DIY Ground Box Thread

[Boodle]

Photo of small junction box above. This could be used to sandwich the cable between two sealed plastic pouches filled with the ground box mineral mix. Also it can be slid up and down the cable. Junction boxes made from ABS or plastic are available in different sizes with or without holes for cables. probably could be used on ground box cables, mains cables etc. similar to Transparent Or MIT boxes that have components in them or maybe magnetite also. One could use more than one small box on a cable. You can also change the mineral mixes in the pouches for different results if required or to experiment. As it is said “Necessity is the Mother of invention “. At least it may keep the peace at home with your partner.

 

[cdacosta]

Photo of small junction box above. This could be used to sandwich the cable between two sealed plastic pouches filled with the ground box mineral mix. Also it can be slid up and down the cable. Junction boxes made from ABS or plastic are available in different sizes with or without holes for cables. probably could be used on ground box cables, mains cables etc. similar to Transparent Or MIT boxes that have components in them or maybe magnetite also. One could use more than one small box on a cable. You can also change the mineral mixes in the pouches for different results if required or to experiment. As it is said “Necessity is the Mother of invention “. At least it may keep the peace at home with your partner.

I looked into and thought of that for the AC wraps but the ABS box would be too big. For the GB cable wraps would not work either. Minerals in pouches do not give the same effect as snaked around the cable, tried that also. Hence the vinyl for esthetics. Appreciate the input though.

 

[cdacosta]

Ok here is an update on the GBC Enhancement Wraps. I got home an hour or so ago. Before adding more wraps to the 4 I installed last night, I wanted to listen to the system to see what if any changes occurred from last night's listening. So here are updated thoughts...

* The slight tilt in the midrange toward neutral is almost all gone. Meaning 90%+ of all the warmth is back. Diana Krall's voice has that magical romantic inviting tonality/quality back. So there is a break-in period longer than I thought.

* The increase in articulation and resolution is all there like last night. D*mn it sounds awesome, very musical. The better the recording, the more of a difference it is vs a recording like a YouTube video. So say Tidal 320kbps 16/44 recording vs YouTube's 128kbps or 192kbps.

* Before the wraps the system is already tweaked to the gills and sounded really good. After the 4 wraps the system's resolution and texturing is increased. Listening to Tidal, the system feels more like I am listening to a live performance I cannot see. Very cool. Anyone in this hobby that has spent years trying to improve their system, knows there are performance ceilings that gets reached. Whenever one can push through and "truly" increase the performance level, it is an awesome feeling. And hardly ever is it inexpensive to do so.

* For next to free, these ground box cable wraps are a no brainer. I like my Magnetite AC power cable wraps, I like these more. Gets my highest recommendation!

Later today I will make and add more wraps and see what that does. I am really curious the difference in installs with GB filtering signal ground vs earth ground vs cable ground (the modded cables)?

 

[cdacosta]

GBC Enhancement Wraps - Tonal or body weight tuning and misc. install comments

I installed two more of the wraps, SPDIF cable (that was modded to include a GB cable) and DAC analog RCA output. Something I forgot to mention previously is tonal or overall presentation weight can be tuned. Will also effect how upper frequency is presented. Adjusting one cable wrap can do this. If you look at the pic included, the closest wrap is spiraled around the ground cable so the spiral is closer together than the one to the left of it. Not that it matters but the one to the left goes to the BNC digital input of the DAC.

So here is how it works: The closer together the wrap is spiraled around the ground cable adds weight to the overall presentation. The farther apart the spirals are the more accentuated the top end is. You can adjust the wrap and hear it change real time. Kind of crazy since the ground cable is not in the signal chain. Once it sounds right to you, let system settle with this new setup for an hour or so before messing with/tuning it any further, so you have a new baseline.

Misc. install comment:

* Once you start to get a few of these wraps installed, you will want to play around a bit with adjusting the wrap spiral(s) as mentioned above. This is to get the tonal presentation the way you want it.

* 2 places that sounded a bit off to me:
- Was minor but my headphone system is so sensitive and resolving I can detect any tiny change. I did not quite like a wrap installed on the PC power cable (Nordost Odin 2) that has a ground cable on it. I may play around with placement and spiral adjustment later.

- The Nordost Odin 2 XLR balanced cable modded to add a ground cable. This cable is a pair (left and right). I tried two wraps at the box, 2 at the center, 2 at the outputs of the DAC, I did not like any of these installs. I tried one at the box and that was ok, but sounded a tad off. So unfortunately, at least in my system is a no go.

I have 7 other places in my system to try LOL, which I will in the next few days. Will mention anything to note.

For anyone that has several ground boxes already properly installed in their system, they will understand the following. Remember how after the installations of the ground boxes, it transformed your system? Happens again after these GBC Enhancement wraps. System will again leap forward in performance. Like before, it is not subtle.

 

[cdacosta]

GBC Enhancement Wraps - more updates...

I installed more wraps last night, so there are now 8 wraps installed in my system. Here are some updated thoughts...

* Awesome, really improves ground box performance. Definitely hear deeper into the performance.

* The settle-in time is a minimum 24 hours.

* Vinyl over the installed wrap degrades performance. I could not hear it at install, but once settled in you can. So still looking for ways to improve esthetics. Because of the performance I do not really care but would be nice.

* Bass slam and precision is one of the benefits of the wraps. But once I installed 7 or 8 wraps, the bass slam gets serious. I can easily tune bass down with EQ in my system. But be aware of this, not everyone uses EQ. Possibly further settling in will change this, not sure yet. Just like the tonality/warmth taking 24 hours or so to get back. Will update if this is the case. Some systems will welcome the bass slam. To compensate in my system I adjusted 4 bands between 30hz and 60hz 1db lower.

 

[EDhaenens]

I have three wraps in my system for a day now and I must say they really work well! They are installed at ground box of modem, switch and streamer.

Here they did exactly the same which is improving bass performance and overall clarity. I also experienced the neutrality in voices but that has disappeared completely. These were made and installed in about 30 minutes. Highly recommended!

 

[EDhaenens]

I now have these wraps in my system for a day or two. It seems these guys have to work their way in quite a bit. Depth, width and bass authority got alot better! This is the best my system performed, ever!

 

[cdacosta]

I now have these wraps in my system for a day or two. It seems these guys have to work their way in quite a bit. Depth, width and bass authority got alot better! This is the best my system performed, ever!

Well I am 3 and 4 days since the first install of the first 3. Then within 24 hours added 5 more for a total of 8. I stopped so I can hear what changes if any transpire before adding more or experimenting further.

Based on my experience so far these wraps no question enhance the performance of the ground box device. Oddly with no downsides in my system. Now that it has been 3 days for some and 4 for others, there is further settling in. Here is what am hearing after the first 2 days...

* Bass slam has decreased a bit, but has gotten more precise and defined. Bass slam or authority is still better than before the wraps. So I reset my EQ back to before the wraps.

* No more tilting of any frequencies toward neutral. Instead there is a bit of euphoric feel like a high end tube hybrid. Not warmer tonally compared to before wraps though. This tube like sound is from mid range up. Very musical, I really like it. There is a PRaT and cohesiveness to the presentation that is hard to describe, but is very alluring.

* Vocals, strings, piano, actually all instrument timbre so good. Vocal clarity and emotional engagement (best I can do to describe) is better than the first two days and definitely better than before the wraps.

* The increased air, resolution, micro detail texturing, separation and sound staging is all still present.

 

[cdacosta]

It is my weekend. Guys, I just spent the last 6 hours listening to my system, mainly jazz and rock from Tidal and some YouTube. For 6 hours my ears have been in an orgasmic state, I am in such a great mood. LOL The system sounds insane! You know when you are listening to music that causes your mind and body to involuntarily groove to it? Yep for 6 hours straight.

So, for those that have ground boxes and are going to DIY these wraps, do not change the recipe/build of it. At least until you try it exactly as I shared for 4 or so days. This is so you have a recipe baseline. I spent many hours to get the recipe to what it is.

 

[BobG55]

Hi everyone,
I need help with a technical question about a cable. I just bought a used pair of HD800. The seller is including a balanced cable which is terminated with a 2.5 mm SE connector. First, I never knew that a balanced cable could have a SE (w/ 4 notches) connector. I always understood that such a cable came with a 4 pin or two, 3 pin connectors.

My question is the following : is there such a thing as an 1/4” (6.35mm) “balanced” adapter for the 2.5mm connector or would I need to have the connector replaced w/ an XLR 4 pin connector.

Thank you.

 

[cdacosta]

Hi everyone,
I need help with a technical question about a cable. I just bought a used pair of HD800. The seller is including a balanced cable which is terminated with a 2.5 mm SE connector. First, I never knew that a balanced cable could have a SE (w/ 4 notches) connector. I always understood that such a cable came with a 4 pin or two, 3 pin connectors.

My question is the following : is there such a thing as an 1/4” (6.35mm) “balanced” adapter for the 2.5mm connector or would I need to have the connector replaced w/ an XLR 4 pin connector.

Thank you.

If the output connector (amp) has 4 notches on it, it is likely a 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced connector. You can buy adapters that convert the Pentaconn into other formats. Here is a video talking about the different balanced formats:

 

[BobG55]

If the output connector (amp) has 4 notches on it, it is likely a 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced connector. You can buy adapters that convert the Pentaconn into other formats. Here is a video talking about the different balanced formats:

Thank you for the reply and I will watch the video. But my question is also : the adapter, can it not have the 4 notches also in order to keep the balance option of the 2.5 mm connector ? Got my answer at the end of the video. 4 pin XLR adapter for the 2.5mm connector.

Can’t thank you enough for your help. I’ll let you know what if/ when I find the adapter and how it went.

 

[BobG55]

If the output connector (amp) has 4 notches on it, it is likely a 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced connector. You can buy adapters that convert the Pentaconn into other formats. Here is a video talking about the different balanced formats:

The only 2 I’ve found so far are both Made in China (See attached photos).

The bottom one is cheaper but more importantly, they have 100% + feedback after 2502 transactions. The top one has 100% + feedback also but only 161 transactions. I’m a bit leery because a few years ago, I bought a HP cable from a seller from China who also had 100% + feedback and the connectors didn’t fit the cups. I’ll keep searching for a North American produced one but the 4 pin male to 2.5mm adapter seems to be a rarity.

 

[BS5711]

The only 2 I’ve found so far are both Made in China (See attached photos).

The bottom one is cheaper but more importantly, they have 100% + feedback after 2502 transactions. The top one has 100% + feedback also but only 161 transactions. I’m a bit leery because a few years ago, I bought a HP cable from a seller from China who also had 100% + feedback and the connectors didn’t fit the cups. I’ll keep searching for a North American produced one but the 4 pin male to 2.5mm adapter seems to be a rarity.

There are plenty of options for 4 pin to 2.5mm TRRS female adapters.

Something like the ones below with no cable might be more convenient and elegant.

There are a number of these around at various price points. At some point though it might be more cost effective to but a new cable with a 4 pin XLR unless the cable they came with is a very good one.

https://www.moon-audio.com/custom-4-pin-xlr-headphone-adapter.html

https://oidiosound.co.uk/25mm-to-xlr-adapter

https://drop.com/buy/drop-4-pin-xlr-to-trrs-adapter

 

[BobG55]

There are plenty of options for 4 pin to 2.5mm TRRS female adapters.

Something like the ones below with no cable might be more convenient and elegant.

There are a number of these around at various price points. At some point though it might be more cost effective to but a new cable with a 4 pin XLR unless the cable they came with is a very good one.

https://www.moon-audio.com/custom-4-pin-xlr-headphone-adapter.html

https://oidiosound.co.uk/25mm-to-xlr-adapter

https://drop.com/buy/drop-4-pin-xlr-to-trrs-adapter

Thanks. These are much more practical. I really appreciate your help with this. That‘s one thing I’ve always liked about Head-fi members; they’re always ready to help or share practical advice. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been a regular member for more than ten years now. I try and do the same when I can.