GROUNDING

GUIDE

Russ Andrews explains his tried and tested technique for optimising
grounding in a Hi-Fi or Home Cinema system.
 Optimising your Grounding
What is Earthing and Grounding? insulated shield and the mains inlet is probably a
It is clearly crucial in any guide to improving your two-pin IEC, figure 8, or three pin IEC or ‘cloverleaf’
grounding that the basic practical difference is type socket with the earth pin not connected
explained between earthing and grounding. The internally. Source equipment and preamps are now
two are often confused and it helps to understand usually double insulated like this.
what each does. Power amps or integrated amps usually have
conventional three pin sockets with the earth
Earthing connected.
These two terms sound like they are describing the Earthing is for safety! Earthed equipment
same thing and so get confused. Earthing is should always be connected to your earthed ring
the term we use to talk about a connection that main (I will discuss the quality of that earth some
involves the electrical safety wiring in a mains other time!).
powered (230V AC) house supply installation or
mains powered equipment. It is the wire that Grounding
provides the safe path to ground of a fault current,
Grounding is the term we use to talk about
to prevent electrocution of the operator in the
connections to ground of the RFI signals picked up
event of a live fault to exposed metal parts. In other
by the various exposed metal parts of your HiFi
words, if a fault occurs within a component causing
system. These connections are not safety related
a live part of the internal circuit to touch the
and are best connected with wires
external casework, the earth wire
which you will need to fit to the
safely carries this current away
casework, through our RF Router
from the component to ground. “I have known for very which is specifically tuned to these
In theory, you shouldn’t get a
shock (or worse) when you touch many years that high frequency signals. The output
of the RF Router is then connected
the casework in the event of a grounding casework to a low resistance and low
fault.
has a generally inductance path to an earth spike
The earth wire is a yellow/ green with a good low resistance to earth.
cable of sufficient size to carry beneficial effect on Alternatively, the use of our plug-in
the likely fault current. It requires dynamic range & RF Router provides a path to ground
a low resistance direct path to via your normal mains earth.
ground; the final connection to bass depth”
I have known for very many years
earth somewhere outside your
that grounding casework has a
house is usually provided by your
generally beneficial effect on dynamic range and
electricity supply company. The resistance of this
bass depth etc... and we have fitted grounding
earth may be reduced by fitting your own earth
terminals on our PowerBlock and wall sockets for
spike in the ground outside your house in addition
much of that time. For a short while, the
to the one the supplier provides.
requirements of the then new 17th
Not all mains powered HiFi equipment has this wiring regulations in 2008
connection to earth, however. Much of the forced us to rethink
equipment manufactured in the last 25 or 30 years the technique of
has been 'double insulated' where the outer case directly
you see is not connected to any mains-connected connecting
part. The case is 'floating' and may be plastic or earth spikes to
metal. The mains power supply is within its own the house ring

2
RF Router MK II
Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019
 “The benefits of grounding
the signal this way are profound”
earth, as this was outlawed. They quickly The preamp or integrated amp is the ‘hub’ and all
abandoned this however and made it legal again. source equipment grounding cables connect
In the meantime, talking to audio designer Ben directly to it. The preamp grounding cables connect
Duncan about the problem I learned that he could directly to the power amp which is then linked
see a way to connect to an earth spike effectively directly to the input of the Router. If you have
but (then) legally and also see a second benefit speakers with driver chassis ground connections,
in incorporating a more effective RFI dumping connect them both directly to the Router. The
circuit in the design. Ben's circuit is frequency- output of the Router than connects to the ring main
optimised to provide an easy route for RFI to exit earth or ground spike outside.
equipment chassis down to ground....... hence the
So why do we recommend grounding the metal
name RF Router for the product.
equipment casework independently like this to
Tests proved the efficacy of the device and we earth? It’s important to understand how the music
proceeded to experiment with ways to get the most signal passing through the circuits in your source
benefit from it in any system. We began with my components and amplifiers relate to the metal
own big system and that of my old friend Chris. equipment casework that surrounds them.
He is a retired gentleman of means, time and with
In a single-ended system (i.e. one where the
an insatiable curiosity… plus, of course his great
connections are made with RCA (phono)
love and knowledge of music. Chris experimented
interconnects), the signal consists of the music
with every possible combination of connecting
signal and the ground: both are needed for the
everything together with ground wires and routers
signal to flow as a circuit. The outer part of the
over many months and we finally came to some
phono plug is the ground connection and the
very important conclusions.
centre pin is for the signal. Now, this signal ground is
First, getting it right was absolutely essential. Small usually (but not always) connected inside
differences in exactly what was connected to equipment to an earth point… an earth point that is
what, in what order, were very important. also connected to the mains earth and the
Second, the effects were stable, repeatable and equipment casework.
predictable. If you have a balanced circuit (with XLRs
Third, although his first priority was the musical connectors), the signal itself is split into positive and
effects, Chris could see the effects in the picture negative but the third pin is essentially the same as
quality projected on his Home Cinema screen. the signal ground in single ended circuit. Like that
circuit the signal ground is connected via the earth
Fourth, he had turned years of grounding 'black arts'
point to the equipment casework.
insecurity into a relaxed certainty that his
grounding was ' good'. So you can see that equipment casework is linked to
I took that knowledge and tested it on very simple the signal ground: high frequency RF noise in the
modest systems to prove that it was signal ground appears in the casework.
a general solution to correct Because the casework is linked
grounding rather than just to the signal ground, this also
specific to a very special means it’s relatively easy to
complex system. And it connect the signal ground
was! Fortunately, the (via the casework) and dump
correct grounding path is the noise in it to earth.
very simple: follow the
signal path. Use ground wire such as our Technical Ground Weave,
left, to connect your equipment casework together.

Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019 3

 Sound Benefits may be aware of the musician playing that
instrument, his technique and musical skill.
The benefits of grounding the signal this way
are profound. At first listen, you will be struck by What is true of bass instruments is true of every
how much lower the bass goes, how much instrument and voice. Everyone seems to be
tighter and cleaner it is. Then by how much playing better than you heard before.
more articulate, how you can hear more easily After hearing all those changes you may realise
the notes being played. Next you realise that the that the whole performance is so much more
instrument has a defined character, tone and real, so much like being there. Wow… don’t you
presence as a separate instrument. Next, you want some of that?

We found the upgrading effects of grounding on all

levels of system to be so great that we have pushed Why grounding is
Grounding up the hierarchy of upgrading steps right to especially important
the top alongside the other mains upgrades. It also
prompted a reassessment of mains cable earthing itself.
now
Dumping RFI out of your system has
Starting with our woven mains cables we have
never been more important than now.
completely redesigned their construction. In the light of
The RFI fog we endure in the name of '
these RFI grounding issues we realised that there was an
staying connected' is a serious issue for
improvement to be gained by stopping the cable weave
the Hi-Fi enthusiast, and it can only get
inducing RFI noise in the earth wire: many prototypes,
worse exponentially into the future. As
listening tests and RFI measurements later we are ready
we progress through 3G, 4G and into 5G
to launch a new range that take performance to new
the mast density in the environment
levels of musicality, resolution and clarity.
increases and the broadcast power and
We have also looked at the wires and cables we use to frequencies go up to achieve the area
implement the grounding process, finding that the wire coverage and data density we all
material’s quality was clearly audible. The improvements demand. We now expect Superfast
brought by using KIMBER TC wire and Kimber silver wire broadband speeds of Internet access on
turned out to be just as audible as when they are used as our mobile phones anywhere we want
signal or speaker cables! And boy was Super Burn In to use the web or social media sites.
worthwhile ! I wouldn't be without it. Speaking of Emergency Services are ramping up
SuperBurn In, we have a new machine (under their communication networks to give
development for the last five years!) to take the process Police, Ambulance and Fire Service
to a whole new level. personnel better live voice and video
computer-driven control. There are
Symphony concerns about the public health
Many of you will be familiar with our long-time range aspects of these powerful digital
of electromagnetic field stabilisers for the mains and networks in towns and cities where the
area round the system. We have recently changed mast density must be very high to
supplier to have access to the latest designs for this eliminate blind spots.
useful technology. The new product is the Symphony
Pro, and is proving noticeably superior to our previous You may be sensibly not using Ethernet-
products in reducing the audible effects of the over-mains devices, but your
electromagnetic fog we live with. As the noise and neighbours probably are because they
hash is reduced we notice that, along don't want to use cables to connect all
with the system, WE feel more their audio visual kit. Our need to
relaxed and less stressed. protect our musical enjoyment from the
We think this technology is degrading effects of 21st century
a welcome addition to our lifestyle is urgent and increasingly
system grounding efforts. important. We are working increasingly

4 Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019

hard to find effective solutions for us all.
 BECOME AN EXPERT...
What to do
Grounding casework is very simple to achieve. You’ll see that the
The basic components are some grounding wires, grounding wires have
some means of connecting the wires to the a stackable spade
casework, an RF Router, and a way of connecting (figure 4) which makes Figure 4
your RF Router to earth - either by using the plug-in it easy to connect multiple wires
version or connecting it to either a wall socket with to a single chassis tag at the preamp /
earth terminal or an external earth spike. Consult the integrated amp (figure 5).
diagrams on page 7 to get an idea of the
If you have a preamp
connections you need to make and consult the
and power amp
Choosing Your RF Router box on page 10 to identify
combination, fit more
which is best for you.
chassis tags to them
To make wiring everything up easier, we have ready- and connect a
made grounding wires and tags. To connect a ground wire between
ground wire to your them. Finally, connect
casework, simply a wire from your
remove one of the amplifier to the RF
casework screws Router, and connect
Figure 5, Showing two grounding
(figure 1), fit a your RF Router to wires connected to the chassis tag
casework tag (figure earth. The way you
2) and refit the do this depends on which RF Router you have
casework screw, chosen.
Figure 1
securing the tag tight
to the metal case. In While the basic
our example, our wires and tags give
casework is bare a good connection,
copper, but if the for ultimate
casework is painted, performance you
strip a little of the can opt to fit our
paint off before Figure 2 Technical Ground
tightening the tag to ensure you are getting a good Weave and Figure 6
connection. Do this on each source, and fit a matching tags.
grounding tag to the preamp, or to your integrated These tags offer a
amp. banana socket to match the banana fitted to the
Technical Ground Weave (figure 6).
The grounding wires
(which are fitted with
It’s particularly worthwhile opting for this bigger
the appropriate
weave on the final link from your power
spades) simply push
amp/integrated amp and the RF Router, and, if using
on to the tags (figure
the RF Router MK II, from the RF Router to the
3) and connect
grounding point on your wall socket (or outside to
everything together;
your external grounding spike). I must stress the
they are easily Figure 3 importance of using the RF Router; the sound is so
removed if you need
much better with it inline than without it.
to move or rearrange anything.

Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019 5

 Grounding your speakers
You can even ground metal speaker drive units in the same way as equipment casework (and it is worth
doing so). Some speakers have ground terminals, or you can fit your own – see the appendix for more
information on how to do this.

Grounding double-insulated
equipment
The chassis (equipment case) is the most
important part to ground, but if a component is
double-insulated (or the mains input is a
2-pin, figure-8 type) you will need to ground
the signal earth by connecting to one of the
unused phono sockets. We have a ready-made
woven RCA grounding lead made with Kimber
Kable for this purpose, with a phono plug on
one end, and a stackable spade on the other (as
shown in Figure 4 on page 4). We can also Figure 7. If your equipment is double insulated, connect
terminate them phono to M5 spade (for the RCA grounding wire to an unused phono socket
connecting to your RF Router), and phono to instead of attaching to the chassis. The other end connects
to the next component in the conventional way.
banana if you are using chassis ground banana
adaptors (see Figure 6).

Using the RCA Technical Ground Weave

What is double-insulated? cable with standard (non double-insulated)
Double insulated equipment – usually denoted equipment
by this symbol – has metal casework that is You may get further benefits by using the RCA
not linked electrically to your component's Technical Ground Weave cable on standard,
internal circuit. Double insulated equipment earthed equipment. We say may because the
often (but not always) has a figure-8 mains only way to find out if there are further benefits
input socket or a 2-pin IEC socket. Because it's is to try it! Listening is your best bet – if it
electrically isolated from your component's sounds better with the additional ground in
circuit, grounding the casework is less place, it is better.
successful but we have a way to ground
components which are double insulated.

6 Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019

The benefits of using an earth rod
All this is about dumping RFI/EMI out of the system Whatever technique you apply, consider treating
and into a good, low resistance earth. How do I get the soil round each rod or pipe with a chemical
a good low resistance earth you may well ask? I treatment like Magnesium sulfate, copper sulfate or
know that many of you are connecting your RF ordinary rock salt. The best technique for a pipe is
Router to the mains earth. This works well and is to dig a circular trench round the rod, fill it with the
simple to achieve, but for very best performance soil-treating material and cover with soil.
you should connect the RF Router to an external
Your electrician can solve these problems for you
earth spike or rod, buried in the ground outside.
and guarantee the result. Connection to the earth
This answer isn't simple, I'm afraid, because the rod should be with a thick copper earth wire (10mm
quality of your earth depends on the soil resistivity or 16mm2) or with our own Russ Andrews woven
which varies with type and situation. If you are grounding wire. Remember to protect the wire in
lucky, a simple four foot earth spike will do a good some way to prevent accidental damage that might
job but you may find it more difficult in dry urban go unnoticed (gardeners use spades and other
situations. sharp tools!).
It is worth doing properly, so get a good electrician It might also be wise to fit a plastic pipe through
involved at the beginning who has the measuring the wall to feed the earth wire through. It is easy
equipment to ensure that, whatever lengths you then to seal it with mastic.
have to go to, you get a reliable low resistance
earth.

Earth rod installation – some

practical considerations
Where soil conditions are good (very moist,
farming, loamy and clay soils) a single earth spike
may well prove sufficient to get a good low
resistance earth connection. Select a suitable place
away from the house (the soil is usually driest near
the house) and drive in the earth spike with a lump
hammer or sledge hammer - avoid buried pipes
External Star Grounding: earth spikes in a star pattern
and cables! If you have found a good spot, it will
drive in easily. If not, then the soil is probably full of
rocks or stones that will not make a good earth. If

Bolt on
this is the case, search for a spot without rocks. If
appro x. 2m long
Earth Wire Copper tubing
you can find no soft and easy place, you will need to
consider putting in a star network of rods linked
together. Each rod should be further apart than
they are deep. Another alternative is to bury a long
copper plumbing pipe horizontally about 1m down
in a trench. This could be under a lawn, but make Approx.
the end you connect the earth cable to easily 1m down
accessible so that you can check the connection
regularly.

Alternative to using an earth rod: bury a

piece of copper tubing.

Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019 7

 Connecting it all together

Example 1: How to connect the casework

grounds to an integrated amp. CD Player Turntable RF Router
If using the Grounding Wire, use type ‘A’ cables Plug-In
between the sources and amp and type ‘B’ between
the amp and router. In this example we are using A A
B
the RF Router Plug-In which simply plugs into the
wall socket, and we’ve even grounded our speaker Grounding wire C
Integrated Amp
drive units and connected them to the RF Router.
If you are using Technical Ground Weave, use the
chassis ground banana adaptors on your sources
and amplifier and Connect the technical Ground
Weave to them. You can use more than one chassis
screw and Chassis Ground Banana Adaptor.

Example 2: Connecting the casework

grounds to a preamp and power amp. RADIO CD PLAYER DVD SKY TURNTABLE
If you are using a separate preamp and power
A A A A A
amp, the principle is the same – but use the
preamp as the grounding ‘hub’ for your sources.
Then link the preamp to the RF Router and the PREAMP
power amp to the RF Router. In this example, we B RF ROUTER
RF
are using the RF Router MK II to link to the earth MK II
ROUTER C
terminal on a SuperSocket or UltraSocket. Use a POWERAMP
type C cable between the router and the earth B

terminal.

8 Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019

Example 3: Connecting the casework
grounds to a preamp and two (or more) TUNER CD PLAYER DVD SKY TURNTABLE
power amps. A A A A A
If your system comprises a preamp and more
than one power amp (or active loudspeakers), RF ROUTER
alternatively try grounding the system via the PLUG IN
PREAMP
power amps as shown.
POWERAMP POWERAMP C

B
B

Example 4: Connecting Mains Earth TUNER CD PLAYER DVD SKY TURNTABLE

In this example we've also connected the ring
A A A A A
main earth to a second RF Router MkII. It RF
RF ROUTER
MK II
ROUTER
B
won't provide a safety earth, but it gives an
C
effective RFI/EMI ground and is a worthwhile PREAMP B
RF
RF ROUTER
MK II
and noticeable improvement. Use a cable POWERAMP POWERAMP
ROUTER

fitted with bananas at both ends to make the C

connection.
B

Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019 9

 What you will need
Choosing your RF Router
We have two different types of RF Router,
and you need to choose the correct one
depending on how you are going to
connect it. The RF Router MK II is in the form
of a compact box which has two inputs to
connect your amplifier (and speakers if you
ground those or mains earth), and a single
binding post output. You would use this
single binding post output to connect to a
SuperSocket or UltraSocket binding post
with technical ground wire, or use it to RF Router Mk II Code: 1898
connect to an external grounding spike. If View online here
you are fitting an external earth rod, you
must choose this RF Router.

The RF Router Plug In is in the form of a

plug-in 'wall wart'. It has two input terminals
to connect your amplifier and speakers, but
rather than having a binding post output
you simply plug it into a wall socket. It uses
the earth pin of the wall wart to connect RF
to ground. You cannot use the RF Router
Plug In if you are fitting an additional
external earth rod.

RF Router Plug-In Code: 1915

View online here

10 Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019

Choosing your wire

If grounding your system with Grounding Wire, If grounding your system with Technical Ground
choose a pack of tags and as many Grounding Wires Weave, choose as many Chassis Ground Banana
as you need. The Grounding wires have different Adaptors as you need. The Technical Ground
terminations depending on where you are using Weave is terminated with bananas to fit into the
them; consult our diagrams on page 7 to ensure you Chassis Ground Banana Adaptors or the earth
choose the correct termination type. terminal of our Super/Ultra Sockets.

Grounding Wire Code: 1092 Technical Ground Weave Code: 1090

Technical Ground Weave can be terminated with bananas

or spades; the cost is £15 for both ends plus the cost of the
Type A cable: ie 3m terminated would be £15 + £30 = £45

View online here

Type B View online here

View online here

Type C
Chassis Ground Banana Adaptor Code: 3197
View online here
View online here

Chassis Tags Code: 3196

View online here

Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019 11

 More useful products...

RCA Technical Ground Weave Code: 1096

Phono to Piggy-back Connector/M5 Spade/Banana

View online here

Phono to Piggy-back Connector

Phono to M5 Spade

Phono to Banana

Earth rod and clamp DCT SuperSocket with UltraSocket Code: 1901
Code: 1201 earth terminal Code: 1803 with earth terminal
View online here View online here View online here

11 Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019

Appendix:
Grounding your speakers
Some loudspeaker manufacturers - for example,
Tannoy, in some of their higher-end and us (in the Russ
Andrews Quave LS1 speakers) - helpfully provide an
extra binding post that lets you ground the speaker
drive units. This binding post is connected internally to
the metal chassis of the drive units, allowing you to
ground them in the same way as you have done with
your metal-cased amplifiers and sources.

If your speakers don’t have grounding terminals, you

can test the principle fairly easily for yourself without
having to modify the drive unit. When you remove the
speaker grille, you will find the tweeter(s) and one or
more drive units held in with screws. Tackle only the
drivers and tweeters with metal bodies... drivers and
tweeters that have a plastic chassis do not need
grounding, of course.

Remove one screw from each driver and clean the

metal around the screw hole to remove any paint.
Strip the end of a piece of wire that is long enough to
reach your RF Router, make a small loop in the
stripped end and refit the driver screw through it so
that it makes a good tight connection with the chassis.
If there is more than one driver on each speaker, you
can link them together or run two lengths of wire.
Typically you would connect ground wires from both
speakers to the second input terminal on your RF
Router, as we have shown in Example 1, on page 7.

If you like what you hear, you can make the

connection permanent, but it will involve making
modifications inside the speaker. Make a connection at
the back of the driver (inside the cabinet) and run
ground wire to an extra binding post on the back
plate, next to the usual speaker terminals. Then use
this to connect to your RF router permanently with
ground wire or weave from the new ground binding
post. We can do this modification for you if you aren't
comfortable doing it yourself - contact us for more
information.

Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd. © 2019 12