CHORD Groundaray

[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).

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.

Hi, absolutely no hard feelings at all. I’ve grown accustomed to your style over the years and really appreciate both your tone (cynicism and humor in equal parts?) and all your important input in this forum.

And yes, my Devialet sounds great too. No regrets going back to the brand. :-)