The BlackGround module is 64mm (width) x 64mm (width) x 35mm (height) and weighs almost half a Kilogram. The BlackGround 10x Power Base contains ten of these units.BlackGround 10x Power Base features this laser engraved logo on top.BlackGround 10x Power Base dimensions are: Width 375mm, Depth 230mm (add a few mm for the connectors at the back), Height 55mm (add 38 mm to the height if you use the Bindbreaker equipment feet). Weight: approximately 6 Kg.Prototype 10x Power Base unit in detail.Prototype 10x Power Base unit in detail.Prototype 10x Power Base unit in detail.Prototype 10x Power Base unit in detail.Prototype 10x Power Base unit in detail.Prototype 10x Power Base unit in detail.Prototype 10x Power Base unit in detail.The <b>BlackGround 10x Power Base</b> ships in this custom padded case.<b>BlackGround 10x Power Base</b> with brass placard on the front of the unit.




BlackGround 6x/10x Power Base is a plug-and-play power line conditioner like no other. It is based on the innovative new BlackGround modules developed by LessLoss. One 10x Power Base houses 10 inter-connected BlackGround units. The elegant, polish, lacquered, and streamlined enclosure is plug-and-play ready. No user assembly required. Simply connect a power cord to its power inlet. For size and weight information click on the photo gallery thumbnails above. For usage instructions, see the descriptions below.

BlackGround 6x/10x Power Base is a plug-and-play power line conditioner like no other. It is based on the innovative new BlackGround modules developed by LessLoss. One 10x Power Base houses 10 inter-connected BlackGround units. The elegant, polish, lacquered, and streamlined enclosure is plug-and-play ready. No user assembly required. Simply connect a power cord to its power inlet.
The BlackGround 6x has been in my system for nearly 2 months now and, despite all other LessLoss products in my system, the 6x has brought about the most enjoyable upgrade. What I mean by that is that the system sounds more real and the vocals display more emotion – therefore I feel more emotional whilst listening. My (50+ years) enjoyment of music centres around vocals (and the lyrics). My DIY ‘speaker design is 2-way active with everything above 200Hz coming from a single-point source (the Manger driver) to maximise the illusion of the vocals. Everything below 200Hz comes from twin 12” Acoustic Elegance dipole drivers - open-baffle, actively driven, therefore no passive crossover components nor ‘speaker boxes to destroy the illusion. The previous best addition to my system were the Firewalls for Loudspeakers, but the 6x surpasses even that. I’m getting close to the point where my LessLoss components cost as much as my systems ‘normal’ components! And that leads me to the one serious problem with having purchased the 6x, against my better judgement of the post-Brexit 20% surcharge – IT IS ADDICTIVE – I NEED MORE!! Now considering: 1. A better mains cable for the 6x 2. Adding the 8x for ‘speakers. I was concerned that having the Firewalls for Speakers and Svens’ purpose-made-for-me special edition of his Comdevs with internal resonators to compensate for my ‘speakers not being his design, that the 8x might be overkill. However, reading Dawyd Grzyb’s review reminded me that he too uses both the Firewalls and the Comdevs and that is with Sven’s ‘speakers. Many thanks again for such a brilliant product and elevating my nightly listening sessions to a new level of enjoyment. Best regards, Colin Gray
I am very happy with this unit and would like to offer two tips. Yes AC cord quality counts quite a bit. On the level of a better power cord to your amp. However the biggest SQ improvement is realized by DE-STATTING the unit. Although it is humid here now and I de-stat my electronics weekly, the gain in musical detail and flow from de stating the Power Base is enormous.Had not done it in a couple of months and WOW! Went from listening to recordings to attending a performance! No exaggeration. Must do.
We'll, I must admit I wasn't prepared for how much the Blackground 8x Dual Channel Speaker Base would contribute to the already spectacular 10x Power Base. From the moment I heard the first track, I knew I was in for treat. It's as if you're able to reach out and hold each note & vocal in your hands. Never has the listening experience felt so tactile. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pick up my jaw from off the floor!
My impressions of the Blackground 10x Power Base... Yes I am enjoying the LLBG10x very much. Most notably it's much easier to imagine the room in which the recording was made. This may be attributed to more precise layering of instruments & vocals and that lends itself to a deepening of the soundstage. Enhanced reverb adds to decay lingering longer. PB also creates a more revealing stereo presentation. I'm now able to hear details in my favorite tracks that I never heard before. Finally, and perhaps the first thing I noticed, bass from the REL became dominant and had to be backed down, however, the subwoofer sounded more nuanced and musical. In short, these changes were not subtle at all and improved SQ beyond my expectations. I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm gobsmacked! Mac F.
When I first installed the BlackGround 10x Power Base in my system, my first thought was: surely, I'm hallucinating! The enhanced detail revelation, the positive timbral changes and the expansion of the soundstage in three dimensions, all added up to a surreal representation of music I had heard many times. Surreal on FEB 23rd, the new normal on APR 11th. I intended to remove the product and wait two days to confirm my impressions, but I cannot do it. Sorry! I've read all of the reviews for this product, both professional and user. They all ring true, not one seems like hyperbole. Richard Stanton Boston, MA USA
To summarize my impression of the BlackGround 10x Power Base: 1. Great elimination of background noise, not dead but lively. Like a thick veil (not realized before) removed. 2. Transparency greatly improved 3. As a result of 1 and 2, microdynamics hugely improved. Subtle and far away instruments never that clearly heard. Nuances in recording venue not noticed before. 4. Whole range much faster. 5. Deeper and wider sound stage. No limit. 6. Vocal just more presence and intimate, in your room feeling. Thanks and regards, YW
I just ordered a second BlackGround 10x Power Base. Honestly, I wasn't expecting the BlackGround to make a big difference in my system. Boy, was I wrong! Background instruments are much easier to hear with more realism. Super clean sounding. It removed a treble glare I didn't realize I had and depth is much improved. It's made my system more engaging to listen to.
Plenty more details in another space ... what a show!! Right after the LessLoss announcement of the new Blackground devices, I just had to have them. Not really understanding all the technical information, but I already had very positive experience with radiation treatment, like the Blackbody devices from LessLoss and other solutions before. The LessLoss solutions had the most natural results and I trust Louis and his team’s hearing and development abilities. I changed my order of 10 single modules into the Blackground 10x Power Base, which is a great choice in terms of order around the system and setup is very easily. Within the very first connection to my system, I immediately knew, that this had to stay. Such expanded stage in all directions, the speakers seemed to be gone, a mass of never before heard details, fantastic separation of all the instruments and also the voices. And all of this in a very natural presentation with ease of listening. It was probably the best upgrade for my system compared to all components, even the ones from LessLoss .... I have purchased almost all of their offerings over time. Following are more details and examples of the improvements. Enhanced details include: Better revelation of lyrics. I am not good at that, but now, I can follow many !! Appreciate overdubbed voices and instruments, that were not listenable before Low level played instruments, that were never perceived Identify whose echos or reverberations are played Nuances of timbres, e.g. changes with percussion from the leading edge (transients) to the end More powerful and detailed bass All of these and more in a fantastic natural smoothness, transients are powerful without aggression Space and stage improvements: Never heard presence so strong and believable, very palpable. Can brush the singers’ teeth :) Astonishing separation of instruments, voices and whatever else sounds. Would not call it holographic, which I consider a technical precise positioning, which is not what we perceive in real acoustic setup (my opinion) Stability and consistency of the space, sound sources stay, where they were, unless recording / mixing changes Sounds are standing free in the room, pop out of the black nothing
 ... that’s why the speakers seem useless now :) Overall “authority” of the scenery which allows to focus on other things ... like lyrics :) The overall space goes way beyond the real walls ... at least in my average room size. All of these changes result in a much more believable and natural overall performance. And now, we need to talk about the “burn in” time. It is not just a burn-in of electronics as we usually expect. I don’t really know, what is happening with these weeks of changes and adaptions, could be a change of the radiation environments. But anyway, be prepared for this and stay patient. My experience was around 4 - 6 weeks with some nasty changes for some days. Many of the changes contain exaggerating hissing and sibilance, room falls back with less 3D, boomy bass and other resonances. But the final result is worth it !!! Just as I finished the review, my next toys arrived: Blackgrounds for speakers and for Blackbodies. First listening ... wow, will stay!!! Thank you, Louis and team, for your great developments and support. I love it!!
"A BlackGround 24X experience" I had Felix and René, a couple of LessLoss fans over for "lunch & listening" yesterday. They both brought their BlackGround 10X units and - not unimportantly - a stack of good beer :) So, after a hearty lunch with a somewhat modest intake of beer to ensure that our golden ears' capabilities were intact, we sat down to listen to some music. Just to set the scene BlackGround-wise, I will mention that my system already has 4X BlackGrounds built directly into my power distributor, where they are connected directly to the solid copper bars and the star ground. The whole system is grounded to a true earth connection on my mains. Additionally, there is a Blackbody on top of each loudspeaker. Each Blackbody is grounded via a BlackGround connected to the same true earth. Since the BlackGrounds serving the Blackbodies are not connected to the power line in any way, I normally consider my system to be a BlackGround 4X system. We started out listening to a number of music tracks of large variety to ensure everyone was familiar with the sound of the system at its current BlackGround level. Music was streamed via Qobuz and from the storage drive of my Innuos Zen mk 3 streamer. We actually went through quite a lot of different music before one of my guests (not mentioning names here 😉) became very impatient and fidgety and wanted to have one of the BlackGround 10X units installed. We then went on to install one of the BlackGround 10X units, which had until then been stored in a lead-insulated case (it felt that way 😄) at a safe distance from the system. The other BlackGround 10X was still in the hallway to minimise pre-influence! The first 10X was connected to the empty socket on my double Furutech gold-on-copper power outlet. The power distributor is connected to the other socket of this outlet via an Entropic power cable. Thus, the BlackGround level was raised from 4X to 14X! We then went on to play some of the same tracks that we had listened to previously ...... ...... or were they really the same tracks? Well, of course they were - but they sounded differently! Not in the sense that the inherent sound of the individual track or the system in itself had changed, but all the "fine stuff", the stuff that promotes the sense of authentic/natural sound had improved - and not in a subtle manner! Here I need to interject that the same thing happened when I first introduced BlackGrounds in my system. The difference from then and to introducing the 10X is in the magnitude of the improvement 🙂 I would say that the improvements the BlackGrounds bring about are mainly in the areas of reverb/decay and clarity, which has the effect that what I call "room description and ambience" becomes much more precise, augmenting the reality of the recordings where this has been captured really well - but even on recordings where this does not happen, the intentions of the people behind the mixing console became much clearer. Also, the decay of sounds of instruments like the piano became much more natural, and the "leading edge overshoot" (for lack of a better word), e.g. when striking a piano key forcibly, was seriously minimised. And then we went to BlackGround level 24X!!! We inserted the second 10X unit into an empty outlet on my power distributor. While listening to Bill Evans 'Peace Piece' performed by Igor Levit, our "piano man" (Felix) exclaimed: "now the piano sounds real!". Perhaps I should mention that this particular track has been on my radar since I heard it on the Danish Radio's classical channel a month or so back. First of all, I like the interpretation, the nerve in it somehow got to me. Secondly, after listening to it on my big system (I first heard it on my home office system), I realised that the recording was really good. As a result, I tend to use this track, among many other tracks, when assessing other systems - and when I make changes to my own system. At the 24X level, we listened to a lot of other tracks - including some we had listened to previously - and the improvements, even compared to the 14X level, were obvious. Perhaps, and I am saying this because I am not entirely sure about this, the improvements from the 14X level to the 24X level were not of quite the same magnitude as the improvements from the 4X level to the 14X level - although they were definitely there. But the improvements were the same, just building on the improvements of the previous level, and what we ended up with was a system that was so much more natural-sounding than before, which is somehow horrifying, because how are we ever going to be able to afford this BlackGround level? And even more horrifying - will an even higher BlackGround level be needed, bringing financial ruin to us all? 😂 I am not going to delve into discussions about how much influence on/interaction with the BlackGround improvements the other LessLoss stuff I have gives (Entropic Power Cords (x3), Firewall 640X, Firewall 64X (x2), Hookup Wire Small (from amps to treble/midrange drives), Blackbody (x2) connected to BlackGround (x2) - but it's definitely there! However, I do believe that the Blackground is the single most efficient item in the LessLoss arsenal for removing unwanted noise/artefact from our systems ... If we take a few steps back and look at what happened here yesterday, it becomes very clear that even systems based on relatively modestly priced components (compared to what is otherwise called high-end and sold at prices 10x to 100x higher than what it cost to build my system) can be taken to a very high performance when all the crap that they get infested with from outside sources gets removed ... ... and then music happens! Musical greetings Jens P.S. Felix and René - please feel free to add comments if I missed something or you disagree with my long rant 😊 ------------ Nothing to correct, we both agree to all the above. For us living daily with the wonders of the 10x Power Base the most interesting part of the session was, one, to combine the two 10x Bases with the four BlackGround units already present, and two, to hear them at large as life volume which is impossible for us living in apartment buildings.
  1. There was not the slightest notion of The Law of Diminishing Returns when going from "only" one 10x to adding the second. This is probably the only thing the two of us heard differently than Jens. The first few bass notes on the grand piano demonstrated a similar improvement in the ease with which the system played back the now even more life like size of the Steinway. Compare it to the ease of the giant Gulliver lifting some of people of Lilliput and you get an idea.
  2. Both of us have for the past month enjoyed the incredible ability given by each our own 10x Power Base to play dynamically satisfying, even explosive, at very low volume presenting all forms of music interestingly whether it be chamber music or Jimi Hendrix’ Voodoo Chile. To hear these qualities amplified to levels where ears would normally beg to lower volume now with no audible sign of distortion and still being able to hear subtle information in the far away background during the most incredible heft in the foreground was nothing short of divine. I think that pointing out our listening session lasted for a full nine hours without any fatigue says it all.
Honestly, you have no idea what your setup is capable of until you introduce some BlackGrounds. No matter what kind of music you love you’ll gain a friend for life with your own 10x BlackGround Power Base. Hats off to LessLoss once more! Felix and René
Adding the Blackground 10x Power Base to the system has been one of the most interesting experiences yet. Upon considering the addition of the Blackground 10x, I was initially skeptical as usual that the sound could become any more transparent, phase coherent, involving, or any other superlative. Given that the system was already star grounded, and already incorporated an abundance of LessLoss Technologies, how much better could it get? That happens to be what I thought before each and every LossLoss addition in the past.
  1. Entropic Power Cables to all source components, and C-MARC PCs to both amplifiers.
  2. Firewall For Loudspeakers X 3 stereo pairs (6 pairs total), one for each speaker driver, and 1 ENTROPIC custom made discrete driver distribution junction box cable.
  3. BlackBody (3 units)
Each LessLoss component progressively elevating the sound to higher levels of enjoyment. (See previous review) Date Added: 07/18/2021 by Joshua J. Wright On initial installation there was a very disconcerting exaggeration of leading transient edges along with a wholesale sort of sonic suck-out that I had also initially experienced with the other LessLoss devices. (Each device which ultimately remained in the system). Particularly interestingly was that the music encoded with MQA became peaky and a bit shrill, making those recordings difficult to listen to. Typically on my system music which is MQA encoded plays pleasantly with more clearly delineated transients which normally translates to more inner detail and musical information. As time passed and days turned into weeks, ALL of these anomalies gradually dissipated. After week 5 the sound had once again morphed into a yet another unheard of level of musical involvement. For me the break in transition was longer than for any of the other LossLoss devices I have incorporated in the past. Rather than use the usual list of audiophile superlatives to describe the changes, let me just say that since installing the BlackGround 10x Power Base I have experienced an irresistible desire to sit down and listen to more music, as well as more types of music. This increased attraction I can only attribute to the level of musical satisfaction and involvement that consistently sucks me into each performance. Being transported into the event in a way that connects me to the emotive aspect of the performance is the essence of what the BlackGround 10x has injected on a level previously not experienced. I can only measure this experience relative to the degree that the system previously affected me before the Background. It is true that certain aspects of the presentation have been modified from before, but in my estimation the changes are for the better since the music now saturates me with a joyous satisfaction that was not present to this degree in the past. I just can’t seem to find any limit to my desire to sit and listen, and then listen some more. While listening I am not finding myself concerned or distracted by the typical audiophile neurotic types of concerns; because I am too busy getting lost in the music. This to me is the ultimate litmus test of what defines a system that performs up to its best potential. Listening to tracks randomly served up by the Tidal/Roon algorithm is now like getting Christmas gifts, each with new sonic delights to be explored. I would also add that the assessments offered by the professional reviews that have already been published mirror my experience in terms of the positive attributes afforded by the Background 10x Power Base. I can also say that in the context of my system I have not noticed any detrimental sonic effects. Kudos to Louis and his team once again. I can’t wait to hear what’s next. Updated Associated Equipment: The entire system has evolved over the last 19 years. The only original components that still remain are the speakers and upgraded version of Audiopax Model 88s which were upgraded to MkII status in 2009. Every component listed below including the cabling, electrical conditioning, vibration control, and room treatments were all selected after careful auditioning and confirmation of their sonic synergy with the overall system. Consequently, each addition has advanced the sound in a desirable direction. Many components have come and gone to arrive at its current state. Avantgarde: Trios with stereo Bass horns. Audiopax: Model 88 MK II Monoblock Amplifiers. Roon: Nucleus music server. Lumin: U1 music streamer. AQVOX: Blaze CAT 7 ethernet cable on all internet connections. AQVOX: Ethernet Switch (between internet router and Lumin streamer). AQVOX: USB Detoxer QL2 - USB Terminator Type A (Applied to empty USB ports on the back of Lumin, Router, and Oppo) AQVOX: Detoxer Fuse - Audio Tuning Fuse (Applied to Berkeley DAC, and Lumin music streamer’s power supply) AQVOX: LAN-Detoxer RJ45 Caps, LAN Caps, Network Decontamination (Applied to unused open LAN ports on router) Netgear: Nighthawk 6-Stream AX5400 WiFi 6 Router (RAX50) S-Booster: MKII Power Supply (Used to power Roon Nucleus) Berkeley: Alpha DAC Reference II with MQA. PS Audio: Signature BHK Preamp. PS Audio: Stellar M1200 mono amplifiers. PS Audio: Stellar Power Plant 3 (Used to isolate and power the fiberoptic internet converter, internet router, and the Roon server) Video: Oppo UDP-205: Universal DISC player. High Fidelity Cable: Ultimate Reference Double Helix Signature Power cord. (Used to discretely power the PS Audio: Stellar Power Plant 3, which powers fiber optic internet converter, Internet router, and Roon Server) High Fidelity Cable: Ultimate Reference Double Helix Signature RCA and XLR Interconnects on line level analog and digital components. High Fidelity Cable: Professional Series power distributor. (Used as a Component Power conditioner and star grounding block) High Fidelity Cables MC-1 Pro Double Helix Plus Signature Power Conditioner (Used as a Wall socket line conditioner) High Fidelity Cables MC-0.5 Power Conditioner X 3 (Used as a Wall socket line conditioners) LessLoss: ENTROPIC C-MARC Reference Power Cables to all source components, C-MARC Reference PCs to amplifiers. LessLoss: Custom made ENTROPIC junction box jumper speaker cable allowing for discrete connections to the bass, midrange, and tweeter, drivers on the Trios, as well as the basshorn subwoofer driver connections. LessLoss: Firewall For Loudspeakers (6 pairs, one for each driver on the Trios) LessLoss: Blackbodies (3 units) LessLoss: BackGround 10x Power Base Room treatments: ACS: Two 20 inch diameter stereo Super tube traps in front corners. Corner ceiling traps X 8. Grand Prix: Monaco Equipment Stands with Apex footers and ceramic ball bearings. Grand Prix: stand legs filled with ferrous steel shot. (Per recommendation by Louis Motek) Previously filled with lead shot Grand Prix: Equipment stand shelves upgraded to custom made 3/4 inch ferrous green glass. (Per recommendation by Louis Motek) Previously acrylic Herbie’s Audio Lab: equipment footers, shelf spacers, and tube dampers.
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One unit <b>BlackGround 6x Power Base</b> (made for 110-250V AC, balanced or unbalanced)
One unit <b>BlackGround 10x Power Base</b> (made for 110-250V AC, balanced or unbalanced)
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BlackGround 6x/10x Power Base now available!

Both units are suitable for any power voltage from 100V-250V AC.

There's a laser engraved logo on top. The 6x version states 6x instead of 10x.



A high performance power inlet at the back. This inlet is bonded tightly with special adhesive which melts the outer shell of the inlet into the enclosure's wood structure itself for maximum vibration control.



This inlet provides all the BlackGround modules within with the Live line voltage, the Neutral (return) line voltage, as well as the Ground line. Nothing else needs to be connected to this device in order for it to work.

All flexible leads within are C-MARC™ Large size hook-up wire with additional thin white insulation for added protection for the power voltages. This device does not draw current, so the Large size C-MARC™ hook-up wire is plenty.  



This is a special Litz wire with individually lacquered conductors. Much work goes into preparing the ends for electrical contact. Above only the cotton has been removed. Later in the production process, these are formed and tinned according to application, then soldered to either Ring terminations or connector contacts.  

The 10x model has two rows of 5 BlackGrounds each. 5 are used for Live/Ground interfacing, and the other 5 for Neutral (return) line/Ground interfacing.

The 6x model has two rows of 3 BlackGrounds each. 3 are used for Live/Ground interfacing, and the other 3 for Neutral (return) line/Ground interfacing.

You can read much more about this novel technology here.



The unit is the same size as our Echo's End DAC enclosures. As you can see, 10 BlackGrounds completely fill the space inside the streamlined enclosure.



Dimensions

- Width 375 mm
- Depth 230 mm (add a few mm for the connectors at the back)
- Height 55 mm (add 38 mm to the height if you use the Bindbreaker equipment feet)

Inter-connecting the various BlackGround modules are our special Jumpers tailor made for this purpose. They are made available to the DIY enthusiast, and we use them, too. They feature 4mm^2 solid copper bars and eyelet terminations. Soldered of course, not crimped!

The flexible C-MARC™ leads are seen in the picture below.





There are two terminals at the back made for banana terminations. These are marked with the ground symbol. These are connected to ground potential within the 6x/10x Power Base (This is the same building ground potential which is provided by the power cord you use with this unit.) These terminals are for future expansion if you later use the 8x/10x Speaker Base units. This way you simply share the ground potential between units directly instead of relying on separate power cords on each one.



Our custom hand-made brass placard with the LessLoss logo is featured on the front of the unit. 



It ships in our water tight specially made custom flight case, the same one we use for our Echo's End DACs.





FAQ


What is the wiring diagram?


This is the wiring diagram inside the 10x Power Base:




The wiring diagram for the 6x Power Base is the same as above, only instead of two rows of 5 BlackGround modules, there are two rows of 3 BlackGround modules onboard.

How does the Firewall 640x and Firewall for Loudspeakers compare to the new BlackGround device?

One should consider the Firewall 640x (and Firewall for Loudspeakers) as current conditioners, since the currents in question in fact flow right through the conditioner. The new BlackGround interface, however, is a voltage conditioner, since no currents flow through the device. Instead, with the BlackGround, we tap the existing voltage at each signal conductor (regardless of whether it is AC or DC, positive (send) or negative (return)). This real-time voltage, regardless of what it is, is routed to the BlackGround device on one terminal. The other terminal marked with the ground symbol is connected to the ground voltage of the building; this is really the ground potential of the Earth itself, because the building's ground is a physical conductive stake in the ground.

Why? What's the point here?

High energy particles traverse space at near light speed. The highest energy subatomic particle observed scientifically (so far) was named the OMG particle.

"...equivalent to a 142-gram (5 oz) baseball travelling at about 28 m/s (100 km/h; 63 mph)."

Oh My God particle

We are surrounded by layers of protection. The first of these is the Sun's magnetic field. The field does this shielding (actually, bending) for the highest, most deadly, energetic cosmic particles. The Earth's magnetic field is yet another layer of protection. The Earth's magnetic field bends remaining ionic radiation towards the poles. But some still gets through, and at this point we already know its statistically most likely angle and direction given our location on the crust of the Earth.

Muons and other subatomic particles constantly travel directly through buildings, ground, even our own bodies. This radiation is everywhere. If we can’t adequately shield ourselves from this inevitable cosmic influence, and we can’t dig an audiophile’s protection cave several kilometres underground in granite, we can at least seek ways to, in a way, "raise" the desirable features of the Earth's protection and implement them in an elegant, concerted way, directly at the signal's existing potential level instead of at the EM surroundings level, which for cosmic particles is simply inconsequential. You can shield all you want using traditional means, to no avail. Lightning rods operate by raising the ground potential up to their ionising tip, making it far more likely for lightning to strike them rather than nearby rooftops or other exposed raised structures such as power stations. The following analogy with Baseball will serve (ha!) to explain.
Baseball analogy: The baseball is the cosmic charged particle. The pitcher is the source of the cosmic particle (supernova or whatever) [1.] and the batter is the cosmos which flings the particle in question out towards the Earth [2.]. The catcher out in the field is the Blackbody, aimed at the proper angle and direction, ready to catch. [3.] Through a grounding wire he throws the impulse as quickly as he can to the baseman. The baseman represents the BlackGround signal-ground interface. [4.] He catches the throw with his glove, and with his shoe, stands on the base (ground potential) without actually physically tagging the runner (no electrical contact is made) [5.]. This represents the score's neutralisation. Particle is dealt with. Team Cosmic, you're out! The cheer from the stands of our team, team Sonic, can be heard for miles.

Is that a sort of vibration-absorbing pad under the BlackGrounds in the photo of the open device?


Under the BlackGround modules themselves is a milled depression of 5mm into whose base are drilled multiple dimples. Clear epoxy resin is used here in this basin in order to fill all the dimples and so that its surface level is well above the 2mm height of the BlackGround modules' extended lip metallic bases, thus creating immediate acoustic and structural bonding to the wooden base of the 10x Power Base enclosure. The color difference you may see is the color of the pure Baltic Birch with no lacquer layer at that crucial interface. The multiple dimples create much more surface area such that the epoxy has no chance of popping off or cracking, without the need of using polyurethane "sticky" materials which never dry completely and result in a slightly muddy, rubbery sound quality, just like the deleterious effects of rubber based equipment feet if you're familiar with that sort of thing. Any springy action at junctions of two materials lends a more rubbery sound. Therefore with our solution we have very close to ideal acoustic transfer of even the smallest micro-vibrations directly from the acoustically 'fast' metallic transfer of resonant energy directly into the matrix of cellulose fibre which makes up wood. This gives a rich, detailed sound without adding foreign sonic effects.


There exist many so-called 'grounding boxes' in the market today. Is BlackGround one of these?


Absolutely NOT, but only in a way, yes. These solutions which offer many ground connections and in their own ways condition the ground plane of the entire system, tap ground potential in different places throughout the system. But according to our understanding, they only go a part of the way, and they are belated in their treatment even at that. These devices are purported to try and capture "EMI/RFI" small signals traveling everywhere in our audio systems and transform them into heat. However this is not the precise concept behind the BlackGround technology.

With the BlackGround technology, LessLoss takes a different approach. If your solution is even worrying about "EMI/RFI" existing throughout the system, it is already too late. These signals are AC signals, and in order for them to fluctuate, they need a send path and a return path. There are always going to be such undesirable oscillations in high frequencies throughout a system, but it is the job of the designer of the gear to deal with each at their source.

You really must think of BlackGround as addressing a far more pervasive and universal issue, and that is the issue of cosmic ionic particle precipitation. Think of this as a foreign element in our pristine audiophile world of prized signals. Think of this also as a form of constant rain on our picnic. It can be a drizzle or it can be a thunderstorm. We are not in control of it, but we can use what we know of it to our advantage. It will always persist no matter what we do, but we can guide it using BlackGrounds to where it will not cause the subtle EMI/RFI loops mentioned above. Those AC currents are on both the ground lines, as well as on the signal lines. Every conductor interacts with its surroundings. But even the term 'surroundings' implies differentiating between signal and the EM field. This is a fallacy. The signal is every bit made up of the very subatomic interactions which permeate all matter. Otherwise we'd have liquid copper flowing through tubes of non-conductive material.

If we deal with interference only on the ground lines we are only capturing half the issue. There are plenty of signal/ground interfaces within a system already. Basically any resistor is such an interface. Any load is as well. This is the real "heat" mentioned above in the third sentence of this answer. This load is in fact the burning of signal to some end. For us as audiophiles the primary end we are most familiar with is the physical driving of the loudspeaker in the form of vibrations. Heat is the loss of any resistor, coil or load.

Perhaps some images will serve us well here. Consider the images below as idealised snapshots of cosmic precipitatory subatomic particle interaction. What you need to realise is that we are not speaking of billiard balls and we are certainly not speaking about one thing happening after another in a simple string of events on a simple one dimensional timeline.

When dealing with high energy subatomic particle precipitation we cannot lose sight of how exotic the concepts here are. For instance, the OMG particle mentioned a few questions above was travelling very near to the speed of light. "At this speed, if a photon were travelling alongside the particle, it would take over 215,000 years for the photon to gain a 1 cm lead, as seen from the Earth's reference frame." We are not equipped here to go into a full-blown scientific discussion of the actual theory involved, but suffice it to say that there are relativistic concepts at play here which make the baseball analogy above somewhat misleading. Just think about the following images as not necessarily happening on a single time-line, with some interactions having a jump start in front of others, and recall as well the famous post-graduate course question which asks what the length of a single Photon is, given certain conditions in a room, with the correct answer coming out to being about one meter(!) in length. So for your imaging you can forget raindrops and billiard balls and all manner of simple colliding. This stuff is much more exotic. And let us not forget that even our signals are made of subatomic particles.

How else can you simply explain the core functionality of the BlackGround?

One can approach this by starting from the concept of how how lightning rods work. A lightning rod is a conductive extension of the ground potential up into the sky. At the top it is pointy, and this means that a small corona discharge occurs at this place. Why? There is a concept called atmospheric voltage. The further up you go from the surface of the earth, the higher the atmospheric voltage. It goes up at about 100V per meter. Once you get up to the Ionosphere, you are dealing with conductive plasma. When you extend the ground's voltage up to higher voltage surroundings, you get a large voltage potential (difference) at the tip of the lightning rod. When high voltage lightning discharge occurs, it seeks ground potential. Since ground potential is "piercing" the sky at the tip of the lightning rod, the lightning will naturally choose that path as the path of least resistance. You can watch this video:



Now take mental snapshots of time during which the various voltages in a sound system fluctuate. This is like the ions in the air from the video. They are not at ground potential. They fluctuate in real time, whereas the atmospheric voltage is more or less static. In addition, there are sources of noise coming from the continuous cosmic ionic particle bombardment. Ideally we want this bombardment to find an electrical path which will not interfere with our various signals.

Enter BlackGround, our solution by which, when pairing real-time voltages in the sound system with the ground potential, we have in effect generated a continuous lower impedance path for the cosmic ionic particle 'rain' to follow. Any electrical discharge will always choose the lowest impedance path. It represents a lower impedance path because the BlackGround is always at the same voltage that the signals are at. In this sense we keep the resistance path between noisy atmospheric voltages and the ground at the lowest we can possibly muster. Thus, the noise from cosmic radiation chooses this path and is dealt with even before it interferes with the prized signals we want to protect from these interactions. In fact, because the path presented is in real time following the signal voltages, it can be said that the signals themselves now become the conductor for the foreign noise instead of succumbing to intermodulation by it.

The reason more and more BlackGrounds (and Blackbodies) are effective is that with every additional unit we are lowering and lowering this impedance path, so the results in terms of sonic purity are better and better as statistically less and less intermodulation occurs.







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