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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
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davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 
I also have the Synergistic Research Active Grounding Block System and I am extremely impressed with the positive changes it is affecting.
I have previously used the Acoustic Revive RG-24 grounding system and this is head and shoulders better.
For those that have a dialed in system I think strong consideration should be given to auditioning the Active Grounding Block. 

I wish Ralph of Atmosphere would give one a try in his system and report back to us. They are sold with a full refund policy,

My Eddie Current Zanna Deux Tube amp is an OTL amp as are 
Ralph's Atmosphere amps, and it certainly sounds better with the Grounding Block in place.

David Pritchard
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,574 posts
 
@folkfreak 

 if that was the case then why would grounding the stands after everything else had already been grounded to the SR box make an improvement? And why would changing the cables used for the grounds make an improvement? I use equipment from a wide range of manufacturers so can't believe they all got it wrong out of the gate... I think there's more going on here than your hypothesis
All it takes is one component to short out the grounding scheme on the other equipment.

How it works is, the chassis of the equipment should be grounded to the ground pin of the AC cord which in turn is grounded by the house wiring. There is no current on this connection, in contrast to what is claimed by SR's website page on their grounding block.

The circuit ground of the amplifier, preamp or whatever is **not** connected to the chassis in a proper setup but is instead 'floated' at ground potential by a simple circuit which might simply be a resistor or resistor/diode arrangement. In this way ground loops between equipment are prevented and the chassis is allowed to act as a shield while not also acting as a ground return.

If only one piece in the system has the circuit and chassis be the same thing, then its connection to the rest of the system will compromise the grounding of the rest of the system. Now you have to do something about it and that is what these grounding block thingys do- at a tremendous price though, as a better solution would be to simply have the offending piece repaired by the manufacturer.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Ralph, thanks. That all makes sense from a technical standpoint, as far as I am concerned. Question: Could similar adverse effects occur to an audible degree if rather than circuit ground and chassis ground/AC safety ground being connected directly together in one or more of the components in a system, they are instead connected together through a resistor whose value is simply too low? For example, I’ve seen in some ARC designs that resistors as low as 10 ohms are used for that purpose.

Best regards,
-- Al

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,574 posts
 
Hello Al,

The resistor is there to prevent ground currents and often 10 ohms is enough to do the job, just as you see in the old Dynaco gear.

I like a little more myself, and its not a bad idea to place some high current diodes in opposite directions in parallel with the resistor. In this way if a component is damaged and places the AC line on the chassis, a fuse will blow rather than just cooking the resistor.

I've not played with the resistor value to see what effect it has, but it stands to reason that a value too low mitigates its use and not in a good way :)
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