[zanash]

much appreciated !

just read through it ......again well done, its a clear presentation of these ideas and implementation.

 

[Jake2]

I tried that before years ago on signal/interconnect cables and did not like what it did. Do not remember trying on power of any kind. I also ordered real carbon fiber cloth like material to experiment with. Lets see how flexible graphite of different densities effect different cabling types first. I have not tried using graphite like this before. I have tried different absorbing material and shielding material with signal and digital cabling and almost always there are negatives, so lets wait and see.

Hi CDA, just revisiting carbon shielding and was considering some woven carbon fibre cloth as well as some CF sheaths for cables, then recalled you’d ordered some cloth. Did you get a chance to try this around cables or within components?

 

[cdacosta]

Did try it. Similar (just slightly less so) effect like the carbon sheets. Shrunk the sound stage and slightly rolled off the top end. Cannot find positive reactions anywhere in my system so far.

 

[Wladimir]

Hey guys, check out my first DIY grounding cable for this Xangsane grounding unit.

Wire: 13AWG OCC multistrand (19x0.41) in transparent PTFE, 20 cm
Spade: Xangsane pure silver - rhodium plated (chosen for being very lightweight)
Banana: Qyfang - rhodium as well
Both solderless connections.

After assembly I measured the resistance, it was hovering around 0.08 - 9. Then I added a miniscule drop of Furutech Nano Liquid on both ends of the wire, also gently brushed the sides, reassembled and voilá resistance dropped to 0.04 - 5.

Does any of you, more experienced DIYers/grounders, have suggestions how to tweak it further?
Thanks

 

[cdacosta]

Hey guys, check out my first DIY grounding cable for this Xangsane grounding unit.

Wire: 13AWG OCC multistrand (19x0.41) in transparent PTFE, 20 cm
Spade: Xangsane pure silver - rhodium plated (chosen for being very lightweight)
Banana: Qyfang - rhodium as well
Both solderless connections.

After assembly I measured the resistance, it was hovering around 0.08 - 9. Then I added a miniscule drop of Furutech Nano Liquid on both ends of the wire, also gently brushed the sides, reassembled and voilá resistance dropped to 0.04 - 5.

Does any of you, more experienced DIYers/grounders, have suggestions how to tweak it further?
Thanks

1) apply Nano the same way to the connectors and where they are installed.

2) most importantly where the tube will be installed?

3) Rochelle salt wrap on the cable at install end could improve performance. Never tried such a small device so not sure.

 

[jimbop54]

It was great that you put together that PDF of the box build, but I’ve got questions about the mix. You don’t say how much Magnetite. And in your description it seems that it is almost all Magnetite, with other materials added for “tuning”. I thought I read that some were mixing larger amounts of Tourmaline in the initial mix.

 

[cdacosta]

It was great that you put together that PDF of the box build, but I’ve got questions about the mix. You don’t say how much Magnetite. And in your description it seems that it is almost all Magnetite, with other materials added for “tuning”. I thought I read that some were mixing larger amounts of Tourmaline in the initial mix.

@EDhaenens put together that .pdf as a summary. After about 10 months of experimenting I found using natural Magnetite as the main mineral in the mix to yield the best results. Within the 3KG+ ingredient mix approx. 70% of the mineral mix is Magnetite. The rest or other 30% adds nuances to the sonic presentation and allows for one to fine tune. Tourmaline in sand, powder or small chip form is used to tune.

I have had countless PMs and emails asking me how to just share the formula and build because it was too much for them to read through the thread. A passive ground box looks simple. To get the most out of it or best performance from a ground box, everything about its build, cable and install effects performance.

I suggest to build every aspect of the ground box "exactly" as I suggest for the first one or two builds. Once you understand what part of the build effects the sonic reproduction to then experiment as you see fit. Deviating from my build suggestions will effect the sonic performance of the box. I only offer best practice(s), which I have learned from almost daily experimentation and mutations across about a year.

 

[jimbop54]

@EDhaenens put together that .pdf as a summary. After about 10 months of experimenting I found using natural Magnetite as the main mineral in the mix to yield the best results. Within the 3KG+ ingredient mix approx. 70% of the mineral mix is Magnetite. The rest or other 30% adds nuances to the sonic presentation and allows for one to fine tune. Tourmaline in sand, powder or small chip form is used to tune.

I have had countless PMs and emails asking me how to just share the formula and build because it was too much for them to read through the thread. A passive ground box looks simple. To get the most out of it or best performance from a ground box, everything about its build, cable and install effects performance.

I suggest to build every aspect of the ground box "exactly" as I suggest for the first one or two builds. Once you understand what part of the build effects the sonic reproduction to then experiment as you see fit. Deviating from my build suggestions will effect the sonic performance of the box. I only offer best practice(s), which I have learned from almost daily experimentation and mutations across about a year.

Thanks for your reply

 

[zanash]

finally all my ingredients have arrived ........
my 3d printed box made ..
wires stripped.
minerals mixed and bagged.
cable prepared.
parts assembled.
continuity checked.
finally hooked up ........

Ive gone with digital ground, rather than chassis ground as my box is rather small [100mm cube].......

Music on ! and..... nothing obvious [dissappointed emoji !]

but six hours later watching tv [routed via the dac's hdmi arc] something a bit different to the normal grey tv sound.

This morning however a proper listening session I've been able to think through what I'm hearing ...greater slam , more body but with more delicacy.

my mix
magnetite 50%
quartz sand 20%
rochells salt 5%
copper sulphate 5% [ because I had some from a previous project, and its para magnetic]
bentonite 20% [as a negative ion donor]

I will be testing hBN as dusted lining to a second bag for the mineral mix, and then for the cable. But thats a few days away till the system reaches equilibrium.

note.
testing with my multi meter to ground shows a negative 0.5mV on the rca ground connection of the box.

 

[cdacosta]

finally all my ingredients have arrived ........
my 3d printed box made ..
wires stripped.
minerals mixed and bagged.
cable prepared.
parts assembled.
continuity checked.
finally hooked up ........

Ive gone with digital ground, rather than chassis ground as my box is rather small [100mm cube].......

Music on ! and..... nothing obvious [dissappointed emoji !]

but six hours later watching tv [routed via the dac's hdmi arc] something a bit different to the normal grey tv sound.

This morning however a proper listening session I've been able to think through what I'm hearing ...greater slam , more body but with more delicacy.

my mix
magnetite 50%
quartz sand 20%
rochells salt 5%
copper sulphate 5% [ because I had some from a previous project, and its para magnetic]
bentonite 20% [as a negative ion donor]

I will be testing hBN as dusted lining to a second bag for the mineral mix, and then for the cable. But thats a few days away till the system reaches equilibrium.

note.
testing with my multi meter to ground shows a negative 0.5mV on the rca ground connection of the box.

Interesting and cool what you are trying. Just from what I see, looks like you used a chassis mount RCA jack for a connection point for the 3D printed probably 1KG of volume weight printed enclosure. Soldered to or crimp connected to 7” of maybe 14ga or so of copper wire.

If you want know how the DIY ground box I suggested compares (actually about 40% of the performance of a finished DIY) you can make something very simple. Get a 7lb (or there about) bag of natural Magnetite sand. You want natural Magnetite, not mixed for commercial use. Place this bag of Magnetite in a cardboard box. Make a cable of the dual twisted 14ga. 6N wire I recommend. One end with the Furutech solderless clone RCA connector and the other end 10” bare lead separated and placed in a the bag of Magnetite. Install the RCA end of the cable to an input or output of digital or analog on your DAC.

 

[zanash]

Agreed ........

This was a test of the principles rather than the finished item.
The majority of the material are what I have to hand. The rca socket is just glued in, as I could not find the nut !
Having worked on this Ive already decided on several improvements for the next build, firstly increase the volume of material used.

 

[kingoftown1]

I was able to pick up a used Synergistic Research Active Ground Block SE today. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my DIY boxes, and if certain things work better on one vs the other.

I'm starting with my two tranquility pods, motherboard usb & server's LPS chassis ground on the AGB SE.
DDC, DAC, Preamp, and XLR cables are still on their own DIY boxes.

 

[dougms3]

I was able to pick up a used Synergistic Research Active Ground Block SE today. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my DIY boxes, and if certain things work better on one vs the other.

I'm starting with my two tranquility pods, motherboard usb & server's LPS chassis ground on the AGB SE.
DDC, DAC, Preamp, and XLR cables are still on their own DIY boxes.

What are the effects of the tranquility pod?

That device looks interesting.

Lol I just saw what that active ground block looks like. Wow, 44 ports for grounding, thats awesome.

Can't wait to hear the results.

 

[kingoftown1]

The tranquility pod carbon is what got me into SR (besides the fuses which I've been using since Purple came out). They go on or under a component and just crank up the soundstage, dynamics, musicality and tangible aspect (in my speaker setup). There was a used Tranquility Pod on TMR, so I picked it up thinking I'd just return it if it didn't do anything for me. It sounds stupid, but it had a bigger impact than any of my power cable upgrades (incl. DPS 4.1). It just makes things seem more real. I have one under my pc (just underneath the processor & Jcat usb), and the other under my Spring 3.

There's no way I'll ever even begin to fill the ground block up lol. It looks a little goofy with only 4 things plugged into it. Only a couple hours in, but I think it'll be a keeper.

 

[kingoftown1]

I just added a ground cable to the unused USB XE output and got a pretty immediate improvement. I think there's a good takeaway -- even if you have any of your mobo usb/ethernet port/chassis ground on a ground box, add another wire from your USB card to the same ground box. Unless I'm misguided, it's essentially star grounding your PC components. Once I get more wire, I'll probably use some of my free slots to try grounding the hard drives, ram covers, etc.

This new cable was made from a short double run of scrap Neotech 26awg silver/gold alloy. I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be really well suited for ground box wires. I usually do a combo of copper and silver (18awg copper, 22awg copper, 24 awg copper, 26-30awg silver), but probably won't be able to make wires that bulky for every connection moving forward.