Grounding boxes

Yeah I don't know where active came from but I fully agree with DSJR. Properly done, active is vastly better than passive in every way. No contest.

According to your link, at least one person is.

I just read this response on Audiogon which I found interesting. Plausible? Well as I’m a non tech, I guess so.

07-02-2015 6:34pm
Let me take a shot at this ... first to answer the OP's original question ... "what's in the box" ...

I see at least 3 or 4 different schemes employed

First there is the use of strong magnetics ... second I believe Tara uses a special ceramic mix ...third and completely different is the use of the grounding box as a central single point ground and lastly is the use of crystals such as Tourmaline as Davidpritchard has mentioned

Starting with the magnets and ceramic mix ... electrical signals are always accompanied by magnetic fields ... electrical fields follow magnetic fields when magnetic fields are properly aligned in a North South orientation

Strong magnets when placed on the ends of a conductor will help draw the current through the conductor based on the magnet's orientation

The use of magnets and ceramic mixes are attempts to increase the flow in the direction of ground from your components attempting to pull any extra voltage riding on the components ground plane away from the component

Grounding boxes used as Central Single Point grounding scheme ... here this type of grounding box attempts to create a single point of ground and equalize all ground paths to a single grounding point ... similar to Star Grounding schemes

When ever there is a difference in the actual length of the ground conductor's length ... there are small difference in the ground potential which translates to additional voltage ... which translate into noise and ground loop

By using special cables of exact equal length connected from your component's chassis to the grounding box ... you are attempting to equalize all your components ground planes and then the grounding box is connected to the wall outlet attempting to create a single point of ground ... there is still a bump in the rug with this system I will explain later ... bear with me

Most common is when the cable company doesn't tie their ground to the house ground ... you get a ground loop that presents itself as a humming in the speakers or a bar traveling across and up your display device

You will also have issues if you use two separate circuits that are not on the same phase of your main panel box ... different length ground paths cause potential differences and ground loops

Here's another good one many audiophiles are guilty of and don't realize

You plug your amps directly into the wall but you plug all your sources and low level devices into a power conditioner and then plug the power conditioner into the wall ... there is a big difference in ground path length from your low level devices to your power conditioner to the wall than your amp plugged directly into the wall

Besides creating ground loops the difference in ground potential is a open invitation for RF to couple to that conductor and invade your components

For more on this check out the Core Audio Technology website where they discuss problems with different length ground paths and how RF is easily coupled to your components

The last in the box scheme is Crystals ... I don't see how they can draw Voltage / Noise away from your component ... I'm under the impression that when current passes through or near a Crystal .. the Crystal is heated up and emits a beneficial counter wave reducing RF ... sorry I just don't get how Crystal work in a ground scheme

Now the Bump in the rug I mentioned earlier

All components should have two separate and Isolated ground planes from each other

One is the Third wire safety circuit which provide a low impedance path way to the ground rod in the event of a fault or short circuit until the breaker can trip ... this circuit is completely separate from the audio signal circuit and only provide a safe path in the event of a fault or short circuit ... there is no audio signal content on the Third wire safety circuit nor should there be ... it's a safety circuit not and audio circuit

The other ground plane should be a separate ground plane in each component of 0 voltage for the positive half of the audio signal to reference to ... the ground boxes are an attempt to remove any voltage attached to this ground plane as this noise will increase the Noise Floor

Problem is most manufactures designing to a price point of "good enough for Audiofools mentalities" only employ the Third wire safety circuit and tie the Signal ground plane to it (the Third wire safety circuit)

Bump in the rug ...

The Third wire safety circuit is a cesspool of noise created by high soil resistivity creating high impedance at the ground rod and pushing current back to the main panel because the current sees the main panel box as a lower path of resistance ... your town's Zoning has a minimum spec for ground rod impedance .. check with them ... you may be SHOCKED ;-)

Chemical reaction between the copper ground rod and chemicals in the soil will create galvanic reaction and voltage ... RF is also picked up by the ground wire from the ground rod to the main panel box and all the other safety wire through out the house are acting as antenna capturing RF and carrying it to the main panel box where all the safety wires are bonded together on a ground bus bar

Impedance difference between you main panel box and the ground rod can also set up reflection back to the source for any current the ground rod can't dissipate

As you can hopefully see there is a tremendous amount of potential for voltage to be generated and transmitted back to the main panel box through all the Third wire safeties in the house and then back to each component through their Third wire safety connection to ground

This is why you need a separate isolated ground plane in each component lying at 0 volts for the positive phase of the Audio signal to reference to ...

If your component uses the Third wire safety circuit ( and almost all do) as the Ground Reference for the positive signal ... then the positive half of the audio signal will see all the voltage/noise floating on the Third wire safety that has accumulated and the noise floor of the component will be raised or much higher

This is possibly what all those mega buck ground boxes are trying to address

For more info on noisy grounds and how to defeat them google "Ground Transient Blocker

Honestly, there's not a single vaguely plausible topic of conversation that surrounds these mineral filed bullshit boxes.

Even if there was any merit in the post I quoted, you’d have to think ther would be more mileage in better source, amplification or spekars as Martin says.Or even sorting out your room.

Yeh i'd blow 1k on room treatment before I ever dreamt of spending it on anything else except music.

How people expect to get a quality return on equipment supports, cables and other nonsense amazes me.

The only isolation I use is four beefy sorbothane pads under the DAC. Don't know why it works, but the sound seems better focused with them there.

Recently have had no choice but to play around with speaker placement and seating distance etc. I genuinely feel,there would be more mileage in people experimenting with small amounts of change in these areas thna grounding boxes etc. Of course it’s free to do this and no product is involved so people don’t see the attraction.

Placebo effect.

A system with bollox?

There is a possibility that it could affect electro magnetic fields and alter perception rather than output. Yeah ok it might sound a bit “out there” but so is every other explanation

Ground nuts?

Whatever the cause I’m struggling to see how the improvements could warrant four figure sums. In Alan’s case he could have gone from quads to stacked quads and still had plenty change. Oliver’s write up seemed to suggest the differences were subtle but just about able to pick blind. Do you find them more fundsmental, Alan? I realise there is a difference because its your system and room.