Post by MartinT on Dec 7, 2018 11:16:08 GMT
The SGS-1s is Signal Ground Solution's attempt to make a top quality high performance grounding box. In their own words "We have listed a signature version which is a bigger/heavier unit, this has more high end parts with a silky, liquid presentation perhaps even more romantic."
So what exactly is a grounding box and what's inside? My understanding is sketchy on both fronts. The purpose is to provide a low impedance path to earth for high frequency noise and rubbish on the ground planes of signal processing components. The box acts as a superior piece of mother earth in this respect, sinking the noise away from the component. This is not to be confused with mains power earth, which is there for safety reasons.
What's inside? Duelund, Cardas and Mundorf are quoted. The terminal connector is Cardas so that leaves two well known manufacturers of capacitors. Can you make a circuit consisting of only one connection? I guess it could be low frequency blocking, but I really don't know. The box is filled with a material, in common with other grounding boxes, jokingly known as 'pixie dust' because no-one outside the trade knows for sure!
I tried a few different layouts and have left it as follows: SGS-1s connected via the white silver cable to a spare phono input on my preamp. This has the biggest effect I've heard so far. The older SGS-1 is connected to my DAC's earth post via a green copper cable with spade; and to my Pi/DigiOne S/PDIF phono earth via another green cable with croc clip. As with my observations to date, every change takes a little while to settle and the SGS-1s is new so it could take quite a bit longer. These are therefore preliminary findings.
So, what does it sound like? At first, I thought my system had gone darker. This is not the case, but the effect on the opening of some songs is one of being in a very large space, so my senses are fooled into think I'm somewhere vast. Once the song starts, voices and instruments emerge with startling clarity. Instruments and textures come through amazingly well and, while it's easier to analyse different threads of the music, the overwhelming impression is of a cohesive performance.
Here is one example, Dissolve Me by Alt-J. It starts with a wealth of things going on yet the percussive elements and voice never obscure the other. There are two moments of almost complete silence (I love songs with huge dynamic range), where that vast 'space' comes to the fore with the voice penetrating it in startling fashion.
So, returning to SGS's claims, does it deliver a 'silky, liquid presentation'? Yes, in that this is the least harsh presentation yet but features enormous levels of detail and insight. Is it 'even more romantic'? Yes, but not in a pipe-and-slippers manner; what it does do is impart more of the musical emotion within the music. It absolutely stops all thought of the hi-fi system or its reproduction quality and steers the base emotions towards the performance and its emotional power. From my point of view, SGS's claims are well justified. At £445 on eBay, this is an excellent purchase if you want more from your well-sorted system and is considerably less expensive than many other grounding box solutions out there.
So what exactly is a grounding box and what's inside? My understanding is sketchy on both fronts. The purpose is to provide a low impedance path to earth for high frequency noise and rubbish on the ground planes of signal processing components. The box acts as a superior piece of mother earth in this respect, sinking the noise away from the component. This is not to be confused with mains power earth, which is there for safety reasons.
What's inside? Duelund, Cardas and Mundorf are quoted. The terminal connector is Cardas so that leaves two well known manufacturers of capacitors. Can you make a circuit consisting of only one connection? I guess it could be low frequency blocking, but I really don't know. The box is filled with a material, in common with other grounding boxes, jokingly known as 'pixie dust' because no-one outside the trade knows for sure!
I tried a few different layouts and have left it as follows: SGS-1s connected via the white silver cable to a spare phono input on my preamp. This has the biggest effect I've heard so far. The older SGS-1 is connected to my DAC's earth post via a green copper cable with spade; and to my Pi/DigiOne S/PDIF phono earth via another green cable with croc clip. As with my observations to date, every change takes a little while to settle and the SGS-1s is new so it could take quite a bit longer. These are therefore preliminary findings.
So, what does it sound like? At first, I thought my system had gone darker. This is not the case, but the effect on the opening of some songs is one of being in a very large space, so my senses are fooled into think I'm somewhere vast. Once the song starts, voices and instruments emerge with startling clarity. Instruments and textures come through amazingly well and, while it's easier to analyse different threads of the music, the overwhelming impression is of a cohesive performance.
Here is one example, Dissolve Me by Alt-J. It starts with a wealth of things going on yet the percussive elements and voice never obscure the other. There are two moments of almost complete silence (I love songs with huge dynamic range), where that vast 'space' comes to the fore with the voice penetrating it in startling fashion.
So, returning to SGS's claims, does it deliver a 'silky, liquid presentation'? Yes, in that this is the least harsh presentation yet but features enormous levels of detail and insight. Is it 'even more romantic'? Yes, but not in a pipe-and-slippers manner; what it does do is impart more of the musical emotion within the music. It absolutely stops all thought of the hi-fi system or its reproduction quality and steers the base emotions towards the performance and its emotional power. From my point of view, SGS's claims are well justified. At £445 on eBay, this is an excellent purchase if you want more from your well-sorted system and is considerably less expensive than many other grounding box solutions out there.
