External Crossover Earth Wire

[bhobba]

Hi Guys

 

Recently Ljmac posted removing the earth wire from his Limited's with external crossovers improved the sound.

 

Now that Mike is back I thought I would check out what it did on my speakers.

 

I heard them first with the earth wire attached then removed.  With it was removed I thought it was more forward and alive.  But then it was attached again and I realized that was caused by a glare the removal caused.  Via a number of tracks it was switched back and forth.  To my ears the earth wire attached was clearly better.  It removed a stridency and glare.  There was another audiophile there and he lent his ears to the exercise.  His view was the same - attaching the earth wire created a fuller more natural sound.

 

Thanks

Bill 

[ljmac]

It should be pointed out that there are three key issues that have to be considered here:

 

1) Bill's speakers differ from mine in that they have copper lining, which in theory would provide a better earth then steel;

 

2) Bill has the unique "Star Drive" wiring from the amp to the speakers that Mike has pioneered, which completely changes how the crossover is earthed to the amplifier relative to standard wiring;

 

3) Obviously, Mike's system is completely different to mine, and his has issues with hum, whereas mine does not. Earthing is obviously beneficial in combating this (and the sonic effects thereof).

 

Having said that though, the differences in my system could be said to be the same as what Bill experienced, except that they had a positive effect: with the ground wires connected, the sound was a little too soft and laid back to my ears, but with them disconnected, the sound livened up, sharpened up and opened up (including in terms of imaging). The sound is still far too well behaved to be called glary or (especially) strident, but I can see that in a different system, it could very well have this effect.

 

So in the end, it's all a matter of synergy. If you find your Lenehans with outboard crossovers to be a little too polite in your system/room, disconnecting the ground wires may give them just the shot in the arm they need. It's a really nice bit of flexibility in system matching.