Shunyata's view on ground.
 

I'd be interested to read Caelin and or Grant's thoughts on the importance of a grounding system.

That is very big subject to cover. I will post some of the information from our CGS "Chassis Grounding System" User Guide. Some of the information is specific to the TRITON CGS system. But most of the information applies to any good grounding system. This would be a good starting point.

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Chassis Grounding - History

Many of the practices that we use in audio have come from the early telecommunications industry. It was common practice to rack mount equipment in a metal rack. Everything in the rack would be connected to a common ground using ground braid conductors. Every piece of equipment had a dedicated "grounding lug" for this connection. This practice continues today in both the telecommunication and networking industry. Connecting all equipment to a central ground point ensures electrical safety and eliminates voltage potential differences between component chassis’.

In the early days of audio, virtually all audio manufacturers followed this practice with the inclusion of ground terminals on the back of the components. All the component’s chassis grounds could be wired together with ground braid. Since most audio equipment in the early years used single-ended RCA or Phone jacks, this practice helped to eliminate ground loops.

With the advent of mass market consumer audio products with plastic chassis' there were more and more components that did not include a ground terminal. The one exception is for turntable and phono preamps where ground terminals are required to prevent hum. Of course turntables and phono preamps are remnants that have survived from an earlier generation of audio systems.

Although some equipment no longer comes with a dedicated chassis ground terminal it is still advantageous to ground all of your equipment to a common ground point. This reduces ground loop hum and noise problems. It can also improve system performance even if you don't have any audible ground loops or hum.

TRITON v2 and CGS

The TRITON v2 has an internal ground-buss noise reduction system that uses patented NIC™ technology. CGS (Chassis Ground System) is a feature that provides a common grounding point for all components in the system and extends the noise reduction capability of the TRITON to components external to the TRITON. This eliminates A.C. voltage differences between component chassis’ and may help to reduce potential ground loops.

Shunyata Research makes CGS Ground Cables that are attractive, perform well, and are inexpensive. Check with your dealer for pricing.

CGS Ground Terminals

You can use any good quality wire to make the chassis ground connections. It is best to use a large gauge wire of 12-10 gauge. Solid core wire is very stiff in larger gauges so it is easier to use a fine stranded wire or a ground braid since it is more flexible.

If the equipment has a dedicated ground terminal the connection is easy. Simply connect one end of the ground wire to the component’s terminal and the other end to a CGS terminal on the back of the TRITON.

If a component does not have a grounding terminal you can use a small spade at one end of the grounding wire and loosen one of the chassis screws on the bottom of the component and slide the spade under it. Care must be taken to ensure that you are loosening an actual chassis screw and not a screw that holds some internal part in place. Refer to a service manual if possible.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

What performance improvements can I expect from using the CGS?
System grounding is complex and sometimes unpredictable since there are no standards that all equipment manufacturers follow regarding signal grounds and chassis grounding. It also depends upon the power circuit wiring, specifically the circuit's actual impedance to ground. If you use more than one dedicated power circuit it becomes even more complicated and less predictable. Common performance benefits can be described as gaining blacker backgrounds, with sound becoming more distinct and energized. The timing and dynamics in sound can also improve, along with more dimensional and precise image placement. Depending on the system, these improvements can be very obvious. In others, where there are no ground issues, the enhancements may be more subtle.

So our best advice is try it to see what works best in your system.

What should I connect to the CGS?
All components in the audio system should be connected to the CGS grounding system if possible. Additionally, you may connect an equipment rack that is made from metal.

I have amplifier(s) connected to a different dedicated line - should I connect them to the CGS?
Generally speaking, you should try it. This may reduce ground loop problems and improve sound quality. However, with some types of amplifiers, connecting the ground to the CGS may produce no result or may degrade the sound quality. So, it is important to test each of the ground connections independently.

If a component’s power cord is connected to the TRITON, do I need to run wire to the CGS?
If a component is connected to the TRITON with a power cord where the ground wire and contact are functional then the chassis of the component will be connected to the internal grounding system of the TRITON. You would not need to make another connection to the CGS terminal. However, some components may benefit from an additional chassis connection especially if you are using common stock power cords. Try it and see if performance is improved.

If a component does not have a ground terminal how do I make a connection to the chassis and CGS?
You may loosen one of the chassis screws on the bottom of the component. The ground wire needs to be terminated with a small spade connector that can slip under the screw head. Care must be taken to ensure that you do not loosen a screw that is used internally to hold a part inside the component. Check with the user guide or the manufacturer. Generally speaking the screws around the perimeter of the case are chassis screws. If you have any doubts - DO NOT loosen the screw!

Are there ground wires included with the TRITON?
There are no ground wires included in the TRITON box. There is no way to know how many components you might have and how far away the connections may be. Contact your dealer for more information.

There are only 4 terminals - how can I connect more components?
There are four terminals but each terminal can accept multiple wires. The spades can be stacked on top of each other and you may also use banana type terminals. You can easily attach 12 components to the CGS.

Is the CGS similar to TRIPOINT or Entreq products?
TRIPOINT and Entreq both make chassis grounding and signal grounding products and they all provide a common grounding point. However, the method of reducing ground noise varies by manufacturer. The CGS is a chassis grounding system only and was not designed for signal ground connections. The CGS is compatible with a signal grounding type product - just don’t connect them together.

The CGS noise reduction technology is patent protected by US 8,658,892

Can I use the ground cables that TRIPOINT or Entreq make?
Yes, any good cable or wire that has a low impedance is suitable.

What is the best method to connect a turntable and a phono preamp?
Try connecting the phono ground terminal to a CGS terminal and the phono preamp with a separate ground wire to a second CGS terminal. Then, try an alternate configuration: connect the phono terminal to the phono preamp with a ground wire - then connect just the phono preamp to the CGS terminal. Use the method that has less hum and noise or which one sounds best.

Thanks for the reply and as always your answers are very informative :thumbsup: My Luxman integrated and CDP have no ground at the power input and I've always wondered if this is truly beneficial as I know it should eliminate ground loop problems. All my power loom is Shunyata and I'm also running a Talos. Don't really have the budget to upgrade to the Triton V2 or Denali. That said I've been thinking about a alternative grounding system for my setup.

You don't need an expensive box to ground your components. You can make a grounding system fairly easily. Buy or make some grounding wires for each of your components. Put ring terminals on one end of each wire. Use a copper or brass bolt and some washers and stack all the ground rings on the bolt. Put a washer and nut on it and tighten it.

Get a good quality AC plug. Run a short ground wire from the ground bolt stack into the AC plug. Connect the wire to the ground pin in AC plug. DO NOT make a mistake with this step - if you don't know what you're doing don't do it.

Plug the AC plug into your power conditioner or power strip if you use one. If not, plug it into the same outlet as your system is plugged into.

Then use all the ground wires to connect your component chassis.

Test the effects of each component one by one.

Sounds easy enough, and thanks again :thumbsup:

Taking Mr. Gabriel's advise and gathering up some items so I might assemble a chassis ground system. I came across a interesting item from Tara Labs called a "grounding key". You remove a chassis screw from whatever piece of equipment you working with and insert the ground key in its place (see attached pic, gold lug in plastic bag). It gives a clean and neat looking place top affix a ground wire. Not sure how they will really work but I ordered two direct from Tara Labs ($10ea).


http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...evo-ground.jpg
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Thank you for this....I've been a grounding fan for years and have found at least one reasonably priced (< $1K USD) device with proper wires does a hell of a lot of good in the system. Having talked to the lead designer from Esoteric quite a few years ago who views grounding as tantamount to a religion (not literally) that all audiophiles should follow, the effect on my system at the time of adding a separate star-grounding system was immediate and not-subtle.

In the past few years, the talk of uber-expensive "audiophile" grounding systems from 2-3 main vendors has predominated many discussions with their multi-thousand dollar boxes, 4 and 5 figure (USD) grounding cables and the like and near sycophantic following attacking those who have 'inferior' (read 'inexpensive but correct') grounding solutions. I am glad to hear someone with real engineering and science background come out and say all this is simply not necessary to achieve a good grounding solution and better sound, so basically THANK YOU for being the voice of reason on this.

FYI,...outside the house, using dual large copper grounding rods with "CADWELD" custom bonding kit applied and large gauge grounding leads to the main and sub-panels does wonders. Not expensive either,...about $600 parts, labor and CADWELD custom kit. Have you run across use of this latter technique for house/audio-room grounding?

CADWELD in action...

http://youtu.be/T5DoB26TFtI

Yes, this is a great way to make a good connection. It is similar in concept to "sonic welding" that use to make many of the internal connections in our power conditioners like the Denali and Triton.

To be clear, I am not dissing "better quality" grounding cables. I would just like to raise the consciousness of the community in general to the benefits of implementing at least a minimal common grounding solution. It seems to be a forgotten but very important concept.