[pataburd]

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I just sent to Ric Schultz after his Ground Enhancer tweaks arrived in the mail.
 
 
*****************************************************************************************************
The EVS Ground Enhancers arrived this morning.  They were secured to the negative poles of my speaker binding posts within 5 minutes.  
 
Mind you, this is not a "high end" system, just something I put together for my wife after I veered off in the direction of dedicated headphone listening.  The equipment consists of a RAM-modded Samsung DVD-HD841 (before I knew better), an AMC XIA integrated amp, budget-priced Virtue Audio interconnect and speaker cable, Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 monitors and a Martin Logan Dynamo 500 sub.  
 
The without/with differences were clearly and immediately apparent: an appreciable degree of added ease and richness of detail and tonality, coupled with an expansion in the 3D soundstage, greater effusiveness, transparency and synergy with seamless transition across the frequency range.  The Wharfedales' bass and lower mids seem to have acquired an optimal ripeness and blend indistinguishably with the Dynamo.  I am listening at increased volume but with no fatigue whatsoever.  
 
It's amazing, actually, how "far into" the development of instrumental and vocal sounds I am now hearing while spinning Hiroshima's "Distant Thoughts" from their Third Generation album.  The koto strums and plucks come through with absolutely luscious depth and detail--a newfound and utterly open sense of detail.  June Kuramoto's solo on "From the Heart" is simply resonant and vivacious in a way I have never heard--nor thought I would ever hear--from this relatively modest equipment.
 
In short, a full immersion, musical experience of the highest order.  And the bang-for-the-buck factor for your GEs is at least two orders of magnitude beyond any other "tweak" I have tried to date.  
 
Needless to say, I am very excited to discover the effects that your GEs will have on my headphone amp, a modded Bada PH-12 with parallel headphone outputs!!
 
Thanks again, Ric, and congratulations on your break through with the GE.  Personally, I hope you corner the market on every continent with these devices!  : )
*****************************************************************************************************
 
 
Here is a link to Ric's website with more information on the Ground Enhancers:
http://www.tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/EVS_Ground_Enhancers.html 
 
I welcome and encourage other head-fiers to try the GEs (with Ric's 30-day return policy) and to report on their findings on this thread.
 
As alluded to in the letter above, Ric is in the process of preparing a Ground Enhancer for headphone application.  God willing, I will augment this thread with my impressions of that product after I have acquired it and have had a chance to audition.  : )

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

As alluded to in the letter above, Ric is in the process of preparing a Ground Enhancer for headphone application.  God willing, I will augment this thread with my impressions of that product after I have acquired it and have had a chance to audition.  : )

Well, I have 2 pairs of ground enhancers, and since my Stax 'phones are powered by transformer/speaker amp, I was able to test GE's for headphones already.  It does make an audible difference, but I can see some people preferring the sound without them with certain headphones vs. others.
 
I'm a little surprised you like the single set of GE's so much.  In my speaker system, the benefit really became obvious only after applying them both to speaker terminals and amp outputs.  I'm having better luck for my own tastes in speakers over headphones so far.
 
BTW.  You do realize  you have opened the proverbial "can of worms"

 

[pataburd]

Jon,
The second pair of GEs went into the main speaker outputs on my Denon AVR-1905 HT receiver, so I hadn't thought about using these as a second pair on the amp side of the system upstairs.  Might try that tomorrow, though.
 
That said, the EVS GEs on the negative poles of the AVR-1905 correlate with a signal improvement in dimensionality with the HT audio.  The sound just seems to jump into the listening space, with clarity, realism, dynamism and easily ascertainable added detail.  
 
I am planning to order some of the RCA GEs and try them out in various places, including both subwoofers.
 
Yes.  The "can of worms" has been opened.  So be it.  I invite the scoffers and skeptics to try these out for themselves, especially given Ric's 30-day money back terms.  If they remain scoffers and skeptics, so be that as well.  All I know is that I am--and many others are--enjoying the effects of the GEs immensely.  : )
 
God willing, I'll have an opportunity to try a GE fitted to a 1/4" SE headphone plug with my Fitz-maxed Bada PH-12 in the near future.
 
PAB 

 

[pataburd]

 
Quote:

Well, I have 2 pairs of ground enhancers, and since my Stax 'phones are powered by transformer/speaker amp, I was able to test GE's for headphones already.  It does make an audible difference, but I can see some people preferring the sound without them with certain headphones vs. others.
 

Jon,
Kindly elaborate on the statement bolded above.  : )
 
PAB 

 

[Slackboy72]

Too funny.

 

[Rdr. Seraphim]

How does this differ from a Bybee device? 

 

[pataburd]

According to the website:
 
"These Ground Enhancers are simply tuned pieces of wire that add a low impedance localized ground storage that enhances the sound in ways that are dumbfounding."  
 
If you search on the related links on Ric's site, you will find discussions about "electron pool" devices, into whose category the GEs fall.
 
I'm really not familiar with the Bybee technology, although I have used Bybee purifiers in the past with mixed success.  The last time I tried the Slipstream Bullets on my RCA outputs, for example, I did not like the edgy character that the Bullets gave the sound and promptly returned them for a refund.  Besides, Bybee is so prohibitively expensive (e.g. $3000+ dollars for the RCA plugs) in relation to the relatively small audible changes with which their use is correlated.  
 
On the other hand, for about 1/100 of the price of a Bybee product the GEs delivery appreciably more audible and musical improvement, IMHE.

 

[Syan25]

I've never heard of these before. Very interesting though after reading the link I have no idea where in my set up I would be able to use them

 

[00940]

Is there anything new under the sun ?
 
Build your own for peanuts, here is the thread that started it all in 2007: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/parts/102180-groundside-electrons.html
 
It doesn't make any more sense to me today than in 2007 btw but to each his own.

 

[balu_613]

I have to concur with the comment about Bybee devices and GE. I have spent a fair amount of money getting Bybee's Speaker Chargers, interconnect plugs, etc. They made a noticeable improvement, but that was more like getting a better speaker cable or interconnects. But these GE's are astounding, at least in the two systems I have tried them in. I bought one of each from Ric (i.e. GE for speaker/amp, GE attached to an RCA plug, and GE in a headphone plug). I tried the speaker GE on a pair of Gallo Nucleus Ref 3 with the rest of the system being:
 
    Redwine Audio modded Olive -> Oritek Audio DAC -> Eastern Electric BBA -> Redwine Audio Signature 30
 
I expected a moderate improvement, and didn't get that initially. The sound was congested and anemic, but after a couple of hours it really opened up with an absolutely gorgeous midrange, clean bass and extended highs. Importantly, the smearing that muddied the sound and the image was gone.
 
I then stuck the RCA GE on one of the unused outputs of a NuForce HDP headphone amp/dac that I use at work with a pair of German Maestro 8.35 D or Westone 3 (with UM56 tips). I saw some improvement, but it was slight. I then got one of these:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UE4JSC, and used the German Maestro in parallel with the headphone plug GE. Again, the sound was congested and anemic initially, but opened up after a few hours and has since been nothing short of amazing. I was listening to some complex passages from Pink Floyd's DSOTM and Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame which were rendered with aplomb by the HDP. I never expected to get such full-bodied sound (and the separation, image, etc) from this modest setup (or with any headphone setup, for that matter). I've had only about 5-6 hours with it, but it clearly surpasses (by far) a more expensive setup that I use at work which consists of:
 
    RWA iMod (playing Apple lossless) -> ALO Amphora withe Vcap dock -> JH Audio JA-13
 
I now have to try the GE with Amphora to see if it results in a similar improvement. In any event, the GEs are, by far, the best value I've gotten in this hobby.

 

[Black Stuart]

00940,
seems like a nice little DIY project. I just happen to have some 1mm UP-OCC solid core wire, I can snaffle a small piece from a digital cable I have for experiment.I'm sure I can find some stranded copper wire and I have some air cored polypropylene that should be ideal. I imagine the sheathing used is to hide the consruction techniques used.
 
Hi Patrick, like you I can try it in the 2nd jack on my Bada as well as on My Heybrook Sextets.