Tripoint troy signature grounding device

[LL21]

Thanks, Audiocrack! Always respect your substantial experience and measured evaluations. I have heard your system, and 'calibrated' your ear which is very refined. Your system also is comprised of a unique mix of elements, some of which are decidedly NOT for pride, ego...but simply because they sound better. I respect that, and its reassuring to know when reading one of your evaluations. You care about the sound, not the name brand or the pricetag.

I have heard Tripoint in an AE system in Hong Kong...hooked up to a full-out, all-out assault Tidal system (4-towers) and six boxes of Tidal reference amplification, 2-box preamp and the Stahl-Tek Vekian digital system. Power was already fed via dedicated lines. The Troy was hooked up to almost 9 components as I recall...they removed one. And sure enough, there was a haze equivalent to moving from Transp Ref IC to, say, one of my old Audioquest Emerald ICs...great voice, rich, smooth...but hazy.

but I cannot say I've heard it in my system. I have however heard the Entreq Silver Tellus in my system where I've described it elsewhere in WBF...and it has a similar effect as what you describe. The mechanics of the system decrease even more...though I also did hear an actual improvement in detail/decay which was very nice. It is a great piece that had no discernible downsides...and I could certainly qualify it as something that I could see keeping well past other components.

Great write up, Audiocrack...and enjoy your fabulous system!!!

 

[Jazzhead]

Audiocrack .. thanks for the feedback . Very interesting . Have heard stellar reports on the Troy Sig , so good to get an affirmation from you . Have you by any chance tried or auditioned the Entreq grounding units , they are a lot more accessible too , from a retail price point perspective . How many components have you grounded to the unit and what is the maximum number of ground wire a solitary unit can handle ?

 

[Jazzhead]

I had the opportunity to try Joe's Ground Enhancers in my system -- it works!

How does one configure the Ground enhancers ?

 

[Greg Beron / UHA]

How does one configure the Ground enhancers ?

Here are the directions that the Super Enhanced Ground Plane comes with. Also this is a relatively inexpensive device at $600 list.
Again I have just received this thing and have only tried it connected to the star ground in my system.
I really have no further info yet.

 

[Audiocrack]

Audiocrack .. thanks for the feedback . Very interesting . Have heard stellar reports on the Troy Sig , so good to get an affirmation from you . Have you by any chance tried or auditioned the Entreq grounding units , they are a lot more accessible too , from a retail price point perspective . How many components have you grounded to the unit and what is the maximum number of ground wire a solitary unit can handle ?

Thanks Jazzhead. I have no experience with Entreq so cannot comment on their grounding devices. Right now I have connected my preamp through the Thor cable as well as my two gakuoh power amps through the 'regular' cables that are supplied with the Troy signature. I also connected the Lyra phonostage (same binding post as for the preamp) but somehow that did not work out well. An explanation might be that using the top of the line Tripoint Thor cable for the preamp and a 'regular' but different cable for the phono stage created some sort of mismatch. Apparently you need to experiment and let your ears be the judge. I have seen people hook up till 9 components to the Troy. I am right now so much enjoying my system that for the time being I leave as it is. But I definately going to experiment more in the future .

 

[mbskeam]

copper chunks and bars...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Metals-Alloys-/29402/i.html?_nkw=copper&_frs=1

 

[Audiocrack]

Thanks, Audiocrack! Always respect your substantial experience and measured evaluations. I have heard your system, and 'calibrated' your ear which is very refined. Your system also is comprised of a unique mix of elements, some of which are decidedly NOT for pride, ego...but simply because they sound better. I respect that, and its reassuring to know when reading one of your evaluations. You care about the sound, not the name brand or the pricetag.

I have heard Tripoint in an AE system in Hong Kong...hooked up to a full-out, all-out assault Tidal system (4-towers) and six boxes of Tidal reference amplification, 2-box preamp and the Stahl-Tek Vekian digital system. Power was already fed via dedicated lines. The Troy was hooked up to almost 9 components as I recall...they removed one. And sure enough, there was a haze equivalent to moving from Transp Ref IC to, say, one of my old Audioquest Emerald ICs...great voice, rich, smooth...but hazy.

but I cannot say I've heard it in my system. I have however heard the Entreq Silver Tellus in my system where I've described it elsewhere in WBF...and it has a similar effect as what you describe. The mechanics of the system decrease even more...though I also did hear an actual improvement in detail/decay which was very nice. It is a great piece that had no discernible downsides...and I could certainly qualify it as something that I could see keeping well past other components.

Great write up, Audiocrack...and enjoy your fabulous system!!!

Thanks For your kind words, Lloyd, and nice hearing from you.

 

[elescher]

I have had my Troy going on 3 years now. After a year or so I decided to take off the male iec that connects the Troy to the ground (no power) in the receptacle and welded it directly to the 2 gauge copper wire that goes straight out to my dedicated active ground just outside my listening room. Seemed logical to bypass all the wire in the walls etc. before going to Earth.

FYI, on the OLDER Troy's (like mine) there are three bundles of wire each containing about 15 solid core 24 gauge individually insulated wires. Miguel solders a +/- 16 gauge wire to all of the wires which is then terminated to the ground on the iec plug. I am pretty sure he told me not too long ago the wire was changed due to availability.

 

[Bill Hart]

I experimented with external star grounding schemes 7 or so years ago, shortly after I got my 104db efficient horns and wanted to ameliorate noise. I used a commercial product, nothing fancy, the Granite Audio Ground Zero, and it did work to a degree- sometimes more effectively than others, depending on components involved, and what was connected to it. (It allowed for changing the impedance of the ground with 3 position switches on each of three paths that then went to a common ground into the wall). These days I don't use it, but am interested in this subject because I agree that getting the 'noise floor' down is essential to so many aspects of reproduced music.
My question, I guess, is somewhat simple-minded. Isn't part of the problem the way that different components are grounded internally? So, once you start hooking them up to each other through interconnects, you hear these anomalies?
I think Enid Lumley (who Myles mentioned) actually advocated lifting grounds altogether, something that no one would encourage for safety reasons.
Also, in using a balanced power system like Mike's, how does that intersect with star grounding? Is it still as important?

I'm interested in these solutions, not interested in the 14k solution, and probably won't do a damn thing until I move my system. But, I'm all ears. (and not as skeptical as I may sound).
TIA.

 

[MylesBAstor]

I experimented with external star grounding schemes 7 or so years ago, shortly after I got my 104db efficient horns and wanted to ameliorate noise. I used a commercial product, nothing fancy, the Granite Audio Ground Zero, and it did work to a degree- sometimes more effectively than others, depending on components involved, and what was connected to it. (It allowed for changing the impedance of the ground with 3 position switches on each of three paths that then went to a common ground into the wall). These days I don't use it, but am interested in this subject because I agree that getting the 'noise floor' down is essential to so many aspects of reproduced music.
My question, I guess, is somewhat simple-minded. Isn't part of the problem the way that different components are grounded internally? So, once you start hooking them up to each other through interconnects, you hear these anomalies?
I think Enid Lumley (who Myles mentioned) actually advocated lifting grounds altogether, something that no one would encourage for safety reasons.
Also, in using a balanced power system like Mike's, how does that intersect with star grounding? Is it still as important?

I'm interested in these solutions, not interested in the 14k solution, and probably won't do a damn thing until I move my system. But, I'm all ears. (and not as skeptical as I may sound).
TIA.

In the past, it was lifting all the grounds but the amps. Sal D'amico, for those that remember him, recommended measuring with a DVM and going with the lowest grounding potential (also like the old Namiki polarity detector or that tool that Audio Advisor used to sell that essentially measured the size of the electrical field surrounding the power transformer.)

 

[mep]

What star grounding does is bring all of the components that are tied to it to the same ground potential. It's simple, it's easy, and I know it works in my system.

 

[zztop7]

We need some Super Technical people to jump in; I am lost.

We need some Super Technical people to jump in; I am lost.

Your house ground is connected to everything: refrigerator, microwave, hair dryer, tv's, chargers, etc., etc. So a >>> Part <<< of the miscellaneous electrical noises of these devices flows through all the grounds. Therefore your audio system is at the mercy of this noise.

IMHO, if you want to isolate your system, you ground it ONLY through dedicated grounds [true proper grounding that would pass a heavy duty inspection] for your audio system ONLY.

I find it interesting that the Tripoint might be using the house ground.

Another point: I am a BIG believer in OCC [Ohno Continuous Cast] wire. But, I do not see where OCC or OFC would make a difference in these grounding situations.

zz

 

[Mike Lavigne]

my system is in a separate building (75 feet) from the house, and my Equi=tech isolation transformer has it's own separate double 6' ground rod which is the ground for my audio system.

normally it is not allowed by local electrical 'code' to have more than one ground rod for a residence.

 

[DonH50]

Star grounding the audio system then to the house ground helps keep current from all the other things in the house from going through the audio system ground. If there is noise that raises the house ground that could still be transmitted to the audio system but everything should move together in the system so it shouldn't matter.

 

[microstrip]

Star grounding also minimizes the area of the loops that are created by the mains safety ground wires and the grounds of the signal cables, that can create noise in the system. As we usually can not know for sure the path of the ground wires inside walls we should avoid using separate power distributor connected to different wall outlets.

 

[rockitman]

wouldn't it be better to run a dedicated audio room sub panel from the house main supply bypassing the main home circuit panel ? I bet it would cost far less too.

 

[zztop7]

Please explain my ERROR in thought.

If there is noise that raises the house ground that could still be transmitted to the audio system but everything should move together in the system so it shouldn't matter.

The "noise that raises the house ground that could still be transmitted to the audio system" is the part where I feel a totally isolated ground for the audio [the audio not connected to the normal house ground] would be beneficial. Please explain my ERROR in thought.

I understand the star grounding.

Thank you,
zz.

 

[LL21]

Www.Coreaudiotechnology.com.
http://www.coreaudiotechnology.com/products/kolossus-grounding-station-se/
They have a grounding unit...looks like a lot highly magnetic materials plus some other composites. Similar to Troy and entree. But it states there is more than star grounding that matters...some about lowering or matching impedance a across the system...does anyone concur...can someone explain to a non-techie how the box could level/ match impedance a across the system?

 

[mep]

wouldn't it be better to run a dedicated audio room sub panel from the house main supply bypassing the main home circuit panel ? I bet it would cost far less too.

I'm already doing that in my room. I built an addition onto my house so I could have my stereo room and I put in a separate panel from the 200A service panel that feeds the main part of my house. Adding the star ground system made a big difference in lowering my noise floor.

 

[rockitman]

I'm already doing that in my room. I built an addition onto my house so I could have my stereo room and I put in a separate panel from the 200A service panel that feeds the main part of my house. Adding the star ground system made a big difference in lowering my noise floor.

That will be one of my next projects.