CHORD Groundaray

[MightyMart]

Has anyone tried this product from Chord Company? Apparently it’s been a mind blowing success in Japan for Chord over the 18 months or so. I will receive a RJ45-version for home demo next week. Super curious about the results...

https://chord.co.uk/product/groundaray-a...reduction/

https://www.phileweb.com/review/article/.../3663.html

[markush]

Exciting to hear

[MightyMart]

Exciting to hear

Wow...

[K4680]

Hello, if you are concerned with radiation and contamination at the audio jacks, you can fix it with little money! I can achieve the best results with the phono inputs. There are shielding caps for many different sockets (cinch, xlr, hdmi, lan, usb, ...)!

   

[Confused]

The Chord GroundARRAY widgets are £550 each.

I have six free RCA connectors on my Companion (although they are not configured), six free word clock connectors on my Mutec MC3+USB, plus a couple of free USB sockets on my SOtM kit. Although I note that they don't do a USB type B GroundARRAY. I am not sure is this is good or bad, but at least it saves me having to worry about the two free USB B sockets that I have on the Devialet.

Then I have an AV amp connected to the Devialet Master. This has so many free connectors on it I do not really have time to count them. Maybe 30? So I would need £16,550 worth of GroundARRAY widgets to sort out my AV amp. Although I suppose I could disconnect the AV amp when listening to two channel music, a bit of hassle maybe but the saving is worthwhile.

So to sort out the Devialets and Mutec etc, I need maybe 14 of these things, that would come in at about £7,700. How far do you need to go with this?

I note that the GroundARRAY widgets are filled with a "carefully chosen material" to deaden noise. I am very pleased about this technical information, clearly a carefully chosen material going to be better than a randomly selected one.

Noting @K4680 's post above, I see that Audioquest have a cheaper option versus the Chord: (10 for £37-95p)

https://www.futureshop.co.uk/audioquest-...AYQAvD_BwE

Anyway, something costing less than £4 each is obviously going to be rubbish in comparison to something costing £550 and filled with a "carefully chosen material"? Or maybe not? Noise is relatively easy to measure these days for those that have the right equipment, has anyone seen any measurements?

OK, I am obviously in full cynical mode today, so no need to take this post too seriously. Maybe I need to join ASR for a while? Maybe they do actually work? But I would like some more technical information before even considering something like this. Apparently Chord have performed four years of R&D for this product. I would like to see some of the results of this R&D before spending this kind of cash.

For context, I have been very impressed with the iFi Zen Stream that I have been trying recently. As a device, this has very low measured noise, and it costs less than one of these GroundARRAY devices.

[K4680]

The Chord GroundARRAY widgets are £550 each.

I have six free RCA connectors on my Companion (although they are not configured), six free word clock connectors on my Mutec MC3+USB, plus a couple of free USB sockets on my SOtM kit. Although I note that they don't do a USB type B GroundARRAY. I am not sure is this is good or bad, but at least it saves me having to worry about the two free USB B sockets that I have on the Devialet.

Then I have an AV amp connected to the Devialet Master. This has so many free connectors on it I do not really have time to count them.  Maybe 30? So I would need £16,550 worth of GroundARRAY widgets to sort out my AV amp. Although I suppose I could disconnect the AV amp when listening to two channel music, a bit of hassle maybe but the saving is worthwhile.

So to sort out the Devialets and Mutec etc, I need maybe 14 of these things, that would come in at about £7,700. How far do you need to go with this?

I note that the GroundARRAY widgets are filled with a "carefully chosen material" to deaden noise. I am very pleased about this technical information, clearly a carefully chosen material going to be better than a randomly selected one.

Noting @K4680 's post above, I see that Audioquest have a cheaper option versus the Chord: (10 for £37-95p)

https://www.futureshop.co.uk/audioquest-...AYQAvD_BwE

Anyway, something costing less than £4 each is obviously going to be rubbish in comparison to something costing £550 and filled with a "carefully chosen material"? Or maybe not? Noise is relatively easy to measure these days for those that have the right equipment, has anyone seen any measurements?

OK, I am obviously in full cynical mode today, so no need to take this post too seriously. Maybe I need to join ASR for a while? Maybe they do actually work? But I would like some more technical information before even considering something like this. Apparently Chord have performed four years of R&D for this product. I would like to see some of the results of this R&D before spending this kind of cash.

For context, I have been very impressed with the iFi Zen Stream that I have been trying recently. As a device, this has very low measured noise, and it costs less than one of these GroundARRAY devices.

Confused: +1

For example: https://www.dienadel.de/en/oehlbach-xxl-...-353630409

[octaviars]

I use these caps from Audiophonics @Confused on my DAC and my amplifier, I have no clue if they are made from any random material or a selected one?

[MightyMart]

Hi guys, I’m not sure really where to begin and I feel somewhat patted on the head right now, but here it goes.

The Chord GroundARAY is nothing like a simple cap to be put on the input connectors of a device. It’s main purpose is not to block noise from entering a device. It is instead a way developed by Chord to address similar problems as for instance Entreq are with their grounding boxes and various gizmos. It’s about providing “a very low-impedance, high-bandwidth route for HF noise to pass into, effectively ‘pulling’ noise from the signal ground of the host equipment.”

https://chord.co.uk/product/groundaray-a...reduction/

From what I have read and been told, the effect of just adding one GroundARAY to your setup is radical. The effect is said to be accumulative with more GroundARAYs added in the chain but there is certainly/probably no need to go as far as to plug one into every single free connector.

From what I have been told the GroundARAY started as a prototype that got sent away to a Japanese reviewer. He was so startled by the effect that he involved a few friends, some of them prominent characters in the Japanese audiophile community, and the rest is history. A very large chunk of Chords revenue, I’ve been told, has come from turning out GroundARAYs for the Japanese market over the last 18 months or so. The demand has been so high that Chord has chosen not to launch the product on other markets until very recently. Hence the lack of information and reviews in Europe and US.

I’m not all that interested in “tech” things and I have no real idea how the GroundARAY works and why (or even if?). I was however intrigued by reading and hearing about it and wanted to ask on this forum if anyone of you had any experience etc. from this particular product. Now I now that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Anyway, I will receive a RJ45-version later this week on loan and I am carefully optimistic. If it’s any good, I’m planning on testing two RCA-versions for my D1000 (one for the Master and one for the Companion).

[frejo]

Happy to hear about your results.

Och varifrån du lånat dem.

[Confused]

Hi guys, I’m not sure really where to begin and I feel somewhat patted on the head right now, but here it goes.

The Chord GroundARAY is nothing like a simple cap to be put on the input connectors of a device. It’s main purpose is not to block noise from entering a device. It is instead a way developed by Chord to address similar problems as for instance Entreq are with their grounding boxes and various gizmos. It’s about providing “a very low-impedance, high-bandwidth route for HF noise to pass into, effectively ‘pulling’ noise from the signal ground of the host equipment.”

https://chord.co.uk/product/groundaray-a...reduction/

From what I have read and been told, the effect of just adding one GroundARAY to your setup is radical. The effect is said to be accumulative with more GroundARAYs added in the chain but there is certainly/probably no need to go as far as to plug one into every single free connector.

From what I have been told the GroundARAY started as a prototype that got sent away to a Japanese reviewer. He was so startled by the effect that he involved a few friends, some of them prominent characters in the Japanese audiophile community, and the rest is history. A very large chunk of Chords revenue, I’ve been told, has come from turning out GroundARAYs for the Japanese market over the last 18 months or so. The demand has been so high that Chord has chosen not to launch the product on other markets until very recently. Hence the lack of information and reviews in Europe and US.

I’m not all that interested in “tech” things and I have no real idea how the GroundARAY works and why (or even if?). I was however intrigued by reading and hearing about it and wanted to ask on this forum if anyone of you had any experience etc. from this particular product. Now I now that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Anyway, I will receive a RJ45-version later this week on loan and I am carefully optimistic. If it’s any good, I’m planning on testing two RCA-versions for my D1000 (one for the Master and one for the Companion).

Hi MightyMart - My apologies if my earlier post was a little annoying. (I am thinking now that probably it was, so sorry for that) It was rather out of character for me, although I did mention "no need to take this post too seriously."

That said, the information you have stated in your post above that you only need one per system, or more for an accumulative effect, and not one for every outlet, is actually more information and guidance than is mentioned on the Chord website.

I guess more than anything it is what was written, and indeed what is not written, on the Chord website that I found a little annoying. (Although note that I find Devialet's website a little annoying also, but my Devialet still sounds good)

Anyway, I wish you luck with your evaluation of the loan item. I will be interested to see what you report back, as I am sure will many others.

As I said in my earlier post, maybe they do actually work? But no harm in keeping a degree of cynicism when trying these things. I know from my own past experiences that expectation bias can influence me in very strange and unexpected ways. I am sure that I am not unique in this regard.