GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: It’s mad, mad, mad... electricity.

Post Subject: Purpose of groundPosted by drdna on: 11/21/2015

The ground simultaneously serves as the source of all electrons entering the system and a common voltage level that establishes a baseline for the system. Thus, the ground should be simultaneously as large a homogenous metal source as possible while also being as small as possible to minimize internal resistance. All ground paths should be as short as possible and isolated from each other, ultimately coalescing in a central common point with minimal resistance within the physical ground. This is, of course, well known to us all. However, it serves the discussion in approaching the idea of isolated lines for digital or switching circuits. All circuits introduce noise into the AC waveform, but these circuits in particular have been described as particularly nonmusical in their action here. In theory, all such circuits should be isolated to the greatest extent possible (back to the panel), but because all physical circuits are calculated compromise with the potential for flawed execution, it ultimately depends on the specifications of your own system.

You may, for example, find better results with digital circuits attached to an isolated output from a PurePower APS versus a completely dedicated line. Ideally, you would have a dedicated line leading to a PurePower APS for each device, but the size and expense of this venture would be prohibitive. I suggest you have a few fully dedicated lines installed, which will give you the flexibility to experiment with different equipment configurations to find the one which works best for your application.

In my system, I have dedicated lines back to the panel, but have found the results to be just as good with everything plugged in to the PurePower APS connected to a dedicated line. In my previous house, I had used a "separate copper rod in the backyard" ground solution, but this has not been necessary at my current location.
Adrian

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site