I may order one next. Not now, but later. Want to try the RCA on my pre and Nds, and see where it’s best.
Problem : as I know and have Chord products, I am in the upgrade expecting bias territory. Just kidding of course.
1 Like
Not sure if this has been answered, but how many of these do you need? Is the idea to fill every unused socket on every box? Are certain plugs recommended over others? I couldn’t find any explanation or advice on how to use these on the Chord website.
1 Like
I would be interested in hearing peoples opinions of comparing the chord array against the $169 alternative acoustic revive….
1 Like
In my experience I found the best one in my system was 5 Pin din, speaking to my dealer today one of their other customers has 2 fitted to his 552 with RJ45 into his network
I have ordered the 5 Pin for me 252, and asked for a demo USB try with my QNAP as the RJ45 was good but not as significant as the 5 Pin, my router has separate power, the better the switch the smaller the increase
So my plan subject to demo is to have X 2. 5 Pin DIN in in 252 and either the USB into QNAP or RJ45 into switch
1 Like
There is an older review you can find on the 6moons website, here’s what they say in short:
Does this Acoustic Revive stuff work?
The answer is an emphatic yes. Better than I would have guessed in my wildest dreams. While listening to Marian McPartland’s new CD Twilight World, I was totally blown away by the huge increase in the recording acoustic and by a huge billowing soundspace that just reached out and filled up my listening room to an unprecedented degree. More low-level detail was in evidence - but without any penalty of sounding more analytical.If anything, the overall character sounded more natural and less electronic; more like the real thing. On the Ray Brown & Laurindo Almeida album Moonlight Serenade the decay and bloom of notes increased but more importantly, the music just opened up and began to breathe like a living creature. Or should I say like two living creatures playing music together? The tone color of Ray’s bass and Laurindo’s guitar became even more ravishing, and the level of musical involvement was stepped up a couple of notches.
Acoustic Revive has a pretty broad range of products in this area (grounding/quartz connectors). The RCA versions are the most affordable at about $50 per pair, the DIN / XLR are a bit more expensive at around $200 (pictured below)
1 Like
Interesting that this isn’t just some wacky idea dreamt up by Chord, it seems…
I am tempted to ask then, is it partly just a question of price that makes the ARAY seemingly so controversial?
I read another forum’s thread on them - absolutely derisive and a bit unseemly I thought, considering that ‘science’ is part of the forums name. I prefer our Forum’s discussions.
2 Likes
My guess is that it’s the high price and marketing BS that accompanies these that creates the derision from others. A little less hyperbole and a little more fact might improve their credibility.
2 Likes
Might? It definitely would, and that really was what’s behind the thread title. All these magic ingredients suggest foo when there is very possibly something meaningful there.
3 Likes
Too much “magic” not only undermines the credibility of this product, it starts to put into question the credibility of their other products and the Chord brand. I don’t want to knock Chord, but when I was recently buying XLR cables I was also frustrated by the absence of any clear explanation of how the six cables they sell differed. If it wasn’t for my dealer and the positive experiences from members here I would give Chord a wide berth.
2 Likes
A lot of members with 500 series systems have Chord Music or Sarum t cables.
Maybe 30 members since bought and are enjoying the Chord EE8 switch.
Some have Chord Silent mounths under their speakers.
Would Chord take the risk to ruin his credibility in offering expensive snake oil products , or with very poor value ? I doubt
Entreq and Nordost offer ground control products much more expensive. But as they are big boxes, it question less.
5 Likes
Also many others do not detail how their cables etc. are constructed. Tellurium Q are a good example and many members use their products and rate them highly.
I suspect if somebody actually told you in scientific term exactly how these thing work, you would not understand a word and think it was nonsense. As would most people.
All this talk of magic ingredients reminded me of this advert. Maybe Chord should do something similar.
Science Not Magic.
I have Tellurium Black II speaker cables and Black interconnects. It was the unicorn hair insulation that sold them to me. I have an irrational aversion to Chord cables, largely due to the incessant range changes and general bollocking around with Naim interconnects. That said, I bought an EE switch against my better judgement but it does work, hence why I’d not write off the GroundENEMA.
2 Likes
We can start with what they say the product does:
“The advanced technologies provide a very low-impedance, high-bandwidth route for HF noise to pass into, effectively ‘pulling’ noise from the signal ground of the host equipment.”
Ok, so what is HF noise?
So what the GroundARAY does is work like an antenna to pick up radio waves between 3 and 30 megahertz, and convert those into heat by dispersing them through some sort of material.
1 Like
Some would, but some would have the knowledge to judge if it makes any sense.
1 Like
Well. If we take this thread, there are an awful lot of people who THINK they have the knowledge to know what’s going on.
And, I’m not just refering to the people who rely on Wikipedia.
2 Likes
In the specific case of the GroundARAY I can’t see anyone who thinks they know what is going on, simply because all information we have from Chord about what is inside is basically “unicorns”.
1 Like
It’s perhaps at least important to recognize that if the effect of this product is as clearly audible as has been described in this thread, that this reflects badly on Naim.
It would mean that Naim equipment is so poorly shielded and the inherent HF noise floor is so high that it significantly and audibly degrades the sound quality. Otherwise a passive plug/device like the GroundARAY that absorps HF wouldn’t have such a drastic and audible effect.
We then perhaps shouldn’t be happy with a product like the GroundARAY, but concerned about the quality and shielding of our equipment without these extra gadgets.
4 Likes
This seems very unfair.
It is unlikely that Naim could know more about this subject than you do. How can we blame them for not addressing problems and solutions which you have dismissed?
On the other hand - nice change of tack.
Someone’s to blame.
10 Likes
My, you really need to blame someone for something, don’t you.
Suggesting that, because the GroundARAY works, it means that Naim equipment is somehow poorly designed is absurd. By that logic should I then blame Naim for the poor design of my 552 as it’s not as good as a Statement?
You’ll also have to blame every other manufacturer where there’s a “reported improvement”. You’ll note that GroundARAY comes with a whole range of connections - Din is only one - so it’s not been designed specifically with Naim in mind. In my case it’s a Linn KDSM and I’m not about to blame Linn for the GroundARAY improving it beyond all expectation.
In any case, as far as I’m aware, the GroundARAY has only been available for a couple of months, so who’s to say Naim and others won’t be looking at how this type of approach could be incorporated into future designs?
Do as Richard has suggested, try one, perhaps get someone to blind test it with you to temper the negative bias, and let us know what you think.
4 Likes