The first and most obvious thing is that the Pico could be supplied with a range of different terminations on its ‘grounding’ wires, from spades or 4mm banana plugs, to RCAs or XLRs. The implication is clear: although using the NoiseTraps between speaker and amp locates them where the mechanical energy levels are highest, don’t assume that they wouldn’t also be effective grounding source components or a line-stage. Vibration levels might be lower where those signals reside, but the signals themselves are considerably less robust.
The second observation concerns the preferred position of the NoiseTraps within the speaker/amplifier chain. The bass connections are where the energy levels are highest, but are they also where the benefits are most apparent, in musical terms. The answer to that is almost certainly yes, as shown by the impact the NoiseTraps have in the time domain and on rhythmic articulation and coherence. But does that mean that the mid/treble connections should go untreated? Maybe you need two sets of NoiseTraps, for bass and mid/treble? Maybe, the reason the results with the Haydn were so impressive is that they’re single-wired speakers so the whole range is getting the benefit. Then there’s the question of whether you are better off locating the NoiseTraps at the speaker terminals, the amplifier terminals – or both? Or how about building the technology into the speaker or amp?
Long story short, this is early days and this looks like a can of worms that’s gonna keep on crawling. I’ve already requested a second set of NoiseTraps to investigate a few of those questions raised above. In the meantime, this is one of the more musically interesting universal mods to pass this way. Don’t be fooled by the prosaic appearance, this might just be Pandora’s Box, a technology with real promise and multiple applications. We’ve seen (and heard) what signal and chassis grounds can do for a system’s performance. SoundStrip’s BlackHole NoiseTraps look a lot like a brightly illuminated sign post pointing the way of mechanical grounding and its considerable potential.
SoundStrip
n. www.acoustic-precision.fr
