to open a new thread about it? Would definitely read about that one!

 

[RogerD]

You've built a system on your system! That's some serious work...and some serious wattage! Horns, eh? Look forward to reading about your new system...are you ready to open a new thread about it? Would definitely read about that one!

Thanks Lee, I'll let you know on the horn system. I have the preamp and amplifiers already. The preamp is Accuphase C200 that I have had gone through and the amplifiers are 2 VAC mono's and a Vac 2 channel,all 300B's. I'm thinking of some large Klipsch custom horns.I will also run my Ampex MR70 nuvistor preamps with the Horns.

 

[LL21]

Thanks Lee, I'll let you know on the horn system. I have the preamp and amplifiers already. The preamp is Accuphase C200 that I have had gone through and the amplifiers are 2 VAC mono's and a Vac 2 channel,all 300B's. I'm thinking of some large Klipsch custom horns.I will also run my Ampex MR70 nuvistor preamps with the Horns.

great! sounds like it could be some pretty special alchemy going on there...look forward to reading about it.

 

[RogerD]

I have been contacted by two fellow WBF members who have started down the pathway of extreme grounding. One member calls it "obscene grounding" lol...and he is reporting similar results as I have had. My only comment is I continue to believe this grounding will revolutionise high end audio,I carachertise it as @the microphone...quite a experience.

 

[jkeny]

I have been contacted by two fellow WBF members who have started down the pathway of extreme grounding. One member calls it "obscene grounding" lol...and he is reporting similar results as I have had. My only comment is I continue to believe this grounding will revolutionise high end audio,I carachertise it as @the microphone...quite a experience.

It would be interesting if they documented their journey here.

 

[RogerD]

Just some thoughts on extreme grounding and the effect it has on digital. I use a Monarchy NM24 with Mundorf coupling caps and a pair of nos tubes. I also use a Sony dvp ns p series as a transport,by any high end standard it would not be considered capable. Well I am absolutely shocked at the SQ that extreme grounding has had on the Sony. I have to believe that the difference has to do with laser pickup and not the drive motor.
The difference has been stunning to say the least. Several years ago I thought that digital reproduction was incomplete. It lacked bloom and the ambient quality of analog,not any more. Coupled with a incredible sound stage, dynamic levels that I thought were unattainable and a level of realism anchored in lifelike clarity.....this has me blown away. The grounding amount to achieve this has been very large,I would say about 2 one gauge cables tied to the Sony chassis. In comparison the Monarchy has a 2 gauge strap.

Can it get better? It could,but I hear absolutely no noise in the system, no congestion,no compression,just absolute clarity with a beautiful effortless quality. The result is I think digital has the ability to be just as good as analog and in terms of speed,clarity and dynamics better. This grounding pathway experiment has been a eye opener.

 

[RogerD]

I came across an old Reference Recording CD I purchased about 1984....Dafos. I played it tonight and thought I'd share it. I really like digital now. Recorded on my iphone6 at about 10'oclock on the volume pot...enjoy...

 

[SCAudiophile]

I came across an old Reference Recording CD I purchased about 1984....Dafos. I played it tonight and thought I'd share it. I really like digital now. Recorded on my iphone6 at about 10'oclock on the volume pot...enjoy...

Great recording! Eerie coincidence,...was playing that 2 days ago after a long hiatus and realizing how good it was!

 

[ack]

Dafos is one of my references as well. Enjoy, Roger

 

[RogerD]

Dafos is one of my references as well. Enjoy, Roger

Hi ack, it is pretty special and quite addictive.

 

[RogerD]

I have added quite of bit of extreme grounding cable,the latest about a week ago to my tube DAC. I expect the cable will completely settle in next week,as it usually takes 100+ hours. A lot of copper used...amazing.

 

[RogerD]

I think the DAC cable finally came up today. Anyway I ordered another big cable for my $59 wonder transport and I'll add it to the scheme this weekend. The cable will take about 3 weeks to settle as whenever I add a big cable it will reset the whole circuit. The improvements remain,but the reset does make the sound stage move forward and back. I have never added a cable and not experienced a gain in SQ. The cable costs me 20 bucks so why not,after all this is a experiment. The sound video is Keely Smith in Vegas recorded like the prior video except the volume is about 9:30....

 

[RogerD]

I'm going to install the final zero gauge grounding strap to my digital transport today. I really don't know what to expect as it already has multiple wires attached that equal about a 0 cable. In my experience it will move the music closer,as a example a tambourine sounds live not because the sound signature is correct,but the physical size is correct for the recording...it sounds live. Also the ambient information will break another threshold,revealing details of the recording venue that go unnoticed usually. I am still shocked at the information captured by a redbook recording.

It will be interesting if the heavier grounding improves the ability of this transport to track a disc better. In the past it seems to have that effect.

 

[RogerD]

Another observation about this extreme grounding scheme. Adding to the circuit has produced a silence to my monoblocks that I thought was impossible. These amplifiers are rated at 1600 watts and each have a 25 amp breaker. The four large toroidal transformers have always been noisy and the amps when the soft start triggers has been impressive,now the amps are totally silent. Also my dual sub Parasound amplifier is silent also,the left channel was never silent as a low hum could be heard from the sub...now silent. This grounding circuit works as any new strap improves the whole system.

 

[RogerD]

I made the change....right off the bat...profound. My brother was totally shocked.

 

[RogerD]

After this cable settles,I'm going to extreme strap my dual sub amp,my psycho acoustics amp and add another strap to the DAC & transport. I want to see how much information a microphone is actually able to recover. Amazing

 

[RogerD]

I have ordered two more cables. One for the tube DAC that has two small toroidal transformers on one side of the DAC, and also one for my psycho acoustics amp. I now believe bits are bits and digital can be improved by noise removal. Noise removal effects the quality of the laser. I think it is the reverse of what the blue CD2 accomplishes.

Blu-spec CD describes a Red Book CD manufactured by a process introduced by Sony Music Entertainment Japan in late 2008.[1] Its name derives from the similar manufacturing process to that used to create Blu-ray Discs. Instead of a traditional infra-red laser, a blue laser is used for recording the pits on the CD master that is needed for disc replication. The blue laser purportedly creates more precise pits, which Sony claims reduces distortion in the optical read-out process.[2]

This last cable has already reset the entire circuit including the NBS circiut(audio signal). The total effect of the grounding has been to uncompress the audio signal.

 

[RogerD]

My two cables came yesterday and I first added them to my DAC and transport. Upon listening I almost immediately noticed that the transport was overdone in a way that I can explain as just too much information (distorted). Anyway I then switched that cable to my P300 Accuphase amp that runs my psycho acoustics. So the DAC has two zero gauge cables now and the only piece left to extreme strap is my dual sub Parasound amp.

First off I don't know how many thresholds I broke through,but it was many levels. The sound on whole seems like everything hangs in the air,in it's own space, The separation is so real that I heard things I've never heard before. An example would be a overtone on the violins that was so delicate and almost eerie,small instruments that get lost in the general congestion of the composition,now are clear and have space. The bass on the best of the carpenters actually was concussive enough that I could feel the sock against my chest.

All in all a major improvement that even increased the level of profound reproduction in my system. what's next? I'm going to add a cable to the Parasound and order a 4 gauge cable for the transport and see what that does. Given the improvement of removing veils in my psycho circuit,if the subwoofers are cleaned up in a like manner....should be pretty exciting...uncompressing the digital medium.

 

[LL21]

Hey RogerD,

Been a while, and have just started to catch up on your latest experiments. So I can follow the gyst of the last several weeks/few months...you've essentially been adding more and more thick gauge wires to your chassis...all connected to the same grounding point? Just trying to make sure i understand what technically you've been doing. Sounds very good!