There is a misconception in the hifi industry that grounding a system is just one of a multitude of “minor tweaks” that can be made to a system to marginally improve its performance level. However, this mindset completely underplays the transformative results that proper grounding will bring to a system, as well as the ubiquitous nature of the interference that impacts EVERY sound system.

Interference that impacts the power domain is all around you, constantly bombarding your system. Your AC power lines are contaminated with electrical surges, pulses, and switch-mode hash from home appliances, plug-in chargers, light dimmers, and fluorescent and LED lights. Even the air is polluted by radio frequency interference (RFI) and electromagnetic interference (EMI), levels of which are increasing due to the prevalence of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular signals. While you may not be able to hear the noise from these interferences on their own, the effect that they have on your audio components is unmistakable, muddying the playback, collapsing the soundstage of your system, smearing the timing and pacing of music, and making the performance less engaging. 

There are a couple of ways to address your system’s grounding in order to free your components from this electrical noise: external ground rods, low-impedance cables to connect your signal ground access points, or passive, artificial ground units (like the QKORE). Each one of these options have their own merits. However, once your system is properly grounded, there are several improvements you can count on. The image separation of your system will be greatly improved, exposing nuances in dynamics and accent markings that would otherwise have been missed. You’ll also experience a tighter, deeper, and more authoritative bass. However, the most noticeable change will be a dramatic drop in your noise floor which will provide a quieter, ‘darker’ background, resulting in a wider, more lifelike soundstage. 

To learn more about grounding your system, see our download: The Importance of Electrical Grounding in Audio Systems.