Have this friend in the UK who likes gadgets, mainly audio and has cupboards of gear
His latest acquisition is a CHORD ARAY
The Chord GroundARAY is a high-frequency noise-reduction device that connects to unused sockets on A/V equipment providing a low-impedance route for HF noise to pass through, improving, says Chord, the noise floor of the ?host? product.
The GroundARAY is a cylindrical design made from precision CNC-machined thick-walled aluminium; the thick walls are designed to themselves stop the device from contributing HF noise.
Available in six termination options, including USB A, RCA and XLR, for a wide range of digital and analogue A/V device.
Each GroundARAY is built by hand at Chord Company?s Wiltshire factory, including the system components themselves. It comprises a number of absorption devices, attached with a double ultra-high-bandwidth connector system. Each cylinder is filled with a carefully chosen material to deaden noise.
The final assembly is then locked into place to reduce any effects from acoustic vibration.
GroundARAYs are most effective when used across several devices in an A/V system. (Ed - in other words, they want you to buy several)
The devices simply plug into existing empty sockets and can be used individually, or in multiples, such as across left and right outputs etc. With DACs and streamers, GroundARAYs can be used with unused digital inputs; with the claim that projectors and screens can also benefit from the noise-reduction effects,
Chord Co explain the background to their new product: ?For years, Chord Company has been developing proprietary technologies to reduce both low- and especially high-frequency noise, many of which, such as shielding, can be found in its cable ranges today.
In 2012, Chord Company introduced a solution to reduce damaging HF noise present in the equipment itself: the company?s proprietary TunedARAY mechanical tuning system.
Successive and more advanced variations, such as SuperARAY followed, but the ARAY designs were always specific to the cable they were working with, limiting the technology due to space and other design factors.
In 2017, Chord Company started to prototype a next-generation ARAY system, one that would work over the widest range of high frequencies possible, with very high efficiency.
This ARAY was designed from the ground up, without any of the limitations imposed with cable design. It was designed to operate independently from cables, but work with them in helping to reduce HF noise on the signal ground.
This new group of devices became known as GroundARAYs and in order to work with different types of A/V equipment, needed to have a selection of different plug adaptors: RCA; DIN; BNC; RJ45; USB Type-A and XLR male and female?.
So:
I asked him about the real (as opposed to imaginary) improvement
After a long pause.... he said "nothing, I took them back to the shop". He admitted he paid ?550 a set. He got XLRs and LAN plugs
Snake oil? IMHO to be sure
His latest acquisition is a CHORD ARAY
The Chord GroundARAY is a high-frequency noise-reduction device that connects to unused sockets on A/V equipment providing a low-impedance route for HF noise to pass through, improving, says Chord, the noise floor of the ?host? product.
The GroundARAY is a cylindrical design made from precision CNC-machined thick-walled aluminium; the thick walls are designed to themselves stop the device from contributing HF noise.
Available in six termination options, including USB A, RCA and XLR, for a wide range of digital and analogue A/V device.
Each GroundARAY is built by hand at Chord Company?s Wiltshire factory, including the system components themselves. It comprises a number of absorption devices, attached with a double ultra-high-bandwidth connector system. Each cylinder is filled with a carefully chosen material to deaden noise.
The final assembly is then locked into place to reduce any effects from acoustic vibration.
GroundARAYs are most effective when used across several devices in an A/V system. (Ed - in other words, they want you to buy several)
The devices simply plug into existing empty sockets and can be used individually, or in multiples, such as across left and right outputs etc. With DACs and streamers, GroundARAYs can be used with unused digital inputs; with the claim that projectors and screens can also benefit from the noise-reduction effects,
Chord Co explain the background to their new product: ?For years, Chord Company has been developing proprietary technologies to reduce both low- and especially high-frequency noise, many of which, such as shielding, can be found in its cable ranges today.
In 2012, Chord Company introduced a solution to reduce damaging HF noise present in the equipment itself: the company?s proprietary TunedARAY mechanical tuning system.
Successive and more advanced variations, such as SuperARAY followed, but the ARAY designs were always specific to the cable they were working with, limiting the technology due to space and other design factors.
In 2017, Chord Company started to prototype a next-generation ARAY system, one that would work over the widest range of high frequencies possible, with very high efficiency.
This ARAY was designed from the ground up, without any of the limitations imposed with cable design. It was designed to operate independently from cables, but work with them in helping to reduce HF noise on the signal ground.
This new group of devices became known as GroundARAYs and in order to work with different types of A/V equipment, needed to have a selection of different plug adaptors: RCA; DIN; BNC; RJ45; USB Type-A and XLR male and female?.
So:
I asked him about the real (as opposed to imaginary) improvement
After a long pause.... he said "nothing, I took them back to the shop". He admitted he paid ?550 a set. He got XLRs and LAN plugs
Snake oil? IMHO to be sure
