The impact of water shortages on audio ground performance
By Roy Gregory
There are a lot of places dealing with water shortages and heat waves right now. Given the potentially fatal consequences of either. Perhaps worrying about their impact on audio performance might seem trite. However, there is at least one direct consequence of drought that impacts directly on audio performance: at least it does if you are running a separate, parallel ground…
A dedicated AC supply for your audio system is possibly the most cost effective performance improvement available. Adding a parallel ground to that AC supply just makes it better. The normal scenario is that you run a ground wire from the ground connection on the AC socket feeding your system to one or more ground posts, normally buried in your garden. Note: this is NOT an alternative to or substitute for the safety ground. Hence the term parallel clean ground.
The ideal arrangement is some variation on (depending who you talk to) at least one ground post sunk vertically and one laid horizontally. The vertical post should be sunk deep enough to reach the water table – although if you live in Arizona or New Mexico, that could be a challenge. The significance of the water table is that it is the water that you are relying on to dissipate the ground potential – ‘cos dirt generally doesn’t conduct too well. So the problem presented by a drought becomes obvious. The water table recedes and the earth around your ground post dries out, limiting its effectiveness. The solution is simple. When you are out there watering your roses, fruit trees or flowers, lawn, veggies or herbaceous borders, take the time to water your ground post(s) too. You might be surprised at just how audible a difference it makes…
