[cdacosta]

If this is only 30%, I cannot wait to experience the rest.

If you like what you have experienced so far from the jimmy rigged version, I suggest just follow what I have suggested "exactly" for your first DIY build. The performance can be much better. Once you have experienced a properly built passive ground box, then experiment. By then you will have a much better idea as to what and how the different aspects of the build effect performance. Every aspect of the design and build effect the performance of the finished product. A properly built ground box will not only allow you to hear more from your system but will also allow you to fine tune the tonal character of the system.

@EDhaenens followed my advice and I believe has built over 7 of these ground boxes. He likely can chime in and share how changing the build effects performance.

 

[MattSPL]

If you like what you have experienced so far from the jimmy rigged version, I suggest just follow what I have suggested "exactly" for your first DIY build. The performance can be much better. Once you have experienced a properly built passive ground box, then experiment. By then you will have a much better idea as to what and how the different aspects of the build effect performance. Every aspect of the design and build effect the performance of the finished product. A properly built ground box will not only allow you to hear more from your system but will also allow you to fine tune the tonal character of the system.

@EDhaenens followed my advice and I believe has built over 7 of these ground boxes. He likely can chime in and share how changing the build effects performance.

I have a feeling I’ll be building endless boxes if this Jimmy rigged version is anything to go by.
The rest of the parts are probably a few weeks away though.
I will have to study the pdf again.

 

[cdacosta]

I have a feeling I’ll be building endless boxes if this Jimmy rigged version is anything to go by.
The rest of the parts are probably a few weeks away though.
I will have to study the pdf again.

I have to look at @EDhaenen’s .pdf again. I read through it when he first created it, so it has been awhile. IIRC the .pdf is a summary of what is in this thread, not the full DIY recipe. The DIY and build subtleties are spread within this thread.

The next couple of days I will have a bit of free time. I will try and list a simple to read breakdown of the parts of the DIY build that effects the performance.

 

[jm11]

5kg of Magnetite arrived.
While I wait for everything else for the ground box I terminated a 4mm sq piece of Van damme speaker cable onto an xlr connector.
I then stripped about a foot of the cable separated some of the copper strands and buried it into the bag of Magnetite, then plugged the xlr into the AES input of my Dac.

This crude test setup is easily worth the cost and surprisingly good already.

Thank you for the inspiration to try this.

May I ask if you had a reason to use an Xlr termination ?

Could I use an Aes termination with the sane effect do you think.?

 

[cdacosta]

Just scanned through the .pdf at the beginning of this thread. Wow, @EDhaenens did a great job of gathering and distilling the gist of all the tweaks and mods.

As mentioned in the .pdf, within this thread I go over the subtleties, cause and effect, performance comparisons of installations, why I recommend something specific, etc. Will read through the ground box .pdf build again and try to fill in the gaps of information that will shed light to customizing the ground box build. Focusing on areas that effect performance.

 

[MattSPL]

I have to look at @EDhaenen’s .pdf again. I read through it when he first created it, so it has been awhile. IIRC the .pdf is a summary of what is in this thread, not the full DIY recipe. The DIY and build subtleties are spread within this thread.

The next couple of days I will have a bit of free time. I will try and list a simple to read breakdown of the parts of the DIY build that effects the performance.

Thank you, that would be really helpful

 

[MattSPL]

Thank you for the inspiration to try this.

May I ask if you had a reason to use an Xlr termination ?

Could I use an Aes termination with the sane effect do you think.?

I was too eager to wait for all the parts for the box build(Including the solderless RCA’s) to arrive, so all I had on hand was an XLR, so figured I’d try that.

 

[cdacosta]

Thank you for the inspiration to try this.

May I ask if you had a reason to use an Xlr termination ?

Could I use an Aes termination with the sane effect do you think.?

You can use an XLR termination. I would recommend a solderless connector like the ones I used to mod the XLR balanced interconnects. Solder will degrade performance, no matter the solder used. Note the solderless connector will only accept a 14ga or so conductor. If a thicker gauge conductor is used like in the 11ga. dual twisted 6N I recommend, you will want to solderless crimp connect (use a copper crimp sleeve) the other 14ga. conductor to the one that is connected to the XLR connector.

 

[jm11]

I was too eager to wait for all the parts for the box build(Including the solderless RCA’s) to arrive, so all I had on hand was an XLR, so figured I’d try that.

Thank you for your prompt and informative reply.

 

[jm11]

You can use an XLR termination. I would recommend a solderless connector like the ones I used to mod the XLR balanced interconnects. Solder will degrade performance, no matter the solder used. Note the solderless connector will only accept a 14ga or so conductor. If a thicker gauge conductor is used like in the 11ga. dual twisted 6N I recommend, you will want to solderless crimp connect (use a copper crimp sleeve) the other 14ga. conductor to the one that is connected to the XLR connector.

Oh boy I didn’t know about solderless versus soldered let alone copper crimp etc.

Trying to wrap my non-technical mind around yiur recommendations above. !

Thank you for all the excellent advice you provide here.

It is much appreciated.

 

[cdacosta]

Oh boy I didn’t know about solderless versus soldered let alone copper crimp etc.

Trying to wrap my non-technical mind around yiur recommendations above. !

Thank you for all the excellent advice you provide here.

It is much appreciated.

With a soldered connection there is the connector metal, then solder, then the conductor. The solder will color and degrade the connection within this application. I experimented extensively with connections and installations to evaluate performance differences that was audible for a ground box cable.

 

[EDhaenens]

Just scanned through the .pdf at the beginning of this thread. Wow, @EDhaenens did a great job of gathering and distilling the gist of all the tweaks and mods.

As mentioned in the .pdf, within this thread I go over the subtleties, cause and effect, performance comparisons of installations, why I recommend something specific, etc. Will read through the ground box .pdf build again and try to fill in the gaps of information that will shed light to customizing the ground box build. Focusing on areas that effect performance.

Thank you! I will keep an eye on this thread and update the pdf accordingly.

This thread really is a goldmine! Thanks again @cdacosta for experimenting and sharing all of your knowledge about these subjects. Folllowing your advice I transformed a mediocre, at best, system to a stellar sounding one. No matter what I listen to, classical, jazz, electronics, punk or metal…it all sounds great!
Building the boxes takes some time and imho build at least one of @cdacosta ‘s boxes before starting to experiment with different things. I used 100 % the same ingredients and materials Cdacosta uses just to make sure I knew what he was talking about. Deviating just a little in materials or in amounts will give you a different outcome. Also take care of small details like if you should use teflon tape to seperate the wire from the box hole…don’t use too much tape or it will affect what is heard. Same with the teflon tape used on connector housing under the barrel to prevent the bare wire from oxidation…If the teflon tape touches the bare wire just a bit it will give uneasy highs. I think it would be a good thing to post your progress for some guidance.

It was good that I removed my rochelle salt at the oulets and switches the other day because I forgot how much difference this makes. Also, it made me realise I forgot three outlets in the house + my outlets outside and in the garage. That makes an extra 7 switches and outlets I did with rochelle salt yesterday and today my system sounds again another notch up. Stunning!

 

[kingoftown1]

Going to drop this here since it's relevant to the spirit of the thread:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US9732234B2/en

 

[cdacosta]

Thank you! I will keep an eye on this thread and update the pdf accordingly.

This thread really is a goldmine! Thanks again @cdacosta for experimenting and sharing all of your knowledge about these subjects. Folllowing your advice I transformed a mediocre, at best, system to a stellar sounding one. No matter what I listen to, classical, jazz, electronics, punk or metal…it all sounds great!
Building the boxes takes some time and imho build at least one of @cdacosta ‘s boxes before starting to experiment with different things. I used 100 % the same ingredients and materials Cdacosta uses just to make sure I knew what he was talking about. Deviating just a little in materials or in amounts will give you a different outcome. Also take care of small details like if you should use teflon tape to seperate the wire from the box hole…don’t use too much tape or it will affect what is heard. Same with the teflon tape used on connector housing under the barrel to prevent the bare wire from oxidation…If the teflon tape touches the bare wire just a bit it will give uneasy highs. I think it would be a good thing to post your progress for some guidance.

It was good that I removed my rochelle salt at the oulets and switches the other day because I forgot how much difference this makes. Also, it made me realise I forgot three outlets in the house + my outlets outside and in the garage. That makes an extra 7 switches and outlets I did with rochelle salt yesterday and today my system sounds again another notch up. Stunning!

I am glad you are a happy camper! Amazing how a system's performance can be "transformed" by systematically removing different types of noise. Removing noise improves performance of a system like no other tweak, cable change, or mod can do. To truly hear what a system or component in a system brings to the equation, high frequency noise that is masking its reproduction capabilities need to be tamed or minimized. For those that are reading this, when I say "transformed", I am speaking of starting with a good sounding system and turning it into musical beast. A system that constantly leaves me feeling "like wow"! All without changing any of the components or cabling.

Some of us are old enough to remember when we used wire as antenna for our TV sets. Well now we have WIFI, Bluetooth and many other airborne HF noise around us. Electronic appliances and devices in our homes. Well it should not be a surprise that our home AC wiring that feeds our systems, system cabling, and electronic components within our systems all act like an antenna to pick up and transmit this noise to and through our systems. This HF noise masks data in the original recording. The data being masked can be micro detail, nuances within a note/sound, effect decay, attack, how clear a vocal(s) are, sound stage, separation, delineation within and around other notes and sounds, etc, etc.

Once noise levels are reduced the more you hear. The more noise you remove from a system the more you hear, and the more real life it sounds. The more what is heard sounds "real" and musical, the more engaged and fun the experience is. At least that is how it is for me. If you are an audiophile or music lover, the experience during the system's transformation is extremely addictive and fun. This is what this thread is really about (or my contribution to it), the journey of and how to transform our systems. And doing so without going broke! LMAO

There are some simple, inexpensive and quick tweaks in this thread like the Magnetite AC power wraps. Then there is the crown jewel which is the passive and tunable DIY ground box. Especially if it is mated with a modded good interconnect cable. As simple as the ground box looks and seems, every aspect of the build (and cable build) effects its performance, which can be easily and instantly heard through the system. @EDhaenens eluded to this above, which he got to experience this first hand. Also eluded to by @EDhaenens is that if you try your hand at the DIY ground box, changing my recipe will effects the performance. Especially the cable and recommended installation methods and locations. The cable and installation will be 50% or so of the performance of the ground box.

 

[Jake2]

I am glad you are a happy camper! Amazing how a system's performance can be "transformed" by systematically removing different types of noise. Removing noise improves performance of a system like no other tweak, cable change, or mod can do. To truly hear what a system or component in a system brings to the equation, high frequency noise that is masking its reproduction capabilities need to be tamed or minimized. For those that are reading this, when I say "transformed", I am speaking of starting with a good sounding system and turning it into musical beast. A system that constantly leaves me feeling "like wow"! All without changing any of the components or cabling.

Some of us are old enough to remember when we used wire as antenna for our TV sets. Well now we have WIFI, Bluetooth and many other airborne HF noise around us. Electronic appliances and devices in our homes. Well it should not be a surprise that our home AC wiring that feeds our systems, system cabling, and electronic components within our systems all act like an antenna to pick up and transmit this noise to and through our systems. This HF noise masks data in the original recording. The data being masked can be micro detail, nuances within a note/sound, effect decay, attack, how clear a vocal(s) are, sound stage, separation, delineation within and around other notes and sounds, etc, etc.

Once noise levels are reduced the more you hear. The more noise you remove from a system the more you hear, and the more real life it sounds. The more what is heard sounds "real" and musical, the more engaged and fun the experience is. At least that is how it is for me. If you are an audiophile or music lover, the experience during the system's transformation is extremely addictive and fun. This is what this thread is really about (or my contribution to it), the journey of and how to transform our systems. And doing so without going broke! LMAO

There are some simple, inexpensive and quick tweaks in this thread like the Magnetite AC power wraps. Then there is the crown jewel which is the passive and tunable DIY ground box. Especially if it is mated with a modded good interconnect cable. As simple as the ground box looks and seems, every aspect of the build (and cable build) effects its performance, which can be easily and instantly heard through the system. @EDhaenens eluded to this above, which he got to experience this first hand. Also eluded to by @EDhaenens is that if you try your hand at the DIY ground box, changing my recipe will effects the performance. Especially the cable and recommended installation methods and locations. The cable and installation will be 50% or so of the performance of the ground box.

Well said sir, thanks again for the trailblazing. This is a most excellent thread from which my system has benefited in multiple ways even though I've yet to go down the DIY ground box route.

Speaking of which, this just arrived, finally. I'll be doing a little searching of this thread on the best way to use it, but the internal connectors of my DIY power amp seem as good place to start as any.