Grounding cable gauge size


For those of you using external grounding source devices, units such as Entreq, Nordost, Synergistic, etc. What size wire gauge seems to work the best?

ozzy

128x128ozzy

Thank you and I respect your opinion, but I consider it just your opinion and not actual experience.

Its engineering. FWIW I did a survey about this topic a few years ago. What I found was that there were grounding problems in every system where the box was shown to be an improvement. To back this up in at least one of the manuals of one of the ground box product, the manual states exactly what I said- that if all the equipment has a proper grounding scheme internally, there will be no benefit.

Usually an Ohmmeter is all that's needed to sort this question out.

Ok, but my ears can hear the improvement and my brain can appreciate it. If it can't be measured it must not be?  It reminds me of the age-old topic of power cords not making a difference.

ozzy

Ralph is giving you a hint to fix the grounding issues at the source vs a series of relatively expensive band aids. Just my opinion, but i have ears, experience and a DMM. On the digital side, immaculate grounds and a Faraday cage will also be a big help.

Jim

Again, I did not perceive any problem BEFORE I tried these signal grounding units. What a difference in the depth, bass, treble, soundstage and musically quality I gained!

ozzy

Ok, but my ears can hear the improvement and my brain can appreciate it. If it can't be measured it must not be?  It reminds me of the age-old topic of power cords not making a difference.

I'm not contesting that. And I can easily measure why a power cord is audible in a system- they respond to Ohm's Law like anything else, but that's off topic. This:

Ralph is giving you a hint to fix the grounding issues at the source vs a series of relatively expensive band aids.

- is correct. It might not be as inexpensive as all that, since the manufacturer of the equipment that is causing you to need the grounding box might push back on the idea that they have a problem. Put another way, if the grounding box helps, its a useful tool to indicate that there is a grounding problem somewhere.

If that is the case, I use a DVM to check and see if the audio connection grounds are the same as the chassis and see how that relates to the ground pin of the IEC connection. You should be able to measure something between chassis and audio ground, but if its a short, that can be a problem. OTOH if you find that the chassis isn't grounded through the AC power cord that too is a problem! Grounding is a tricky thing and its not surprising if a designer gets it wrong- I've been there.

Now you might think 'hey, the box fixed it all' which is fine. No worries. But audiophiles often ask 'can it get better?' and the answer is often 'yes'. People have said to me many times that they can't imagine how it might get better, and then it does. There are almost always opportunities for improvement.