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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
lewm
12,451 posts
 
I should add that I have a pair of amplifiers (not my Atma-sphere amplifiers), where the chassis is one and the same with audio ground. Every audio ground, everywhere, is connected to the chassis. Thus it was impossible to separate the two without major surgery. So what I did was to use the back to back diode trick between the ground pin on the IEC connector and the chassis. So the chassis stayed with the audio ground, but it is isolated from earth ground by the diodes. The amplifiers went from "iffy" in terms of hum and noise, to dead quiet.

If you’re working with vintage equipment, you would be confronted by a similar dilemma quite often, I think.  Because that's how they did things back then. (These are Beveridge direct-drive amplifiers, designed and built 47 years ago.)
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
Open question...
How does the Granite Audio Ground Zero
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/ac-cables-granite-audio-ground-zero-eliminate-your-ground-loops-20...
differ from the SR Grounding Block?

then vs. the SR Active Ground Block?

folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak OP
1,349 posts
 
@lowrider57 i cannot comment on the ground zero as I believe it performs a different function

fact is the SR system has no effect on hum or background noise in my system. If anything it creates some new potential hum sources with all the additional cables that need to be dressed. If your ground problems manifest as hum or audible noise then you need different solutions such as cheating or the zero

what the SR box (and from reviews other like devices) do is change the sound of the system without affecting the classic "ground issues"

i should also observe at this point that not every component responds well to grounding to the SR box in my system. In the case of my phono stage connecting it to the SR ground box flattened the dynamics and dulled the sound ... so be prepared to experiment 
whart's avatar
whart
2,967 posts
 
@lewm thanks. I do believe there is something already wired into the connection between the circuit ground and the chassis/main AC ground receptacle inside the amps, but I don’t feel comfortable messing with it. I will continue to investigate, perhaps talk to Vlad- since I’m sure this came up at one point over the years. I suspect it may have something to do with the woofer amp that is part of my Avantgarde Duos- I think there is something internal I could do with the speaker (have to check the manual on the speaker, but I think that is user-permitted), not sure.
@atmasphere Ralph- using my Fluke, I measured .2 at the ground pin on the amp cord, unplugged. Measuring at the RCA input to the amp, with everything, including speaker cable, disconnected, the shield or collar side of the RCA jumped around radically, nothing nearly as low at the ground pin, but high voltages, lower voltages- and no OL type reading on the meter suggesting it is "off scale." Why is that so? (FWIW, I use the XLR input on the amps, not the RCA (though these amps are not a balanced design, i just prefer the integrity of the connection).
@lowrider57 I can offer this much-- the Granite Audio as far as I know-- mine’s in a box somewhere- is very much like an external star ground that supplements but does not replace the AC ground. It does allow some switching of the impedance of the grounds depending on which channels on the back you plug the wires into, and how you position the switches relative to each other. I don’t think it does much else. I’m also not sure how star grounding overcomes some inter-component grounding problem within a system if everything is still hooked up to the normal AC grounds, but at one point, it did minimize noise when I was first setting up this system in NY some years ago. Beyond that, I cannot say.
The passive Synergistic looks very much like a standard copper bus(s) bar, mounted in a small box that may have some additional passive material in it. (The connection to the wall is only for ground, not to power it, I believe, much like the Granite Audio).
I cannot speak to the SR Active device, but there are, as you know, a host of things available now as @folkfreak mentioned in his OP.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,574 posts
 
@whart
I know it is grounded now, but will hum unless I lift the ground. I do have a decent meter and will poke around without opening up the units.
That suggests that the audio and chassis are the same thing FWIW...

@lowrider57
Two questions; will all components then have the same ground potential?
Star-grounding a component is an improved grounding technique, but does it change the ground potential from a traditional component grounding design as stated above?
1: They better!
2: It better not! The reason is there should be no current in the ground connection.

@whart
Measuring at the RCA input to the amp, with everything, including speaker cable, disconnected, the shield or collar side of the RCA jumped around radically, nothing nearly as low at the ground pin, but high voltages, lower voltages- and no OL type reading on the meter suggesting it is "off scale." Why is that so?
Sounds like an impedance that might involve an inductor.

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