Thanks to Simon-in-suffolk, I adjusted my DAC V1 grounding switch from floating to chassis and the sound quality on my 202 did subtly improve for the better.
on my 282, my source is a Hugo and a project turntable, so how do I go about grounding that without a Naim CD player or streamer?
The solution given by chord is the following
"Naim amplification has the mains safety ground and the signal ground separated. Naim grounds at source.
To ensure that there is no possibility of mains hum or buzz when the Hugo is connected to a mains charger, it is simply necessary to ground the Hugo as it will be a source component, and Naim expects it to be grounded.
The easiest way is to connect a wire from the earth pin of a standard 13A plugtop to the Naim Supernait terminal marked 'SIGNAL GROUND' on the back panel. This terminal is internally connected to the braid of the signal connections connecting Hugo to the Naim amplifier.
There are no high currents or voltages involved and a simple piece of thin flexible insulated wire will suffice.
The 13A plugtop with the single earth wire added is plugged into the wall adjacent to the Naim amplifier mains plug and completes the ground path and eliminates the hum.
(This is often not required as introducing a correctly wired Naim source into the system will deal with the signal and electrical ground connection and so no hum would ever be experienced.)"
I'm not sure about this solution, has anyone tried it?
I've got some inclination to buy a second hand Naim CD player to make sure my 282 is grounded properly, but seems like a waste of money since I don't play CD's anymore.
Any advice?
Posted on: 12 March 2016 by analogmusic
comparing the sound from my 202 with the ground on my DAC v1 set to chassis properly, the sound has really improved, tighter bottom end, more ambiance, less treble hash, bigger soundstage, wow !
wish I had looked into this before... !
Ok willing to try this if it works with socket set to "off". Should pose no risk.
Can Richard Dane confirm this won't upset the "star earthing" ?
Posted on: 12 March 2016 by joerand
Analog,
For all the faith you put hi-fi reviews you seem to show little deference for the solution you quoted by Chord, directly related to use with Naim gear, You essentially asked and answered your question within your original post, yet you beg on.
Posted on: 12 March 2016 by Simon-in-Suffolk
The method suggested by Chord won't affect the star earthing of the Hugo or 202, as the Hugo is designed to float its ground by default. The star earthing would be upset if you had more than one earth grounded source to your 202 (which is why many Naim devices have the ground switch), but here you would have only your single earth grounded Hugo using the Chord suggestion.
Posted on: 12 March 2016 by Richard Dane
I can't really comment on the Chord solution - I guess they have done the leg-work here, so I can see no reason not to trust it - but as Simon says, so long as you only have one signal ground to mains grounded source then you'll be fine. This always used to be Linn Sondek in systems of yore, then Naim's own CD players. These days, as there's every likelihood that you may have more than one such source, the ground switch is provided to ensure best performance.
Posted on: 12 March 2016 by David Hendon
Ok willing to try this if it works with socket set to "off". Should pose no risk.
If you connect just to the earth pin, which is of course the largest of the three pins, it makes no difference whether the socket into which the plug is placed is switched on or off. The switch in a normal socket only switches the line connection, except in some special switched sockets which also switch the neutral connection. But in all cases the earth connection is permanently made. You won't have anything connected to the line or neutral pins. You can also leave the fuse out of the plug when you connect the wire to the earth pin if it makes you feel safer.
best
David
Posted on: 12 March 2016 by analogmusic
thanks all for responses.
How were LP 12 connected in terms of getting the ground right in the past?
I have a project turntable, but the earth pin on the 16 volt charger is plastic, so no earthing is done there, not sure if the ground terminal on the project serves any purpose?
Posted on: 12 March 2016 by Simon-in-Suffolk
I can't speak for LP12 as I have not owned, but of the turntables I have owned the approach has been turntable ground and signal ground to the cartridge are seperate. (This avoids stereo ground loops). The grounds come seperately to the phono preamp which have always earthed the turntable ground. But I have been able to earth the ground or leave floating the phono amp signal out to the main preamp. So effectively the phono preamp becomes the signal ground earth should I need it, but clearly this is dependant on the phono preamp used.
