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A really good presentation on grounding

Sawdust123

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Bill Whitlock, the former owner of Jensen Transformers is one of the world's leading experts on grounding. I have the good fortune of being friends with him and live close by. We have done many trade shows and presentations together. Here are the slides of a presentation he gave about 7 years ago. https://centralindianaaes.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/indy-aes-2012-seminar-w-notes-v1-0.pdf

My part of the presentation is not included but consisted of me using a handheld magnetic tape eraser next to different cable types and showing the significance of their construction on the induced differential mode noise (using an AP analyzer). As you would suspect, star-quad style cable had significantly less noise.
 

amirm

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BIll's presentation on grounding needs to be mandatory reading for every audiophile and even most engineers! He so uniquely and nicely dissects the topic and shows the best and only way to properly look at grounding. It was a revelation for me the first time I sat through his presentation.

I just glanced at this version and it is much evolved. Best thing to do is to sit in his presentation.
 

RayDunzl

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Sawdust123

Sawdust123

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I use Bill's papers and presentations routinely, especially when trying to disabuse people of ideas like "pseudo-balanced."

Here's another good take on the same subject.
Bruno is another audio genius and really nice guy. You should hear his talks on class-D amps. I have seen him on panel sessions with other class-D "designers" and it is clear Bruno's understanding goes deep down into the underlying physics and math. He makes the other designers often look like hacks.
 

PierreV

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Bill Whitlock, the former owner of Jensen Transformers is one of the world's leading experts on grounding. I have the good fortune of being friends with him and live close by. We have done many trade shows and presentations together. Here are the slides of a presentation he gave about 7 years ago. https://centralindianaaes.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/indy-aes-2012-seminar-w-notes-v1-0.pdf

Thanks, really great tutorial. I learned quite a bit - the removable PS audio ground pin is o_O
 

Tks

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It's like -almost- too good to be true with that name!
 
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Sawdust123

Sawdust123

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I'll have to watch that video at some future time. I met a lot of nice people at Audioquest from the president on down. They were big fans of my RMAF 2015 lecture. Most of them truly believe they are making a quality product. Although, I did have one engineering friend quit after less than a year there telling me that he could no longer drink the Kool-aid. That was many years ago and I haven't followed the company at all since then.

I do credit Audioquest, well, at least one young marketeer they had working for them, for giving me the worst product pitch ever. This was about 10 years ago when HDMI 1.3 was adopted and they had cables for it. I was somewhat of an expert on HDMI audio at the time and participated on testing standards.. The guy gave me a pitch about HDMI audio as if it was analog. He didn't know there was no audio clock on HDMI. There was just two parameters (N-a look up table value based on frame rate and sample rate, and CTS- the cycle time stamp). The HDMI sink (receiver) generates an audio clock from these two values. He showed me eye-diagrams for their three best HDMI cables that were identical but insisted there was a difference. I asked him if he knew what the eye-diagram was and he said yes but he couldn't explain it (roll-eyes). Anyhow, I informed him that he really shouldn't talk about things he clearly doesn't understand but he insisted on continuing. I asked him again (very politely) to stop talking. He didn't. I finally said, "Look, I am a nice guy but I have limits. If I let you keep talking, I may take an action that I don't want (like punching him). Since I don't want to do that, I will leave now."
 
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SIY

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I have not found the folks at AudioQuest to be nice or even vaguely honest. Here's an excerpt from my 2017 AXPONA write up:

At the display of one company selling remarkably expensive USB cables, I asked, "What do these do that an ordinary USB-compliant cable doesn't?" The fellow responded by asking me what I believed about them. I answered, "I don't know anything about your cables, that's why I'm asking what they do differently than a standard cable." This was apparently not the right answer, and the exhibitor snapped, "You're just here to make us look bad!" and refused to engage in any further conversation. By contrast, he was happy to talk with other folks nearby who came in having read every cable review and article in the high-end audio magazines, and I have to admit that his rapid method of customer qualification is likely better for his company's revenue.

There is no possible way that any of the execs or "technical" people there believe the stuff they peddle.
 
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Sawdust123

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There is no possible way that any of the execs or "technical" people there believe the stuff they peddle.
This is where there is a huge disconnect between the scientific world and the audiophile world. The scientific world usually thinks that the cable guys and their ilk are knowingly peddling floobydust. I found that not to be the case.

As a salesman for audio analyzers, I dealt with all types of manufacturers. I never met a single audiophile company owner where I walked away thinking that he didn't believe his own hype, no matter how outlandish it may have seemed to me. Perhaps this is a bit of the Dunning-Kruger Effect at play here. Or, perhaps they simply developed products that greatly pleased themselves (and they often had loyal fans) based on dumb luck of getting a good design or perhaps just for the outstanding visual aesthetics.

I am never one to underestimate the power of aesthetics. A Ferrari is a terrible car; poor gas mileage, cramped seats, bumpy ride, little storage space, high maintenance costs, etc. Oh, but it drives fast, turns quickly, sounds impressive, looks sexy, attracts admirers and sends out the message that you are highly successful. Ownership puts you in an exclusive "club" of people. I suspect high end gear buyers get similar benefits from their systems when amongst like-minded people. I don't point out to Ferrari owners that a Corvette costs less than half as much and performs similarly. Likewise, I don't point out to audiophiles that their expensive cables, hand-woven by Peruvian virgins, don't do anything to improve their system's sound. Ok, if they ask for my opinion, I will speak up, but only then.

BTW, when I was at Hewlett-Packard/Agilent (now Keysight) the product managers (I was one) used to repeat the mantra, "Don't breathe your own exhaust." This basically meant, that while we may write presentations and data sheets about the amazing virtues of our products on a daily basis, we have to remember that every product has room for improvement.
 

SIY

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As a salesman for audio analyzers, I dealt with all types of manufacturers. I never met a single audiophile company owner where I walked away thinking that he didn't believe his own hype, no matter how outlandish it may have seemed to me. Perhaps this is a bit of the Dunning-Kruger Effect at play here. Or, perhaps they simply developed products that greatly pleased themselves (and they often had loyal fans) based on dumb luck of getting a good design or perhaps just for the outstanding visual aesthetics.

Or they're really good salesmen who never turn it off, even when dealing with vendors. More kayfabe than Dunning Kruger.

The amp company I visited last week was VERY focused on the aesthetics, and damn, they did a good job of it! Although at six figure pricing, they ought to. At least the performance lived up to the look.

In my own little world, that's why I use tubes for my electronics.
 

Fledermaus

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Or they're really good salesmen who never turn it off, even when dealing with vendors.
Combine that with a gullible, enthusiastic personality, and there you have it : self-convincing salesmanship !
Nothing beats that when firmly rooted, for both sides find benefit in it :D
 
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