DIY Ground Box Thread

[cdacosta]

Here are the photos of the mains sockets and light switches. I haven’t opened them yet as it is evening here and my eyesight is not great at night.
the streamer is new approx 24 hours burn in so far. I am waiting for an audiophile switch.
i did try Rochelle salt on the outside of the sockets and switches but got wildly inconsistent results. Maybe I need to go back to sq one and salt one place at a time?
thanks

Read the post I just made above, this should help you. If your results are wildly inconsistent it is likely because you are using too much Rochelle salt and or placement in relation to Hot and Ground wiring. Very small amount needed.

 

[Boodle]

It can be tricky with UK wiring,as it's all in close proximity, but by following cdacosta method, and using small amounts, it can work wonders.
l know l mentioned it, but adding a low noise psu,will transform your router or switch. And without going on a completely different tangent, you should consider going to FMC, pretty cheap to do so, and a worthwhile upgrade in my view.
lf it helps, l started with RC at my electric breaker board, by adding 14grams in front on the trip switches, the reality is our houses are full of noise.

Thanks. What is FMC.

 

[kenincalgary]

Excellent! This is what I am referring to, just adjust the amount of Rochelle salt used by what you hear using the guidelines I have been offering. The Rochelle salt is very efficient in this application. Now imagine the performance increase you got at one junction times 30-50+ junctions across the AC wiring? Just test for tonal balance after every 1-2 installs. This is important since the bags are so close to the wiring. Will make final tuning easy when you are done with all the junctions in the home.

With the exception of 2 outdoor receptacles and the garage, and the refrigerator which is too big for me to move, all junction locations in my house have been salted with the 1gm & .5gm formula. Tonal balance is good, impact on the system is as you described. Nothing short of amazing.

I have access to the wiring at the panel and have been treating the cables with 4 gm salt wraps, each one giving incremental improvement. There are more to go but I'm pausing to enjoy and get familiar with what's already in place.

I have the ingredients for the next ac cable/ground box combo but haven't gotten to it due to the ridiculous goodness and instant gratification of the salt tweak. This stuff is like Christmas.

 

[Boodle]

Read the post I just made above, this should help you. If your results are wildly inconsistent it is likely because you are using too much Rochelle salt and or placement in relation to Hot and Ground wiring. Very small amount needed.

Thanks. Yes maybe i need to try less salt - 1/2 a gram instead of 1 gram. But so far have not found the right tonal balance, will keep trying because RS has a huge impact the only issue is how much and where to use. I experienced some some sublime moments but when i added the switch with an smps it all went way south. The streamer also has an smps inside it. I spent £1300 on the streamer, £ 500 on a new switch and if i have to change the internal smps with an LPS module then It stops making sense - would have been better off with a Streamer with an internal LPS. But as all things hifi, we never learn from impulsive buys and reviews that do not talk about what smps does to the sound of other components.
thanks for suggestions

 

[cdacosta]

With the exception of 2 outdoor receptacles and the garage, and the refrigerator which is too big for me to move, all junction locations in my house have been salted with the 1gm & .5gm formula. Tonal balance is good, impact on the system is as you described. Nothing short of amazing.

I have access to the wiring at the panel and have been treating the cables with 4 gm salt wraps, each one giving incremental improvement. There are more to go but I'm pausing to enjoy and get familiar with what's already in place.

I have the ingredients for the next ac cable/ground box combo but haven't gotten to it due to the ridiculous goodness and instant gratification of the salt tweak. This stuff is like Christmas.

LOL Nice. I know what you are experiencing. I am trying to help others to experience what we are experiencing, not sure how that is going. For the cost of materials, isn't the performance increase insane? Never experienced a tweak that effected system performance this much, at any cost.

 

[cdacosta]

Thanks. Yes maybe i need to try less salt - 1/2 a gram instead of 1 gram. But so far have not found the right tonal balance, will keep trying because RS has a huge impact the only issue is how much and where to use. I experienced some some sublime moments but when i added the switch with an smps it all went way south. The streamer also has an smps inside it. I spent £1300 on the streamer, £ 500 on a new switch and if i have to change the internal smps with an LPS module then It stops making sense - would have been better off with a Streamer with an internal LPS. But as all things hifi, we never learn from impulsive buys and reviews that do not talk about what smps does to the sound of other components.
thanks for suggestions

Start with one junction point. Get the tonal balance right. Learn for your location/AC wiring the proper amount of Rochelle salt to use and best location relative to the Hot and Ground wiring. Maybe you have to use even less than 1/2 gram for Hot side and even less for Ground like @EDhaenens did:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/diy-ground-box-thread.968372/page-81#post-17839130

Then use that as a baseline for the next junction point. Trust me, this is worth understanding and applying. The performance upside potential is well beyond what you would think possible or would expect.

 

[EDhaenens]

Start with one junction point. Get the tonal balance right. Learn for your location/AC wiring the proper amount of Rochelle salt to use and best location relative to the Hot and Ground wiring. Maybe you have to use even less than 1/2 gram for Hot side and even less for Ground like @EDhaenens did:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/diy-ground-box-thread.968372/page-81#post-17839130

Then use that as a baseline for the next junction point. Trust me, this is worth understanding and applying. The performance upside potential is well beyond what you would think possible or would expect.

My first light switch I used 0,10 gram for hot and 0,05 for ground. For the next two switches I used even less, 0,04 gram for hot and 0,02 gram for ground. That is when the salt wrap is touching the conductors themselves. I’m getting a great performance boost from this.

 

[cdacosta]

My first light switch I used 0,10 gram for hot and 0,05 for ground. For the next two switches I used even less, 0,04 gram for hot and 0,02 gram for ground. That is when the salt wrap is touching the conductors themselves. I’m getting a great performance boost from this.

How many junctions have you treated, just 2? How many junctions do you approximate you have?

For context in my dwelling of 1100 square feet, there are 33 junctions of which I have treated 30.

 

[EDhaenens]

How many junctions have you treated, just 2? How many junctions do you approximate you have?

For context in my dwelling of 1100 square feet, there are 33 junctions of which I have treated 30.

I think I have approximately 10 light switches still to do and have done 3 today. The rest are buttons and are switched in the electrical board. They look like this on the inside…

I think about 50 ac sockets still to do

 

[cdacosta]

I think I have approximately 10 light switches still to do and have done 3 today. The rest are buttons and are switched in the electrical board. They look like this on the inside…


I think about 50 ac sockets still to do

So that is approx. 60 more junctions to treat. Your reaction to after treating all the junctions are going to be priceless. LOL

 

[cdacosta]

I think I have approximately 10 light switches still to do and have done 3 today. The rest are buttons and are switched in the electrical board. They look like this on the inside…


I think about 50 ac sockets still to do

I am curious since it is highly likely you listened to your system to tune at each junction install. What did you hear different if anything after each install?

 

[EDhaenens]

I am curious since it is highly likely you listened to your system to tune at each junction install. What did you hear different if anything after each install?

Yes I listened after every install. I had to make sure before installing the switches back into the wall that the sound was optimal. The first light switch I did was the best. It gave a lot more clarity and the bass got a nice pump. Balance and separation got very good. With the next two light switches a got more of the same but a bit less powerfull. I had to use less salt with those last two switches because more made it less detailed and gave less body.

 

[kingoftown1]

@Stellabagpuss the GS108 switch is such a no-brainer for the price. I use two in front of a LHY SW-8, and they still make an improvement. They're also so cheap that there's not much risk in taking a soldering iron to it. Putting a .01mfd bypass capacitor across the dc input, and bypassing the other through hole electrolytic on the board can bring some nice additional improvements. These are really nice for the price.

 

[cdacosta]

Yes I listened after every install. I had to make sure before installing the switches back into the wall that the sound was optimal. The first light switch I did was the best. It gave a lot more clarity and the bass got a nice pump. Balance and separation got very good. With the next two light switches a got more of the same but a bit less powerfull. I had to use less salt with those last two switches because more made it less detailed and gave less body.

Interesting. Unlike US application/install being on the wall plate, I wonder if placing the wrap directly on the wire is more sensitive to tuning? I also wonder if having say a piece of medium density foam spacer (like 5mm to 10mm piping foam) between the wiring and wrap be a preferred install method? Only way to know is to try.

 

[Stellabagpuss]

Interesting. Unlike US application/install being on the wall plate, I wonder if placing the wrap directly on the wire is more sensitive to tuning? I also wonder if having say a piece of medium density foam spacer (like 5mm to 10mm piping foam) between the wiring and wrap be a preferred install method? Only way to know is to try.

That's a good point, l installed mine on the back of the plastic surround, as it's slightly further away, the issue l had ,with UK wiring, the wires are to close proximity, so if you put a wrap on a earth, it's close enough to effect the blue neutral.
But your correct, it's a case of trial and error. What l would say, work backwards from your set up,if you added to much
Thanks again cdacosta for sharing your experience with us all.