The discerning audiophile's choice of grounding ($20,000 for 20lbs)

[floobydust]

Has anyone tried these?  They are wood boxes with stuff inside and a "ground" banana jack.
You can connect one to mains ground, or to a loudspeaker or audio ground, etc. to improve everything.

Tripoint Audio Troy Signature SE Grounding Unit with attached grounding wire, going for $20,000 USD weighing 20lbs and African Bubinga wood, and the Emperor model costing more.   I like the 10 year warranty.
They make the $9,000 full-featured Entreq Silver TellusII  look good as a bargain. Many units for a few hundred dollars from china too but made of pine.

"They help to lower the noise floor of all attached audio components by optimizing the relative ground potential which results in a much more musical presentation."
"I have tried the ground box on my TV with very good results too. Images become brighter and colours are more vibrant."

... very sophisticated crystals and internal tuning, secret ingredients such as tar, dravite, schorl, quartz, cotton, graphite, silver.
Very good for sound. The manufacturer recommends burn-in for at least 72 hours.

How do nut bars make enough money to afford this?

[Dubbie]

I wonder if they actually sell any?
Surely nobody is that big of a sucker?

[tsman]

The latest in audiophoolery combined with new age crystal healing for a low low price of $20K.

[Bassman59]

Those boxes aren't grounding anything.

[ogden]

How do nut bars make enough money to afford this?

There are enough rich & stupid around the world

[cdev]

They have taken a joke and turned it into a product for the scientifically illiterate.

[Muttley Snickers]

They are just pencil boxes made for pencils, and tools.   

[IanB]

Those boxes aren't grounding anything.

But they are full of ground. How can you say that?

[MrMobodies]

http://tripointaudio.us/TESTIMONIALS.htm

Audiogoon Testimonials
NutKirk930

Any recommendations in order to maximize my Tripoint Apollo? Hook up tips? I have just purchased the new Tripoint Troy ac filtration/ground system and to tell you this device has given me the most natural portrayal of the musical event I have ever heard from my system is an understatement! As a discerning audiophile that has had the chance, and luck, to own some of the best components in this crazy hobby; Tube Research, JM Labs, the Tripoint lets my electronics achieve their maximum potential. When Miguel Alvarez first approached me to schedule a demonstration of this revolutionary new product, I admit I was skeptical, and cautious, of the performance claims Miguel promised to deliver. There is no hard copy technical explanation on how this device works, but since the manufacturer is local and had offered a demonstration...I agreed to the home audition. The build quality and look of the Tripoint Troy is second to none. The African Bubinga mirror finish is beautiful and it sounds every bit as fabulous as it looks! The Tripoint is for the audiophile who demands nothing but the most innovative. I profess, I was not prepared to hear what I heard. First the Tripoint delivered the most holographic, layered sound that I have ever experienced. Familiar recordings that I had sampled over and over again took on a NEW life of their own! The music sounded as if multiple layers of veils had been striped away from the musicians. Not to be unfair, I have heard other ac filtration devices that remove grain and lower the noise floor, but never anything as quiet and as natural as the Tripoint. It just pulled me further into the music and made me forget about my electronics. I asked Miguel how he was able to achieve this natural voicing. He explained to me that the key is to eliminate noise in a more passive manner, while at the same time utilizing materials that have the correct resonating frequency. I'm still not entirely sure how it works, but I can tell you that the Tripoint Troy is definitely amazing! Costly, but worth it because it really delivers. I recommend you do not audition the Tripoint unless you are prepared to pay the price, since it will spoil you and leave you wanting to keep it in your system. This IS the closest I have ever been to the music!

Oops edit:

For the audiophile who demands no hard copy technical explanation on how this device works and agrees to the home audition.

[The Soulman]

Here is my edit:

Audiogoon Testimonials
NutKirk930

Any recommendations in order to maximize my Tripoint Apollo? Hook up tips? I have just purchased the new Tripoint Troy ac filtration/ground system and to tell you this device has given me the most natural portrayal of the musical event I have ever heard from my system is an understatement! As a discerning audiophile that has had the chance, and luck, to own some of the best components in this crazy hobby; Tube Research, JM Labs, the Tripoint lets my electronics achieve their maximum potential. When Miguel Alvarez first approached me to schedule a demonstration of this revolutionary new product, I admit I was skeptical, and cautious, of the performance claims Miguel promised to deliver. There is no hard copy technical explanation on how this device works, but since the manufacturer is local and had offered a demonstration...I agreed to the home audition. The build quality and look of the Tripoint Troy is second to none. The African Bubinga mirror finish is beautiful and it sounds every bit as fabulous as it looks! The Tripoint is for the audiophile who demands nothing but the most innovative. I profess, I was not prepared to hear what I heard. First the Tripoint delivered the most holographic, layered sound that I have ever experienced. Familiar recordings that I had sampled over and over again took on a NEW life of their own! The music sounded as if multiple layers of veils had been striped away from the musicians. Not to be unfair, I have heard other ac filtration devices that remove grain and lower the noise floor, but never anything as quiet and as natural as the Tripoint. It just pulled me further into the music and made me forget about my electronics. I asked Miguel how he was able to achieve this natural voicing. He explained to me that the key is to eliminate noise in a more passive manner, while at the same time utilizing materials that have the correct resonating frequency. I'm still not entirely sure how it works, but I can tell you that the Tripoint Troy is definitely amazing! Costly, but worth it because it really delivers. I recommend you do not audition the Tripoint unless you are prepared to pay the price, since it will spoil you and leave you wanting to keep it in your system. This IS the closest I have ever been to the music!

[cdev]

Many years ago there was an Emperor so exceedingly fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on being well dressed. He cared nothing about reviewing his soldiers, going to the theatre, or going for a ride in his carriage, except to show off his new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might, about any other ruler, "The King's in council," here they always said. "The Emperor's in his dressing room."

In the great city where he lived, life was always gay. Every day many strangers came to town, and among them one day came two swindlers. They let it be known they were weavers, and they said they could weave the most magnificent fabrics imaginable. Not only were their colors and patterns uncommonly fine, but clothes made of this cloth had a wonderful way of becoming invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office, or who was unusually stupid.

"Those would be just the clothes for me," thought the Emperor. "If I wore them I would be able to discover which men in my empire are unfit for their posts. And I could tell the wise men from the fools. Yes, I certainly must get some of the stuff woven for me right away." He paid the two swindlers a large sum of money to start work at once.

They set up two looms and pretended to weave, though there was nothing on the looms. All the finest silk and the purest old thread which they demanded went into their traveling bags, while they worked the empty looms far into the night.

"I'd like to know how those weavers are getting on with the cloth," the Emperor thought, but he felt slightly uncomfortable when he remembered that those who were unfit for their position would not be able to see the fabric. It couldn't have been that he doubted himself, yet he thought he'd rather send someone else to see how things were going. The whole town knew about the cloth's peculiar power, and all were impatient to find out how stupid their neighbors were.

"I'll send my honest old minister to the weavers," the Emperor decided. "He'll be the best one to tell me how the material looks, for he's a sensible man and no one does his duty better."

So the honest old minister went to the room where the two swindlers sat working away at their empty looms.

"Heaven help me," he thought as his eyes flew wide open, "I can't see anything at all". But he did not say so.

Both the swindlers begged him to be so kind as to come near to approve the excellent pattern, the beautiful colors. They pointed to the empty looms, and the poor old minister stared as hard as he dared. He couldn't see anything, because there was nothing to see. "Heaven have mercy," he thought. "Can it be that I'm a fool? I'd have never guessed it, and not a soul must know. Am I unfit to be the minister? It would never do to let on that I can't see the cloth."

"Don't hesitate to tell us what you think of it," said one of the weavers.

"Oh, it's beautiful -it's enchanting." The old minister peered through his spectacles. "Such a pattern, what colors!" I'll be sure to tell the Emperor how delighted I am with it."

"We're pleased to hear that," the swindlers said. They proceeded to name all the colors and to explain the intricate pattern. The old minister paid the closest attention, so that he could tell it all to the Emperor. And so he did.

The swindlers at once asked for more money, more silk and gold thread, to get on with the weaving. But it all went into their pockets. Not a thread went into the looms, though they worked at their weaving as hard as ever.

The Emperor presently sent another trustworthy official to see how the work progressed and how soon it would be ready. The same thing happened to him that had happened to the minister. He looked and he looked, but as there was nothing to see in the looms he couldn't see anything.

"Isn't it a beautiful piece of goods?" the swindlers asked him, as they displayed and described their imaginary pattern.

"I know I'm not stupid," the man thought, "so it must be that I'm unworthy of my good office. That's strange. I mustn't let anyone find it out, though." So he praised the material he did not see. He declared he was delighted with the beautiful colors and the exquisite pattern. To the Emperor he said, "It held me spellbound."

All the town was talking of this splendid cloth, and the Emperor wanted to see it for himself while it was still in the looms. Attended by a band of chosen men, among whom were his two old trusted officials-the ones who had been to the weavers-he set out to see the two swindlers. He found them weaving with might and main, but without a thread in their looms.

"Magnificent," said the two officials already duped. "Just look, Your Majesty, what colors! What a design!" They pointed to the empty looms, each supposing that the others could see the stuff.

"What's this?" thought the Emperor. "I can't see anything. This is terrible!

Am I a fool? Am I unfit to be the Emperor? What a thing to happen to me of all people! - Oh! It's very pretty," he said. "It has my highest approval." And he nodded approbation at the empty loom. Nothing could make him say that he couldn't see anything.

His whole retinue stared and stared. One saw no more than another, but they all joined the Emperor in exclaiming, "Oh! It's very pretty," and they advised him to wear clothes made of this wonderful cloth especially for the great procession he was soon to lead. "Magnificent! Excellent! Unsurpassed!" were bandied from mouth to mouth, and everyone did his best to seem well pleased. The Emperor gave each of the swindlers a cross to wear in his buttonhole, and the title of "Sir Weaver."

Before the procession the swindlers sat up all night and burned more than six candles, to show how busy they were finishing the Emperor's new clothes. They pretended to take the cloth off the loom. They made cuts in the air with huge scissors. And at last they said, "Now the Emperor's new clothes are ready for him."

Then the Emperor himself came with his noblest noblemen, and the swindlers each raised an arm as if they were holding something. They said, "These are the trousers, here's the coat, and this is the mantle," naming each garment. "All of them are as light as a spider web. One would almost think he had nothing on, but that's what makes them so fine."

"Exactly," all the noblemen agreed, though they could see nothing, for there was nothing to see.

"If Your Imperial Majesty will condescend to take your clothes off," said the swindlers, "we will help you on with your new ones here in front of the long mirror."

The Emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put his new clothes on him, one garment after another. They took him around the waist and seemed to be fastening something - that was his train-as the Emperor turned round and round before the looking glass.

"How well Your Majesty's new clothes look. Aren't they becoming!" He heard on all sides, "That pattern, so perfect! Those colors, so suitable! It is a magnificent outfit."

Then the minister of public processions announced: "Your Majesty's canopy is waiting outside."

"Well, I'm supposed to be ready," the Emperor said, and turned again for one last look in the mirror. "It is a remarkable fit, isn't it?" He seemed to regard his costume with the greatest interest.

The noblemen who were to carry his train stooped low and reached for the floor as if they were picking up his mantle. Then they pretended to lift and hold it high. They didn't dare admit they had nothing to hold.

So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, "Oh, how fine are the Emperor's new clothes! Don't they fit him to perfection? And see his long train!" Nobody would confess that he couldn't see anything, for that would prove him either unfit for his position, or a fool. No costume the Emperor had worn before was ever such a complete success.

"But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said.

"Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?" said its father. And one person whispered to another what the child had said, "He hasn't anything on. A child says he hasn't anything on."

"But he hasn't got anything on!" the whole town cried out at last.

The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, "This procession has got to go on." So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all.

http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.html

[MrMobodies]

If they want ground why bother with charcoal why not just put EARTH in it?

They need a good grounding in demanding for the technical information never mind the explanations.

[MrMobodies]

How do nut bars make enough money to afford this?

There are enough rich & stupid around the world

It entertains the idea of making a similar product with a website for it, advertise it on Audiogoon and the likes and any profit goes towards charity for those who are in genuine need of help.

[cdev]

Many of the posts on things like that are fake. Some people are that stupid but many of the posts are fake. Its another whole self-sustaining fake ecosystem. Why do they do it? (post fake reviews?) Its simple. Read this paper. According to a friend in the ad industry, people are commonly paid to troll the Internet in order to influence other people by espousing things that any sensible person can see are against their own best interests. This works as long as they 'smell right'. According to him huge sums of money are spent doing this.

How do nut bars make enough money to afford this?

There are enough rich & stupid around the world

It entertains the idea of making a similar product with a website for it, advertise it on Audiogoon and the likes and any profit goes towards charity for those who are in genuine need of help.

[boB]

These sound absolutely wonderful !

If you open the box up and put it to your ear, you can hear the ocean just like it was right there !

"Can handle over 100 amps of current "

The plug is only rated at, what..... Maybe 15 to 20 amps at most ?

Geeesh...  I love reading the BS they come up with for this stuff.

[scatha]

Audiophools must get very smug when burglars nick their TV and jewelry but don't touch their $20K magic dirt boxes, $10K+ runs of speaker wire, $20K power cables, and fancy beeswax fuses.

[Urs42]

The cheaper version of this grounding device:

[Raj]

They have taken a joke and turned it into a product for the scientifically illiterate.

Sometimes, jokes are more profitable than real stuff....
The pet rock, for example.... People pay to get their hands on the packaging and handbook manual.

[Synthtech]

They only need to sell one.

[MrMobodies]

Many of the posts on things like that are fake. Some people are that stupid but many of the posts are fake. Its another whole self-sustaining fake ecosystem. Why do they do it? (post fake reviews?) Its simple. Read this paper. According to a friend in the ad industry, people are commonly paid to troll the Internet in order to influence other people by espousing things that any sensible person can see are against their own best interests. This works as long as they 'smell right'. According to him huge sums of money are spent doing this.

How do nut bars make enough money to afford this?

There are enough rich & stupid around the world

It entertains the idea of making a similar product with a website for it, advertise it on Audiogoon and the likes and any profit goes towards charity for those who are in genuine need of help.

Just like MyLife.com

In January or February they initially refused to remove false information written about me by nobody but themselves or their "bots", information which was not true anyway and they wanted to charge me to remove it so I went and emailed all their affiliates.

BBC America, Cnet, Fox News, WSJ and USA Today did not give them permission to use their logos. They were not affiliated with them in any way and they told me they were passing it to their legal teams.  I replied to Mylife that I reported them to their affiliates and that they are no different to the Mugshot websites with their sister sites and the scandal behind it then they told me the stuff will be removed.

The last time I checked the profile page it is still there but the writing was gone or not appearing past signing up and logging in.

[pwlps]

What about this high-tech BS:
https://www.lessloss.com/tunnelbridge-distortionless-interconnect-system-p-204.html
As I understand they add a guard line - of course not much effect on inductive coupling at low frequencies so I guess if someone replaces his XLR twisted-pair cables by this stuff he actually will see more noise ?
But I like the picture, this reminds me of some washing powder ads (here in France) where detergent molecules gently expel grime molecules

[MrMobodies]

What about this high-tech BS:
https://www.lessloss.com/tunnelbridge-distortionless-interconnect-system-p-204.html
As I understand they add a guard line - of course not much effect on inductive coupling at low frequencies so I guess if someone replaces his XLR twisted-pair cables by this stuff he actually will see more noise ?
But I like the picture, this reminds me of some washing powder ads (here in France) where detergent molecules gently expel grime molecules

The cover on TunnelBridge RCA phono plugs are HUGE.

Is that really necessary?

Will they even fit in the standard spacings of the left and right phono plugs.
I know the phono plugs on some amplifiers they are close by.

[GregDunn]

The cheaper version of this grounding device:

You laugh, but... this is a true story:

During college, I worked at a small local foundry on summer breaks, in the electrical maintenance department.  One of the old hands there made a little money on the side by doing installations for a local appliance dealer.  He told me about an incident a few years earlier where a customer had ordered an electric refrigerator and he was assigned to deliver and install it.  Noticing that it was a rural address where the power company didn't have distribution lines, he called the customer first to make sure there was indeed an electrical connection.  He was assured that there was, and that all he had to do was plug the unit in after moving it into place.

You guessed it - he arrived and found (a) no electrical service to the house, and (b) the customer had neatly mounted an electrical socket in the wall, connected to nothing.

[rrinker]

Many of the posts on things like that are fake. Some people are that stupid but many of the posts are fake. Its another whole self-sustaining fake ecosystem. Why do they do it? (post fake reviews?) Its simple. Read this paper. According to a friend in the ad industry, people are commonly paid to troll the Internet in order to influence other people by espousing things that any sensible person can see are against their own best interests. This works as long as they 'smell right'. According to him huge sums of money are spent doing this.

How do nut bars make enough money to afford this?

There are enough rich & stupid around the world

It entertains the idea of making a similar product with a website for it, advertise it on Audiogoon and the likes and any profit goes towards charity for those who are in genuine need of help.

Just like MyLife.com

In January or February they initially refused to remove false information written about me by nobody but themselves or their "bots", information which was not true anyway and they wanted to charge me to remove it so I went and emailed all their affiliates.

BBC America, Cnet, Fox News, WSJ and USA Today did not give them permission to use their logos. They were not affiliated with them in any way and they told me they were passing it to their legal teams.  I replied to Mylife that I reported them to their affiliates and that they are no different to the Mugshot websites with their sister sites and the scandal behind it then they told me the stuff will be removed.

The last time I checked the profile page it is still there but the writing was gone or not appearing past signing up and logging in.

 You want to know how ridiculous that site is - I made up a new account on there, using the SAME throwaway email address they keep spamming me on, and made the name "John Smith". Then I uprated "my" account (the one that has my real name) and sure enough - got an email saying my reputation score changed. LOL. What a freaking joke.
 

[Zbig]

When skimming through the inane drivel the "audiophile" product reviews are, it never ceases to amaze me how they seem to believe that the audio reproduction gear, from the amplifier through cables to speakers (and everything in between, power cable included), somehow has the deep understanding of the actual music material being played. The way their "reviews" are written suggests they're completely oblivious to - or unable to comprehend - the simple fact that it's just two electrical signals, one per channel, carrying a voltage whose level changes in time. Reading their babble makes me think they're imagining audio gear as a some kind of a MIDI player that has yet to meticulously recreate the music, instrument by instrument, from the source material. I imagine they picture an engineer designing, say, an amp (yup, that's imagination^2) as an artisan who cherry picks through a bag of gold-plated, magical components in order to bring those violins in this particular recording they like just a bit "more open", "brighter" and "more airy", instead of just making the damn thing respond more or less linearly in the particular frequency range. Do they really think the cello in the 3:45 minute mark somehow travels as a separate entity to the conductor's fart over their $1000 speaker cable or is it that they're just too dumb to learn few actual engineering terms that describe audio signal quality and have to resort to the bullshit terms they use, that they seem to invent as they go? I mean, come on, when I was seven, I too had some difficulty understanding how a complex sounds could be reproduced by an excursion of a single speaker's diaphragm. But it was only until, few years later, someone just drew me a small, very squiggly line riding on top of a bigger, less squiggly line and then it clicked. That's not rocket science, FFS