DIY Ground Box Thread

[Jake2]

Hi @Jake2 ,
What model of LHY switch have you been using in your chain? I'm curious about the quality of LHY 6 and its internal clock.

LHY SW-8 is the one I have, had it since late last year. Very good. There's a chap on the master clock thread who has the SW-8 and just got the SW-6 - Jamo.

 

[EDhaenens]

I am sure you tried just one of the channels from the one box. What was the performance difference by adding the second channel from the same box?

L+R channel connected to box is definitely better. More space, depth, better texture and realism. Difference is not subtle.
I’m going to change the other two-wired box to a binding post box tomorrow and post my findings.

 

[Boodle]

Ground Box pioneers - Brilliant insights and guidance- Thank you.
Based on all the posts, I am in the process of getting all the ingredients together for my first box. I received the magnetite granules 3 kg in total. I tried one 500gm pouch on the power cable (Kimber woven 8tc with separate ground) from my PS Audio P3 to the Plixir Lps which feeds the Chord Qutest Dac- Wow. What a major improvement in every dimension - frequency extension up and down, depth and soundstage, unreal. Next I tried another 500gm pouch on the Ali Express Odin 2 power cable wall to the power amp (Bryston 4B3) - not much change either way. So I moved the pouch over to the power cable from wall to regenerator P3 that feeds the Dac Lps and my Naim Uniticore server, a very worthwhile improvement - better timbre and clarity - this is on a Furutech DPS 4 power cord with Fi 50 ncf iec and a Furutech UK ncf plug (all genuine items). This thread has enabled me to effect such a huge upgrade to my system and as cdcosta (thank you) said is nearly a free upgrade. Anyone who hasn’t tried this simple but very effective upgrade is missing out.

 

[cdacosta]

Ground Box pioneers - Brilliant insights and guidance- Thank you.
Based on all the posts, I am in the process of getting all the ingredients together for my first box. I received the magnetite granules 3 kg in total. I tried one 500gm pouch on the power cable (Kimber woven 8tc with separate ground) from my PS Audio P3 to the Plixir Lps which feeds the Chord Qutest Dac- Wow. What a major improvement in every dimension - frequency extension up and down, depth and soundstage, unreal. Next I tried another 500gm pouch on the Ali Express Odin 2 power cable wall to the power amp (Bryston 4B3) - not much change either way. So I moved the pouch over to the power cable from wall to regenerator P3 that feeds the Dac Lps and my Naim Uniticore server, a very worthwhile improvement - better timbre and clarity - this is on a Furutech DPS 4 power cord with Fi 50 ncf iec and a Furutech UK ncf plug (all genuine items). This thread has enabled me to effect such a huge upgrade to my system and as cdcosta (thank you) said is nearly a free upgrade. Anyone who hasn’t tried this simple but very effective upgrade is missing out.

Glad you tried the Magnetite AC power cable wrap and like it. The AC power cable wraps provide about 1/3 of an audible system change compared to one of my DIY ground boxes. This is assuming you build the ground box and cable like I do. I recommend you install the first one at the DAC’s input or output stages with RCA connection. Will be an interesting project for you, have fun!

 

[EDhaenens]

Ground Box pioneers - Brilliant insights and guidance- Thank you.
Based on all the posts, I am in the process of getting all the ingredients together for my first box. I received the magnetite granules 3 kg in total. I tried one 500gm pouch on the power cable (Kimber woven 8tc with separate ground) from my PS Audio P3 to the Plixir Lps which feeds the Chord Qutest Dac- Wow. What a major improvement in every dimension - frequency extension up and down, depth and soundstage, unreal. Next I tried another 500gm pouch on the Ali Express Odin 2 power cable wall to the power amp (Bryston 4B3) - not much change either way. So I moved the pouch over to the power cable from wall to regenerator P3 that feeds the Dac Lps and my Naim Uniticore server, a very worthwhile improvement - better timbre and clarity - this is on a Furutech DPS 4 power cord with Fi 50 ncf iec and a Furutech UK ncf plug (all genuine items). This thread has enabled me to effect such a huge upgrade to my system and as cdcosta (thank you) said is nearly a free upgrade. Anyone who hasn’t tried this simple but very effective upgrade is missing out.

Believe me, once you hear what these boxes do, you will have trouble sleeping when a new box is nearly finished or settling in. Welcome to the club, in a few months you won’t recognise your system anymore.

 

[beisen]

I found that Kimber 8TC works great for the cable used in the grounding boxes.

 

[cdacosta]

I found that Kimber 8TC works great for the cable used in the grounding boxes.

Am I correct in assuming, you mean as the cable between the ground box and component being filtered by the ground box?

If yes, what have you compared the 8TC to for this use case? I am always interested in hearing about different cabling and wires used for ground box cables. Appreciate your comments.

 

[beisen]

I have only used the cable you recommend, the the twisted pair of copper teflon wire. I believed that it was 14 gage. I found the 8tc wire gave a much better soundstage and all around smoothess to the sound.

 

[cdacosta]

I have only used the cable you recommend, the the twisted pair of copper teflon wire. I believed that it was 14 gage. I found the 8tc wire gave a much better soundstage and all around smoothess to the sound.

Interesting! How about tonal balance, detail retrieval, texturing, etc, etc?

What I am trying to figure out is what the Kimber 8TC does better and worse compared to the 6N twisted pair? If it makes sense, I would try the Kimber 8TC.

 

[Jake2]

I have only used the cable you recommend, the the twisted pair of copper teflon wire. I believed that it was 14 gage. I found the 8tc wire gave a much better soundstage and all around smoothess to the sound.

Very interesting cable design, with its mix of conductor strand sizes, a helix design (a little like Litz, which is intended to average each conductor's time on the exterior to reduce skin effect). Also cumulatively a high gauge of 9AWG. Net effect is a claimed very low impedance, but the graph doesn't extend to the RF noise frequencies in the MHz and GHz region I'd be more interested in.

 

[beisen]

Interesting! How about tonal balance, detail retrieval, texturing, etc, etc?

What I am trying to figure out is what the Kimber 8TC does better and worse compared to the 6N twisted pair? If it makes sense, I would try the Kimber 8TC.

I think because of the teflon braided wire and the variable wire gages might have something to do with it. To my ears the tonalithy and the lower noise floor brought out things I never heard from familiar recordings. I have not heard anything that was not positive.

 

[cdacosta]

I think because of the teflon braided wire and the variable wire gages might have something to do with it. To my ears the tonalithy and the lower noise floor brought out things I never heard from familiar recordings. I have not heard anything that was not positive.

I would be interested in listening to a ground box cable built with the Kimber 8TC. Was not that fond of the cable when I tried it for speaker applications, that was years ago. Are you in the US? Maybe you can sell me 1.5m of the wire so I can test it?

 

[cdacosta]

@beisen
I am at work and did not remember the pricing for Kimber 8TC. Just looked and saw $700 for 3 meters. Ummm the performance would have to be insanely better than the 6N wire that is $30 for 2.5m. In your opinion how much better is the 8TC, since you have tried and am assuming you compared them?

 

[Boodle]

Kimber 8TC works very well as a power cable too. Provided you run a separate ground cable outside after putting a sheath on the 8TC. I use a 2 meter 8TC terminated with Furutech fp209 spades at both ends, the cable is sheathed with an fep sheath and I run a 12 gauge Duelund cable counter wound on top of the sheathed 8TC. Break in is quite long but 4 days on the cable cooker does it. Russ Andrews the Kimber agent in uk sells ground cables for his Ground Router made of what is 8 tc and charges a lot for it. Perhaps someone could try the Ali Exp 8TC or even 12 TC. But break in will be long due to the dielectric being a lot more than a twisted pair. Btw do not use solder on the 8tc - kills it. Furutech nano liquid works wonders with 8tc or an other cable (another cdcosta gem) .

 

[cdacosta]

Kimber 8TC works very well as a power cable too. Provided you run a separate ground cable outside after putting a sheath on the 8TC. I use a 2 meter 8TC terminated with Furutech fp209 spades at both ends, the cable is sheathed with an fep sheath and I run a 12 gauge Duelund cable counter wound on top of the sheathed 8TC. Break in is quite long but 4 days on the cable cooker does it. Russ Andrews the Kimber agent in uk sells ground cables for his Ground Router made of what is 8 tc and charges a lot for it. Perhaps someone could try the Ali Exp 8TC or even 12 TC. But break in will be long due to the dielectric being a lot more than a twisted pair. Btw do not use solder on the 8tc - kills it. Furutech nano liquid works wonders with 8tc or an other cable (another cdcosta gem) .

I almost ordered some of the Ali 8TC last night but realized that the aggregate of all the wire is 6ga.

So I understand correctly. You are using 8TC as a ground box cable. A single run of 2m with all conductors terminated with a spade on each end? Or am I reading what you wrote incorrectly? Thanks