Celebrating 40 years of UK manufacturing, Chord Company has launched a high-performance earthing system for turntables and other sensitive audio devices, called the PhonoARAY.
Described as an advanced standalone filtering solution which allows turntable users to earth/ground their devices to the phono stage, or the phono input on amplifiers, it offers what Chord Company says is maximum protection for the highly sensitive signals these units carry.
PhonoARAY benefits from a hand-wound, ultra-high-current series filter joining both terminals, plus a complex proprietary ARAY system, connected in parallel, creating a double ‘virtual earth system’ for both the turntable and phono stage that shields sensitive signals from external interference.
Connections are via two high-quality 4mm speaker-style terminals, accepting 4mm banana and spade connections. The PhonoARAY then connects the earth terminal of the turntable (or tonearm) to the earth terminal of the phono stage (or amplifier phono input), using a dedicated high-quality 50cm screened earth cable (4mm connector to spade connector).
It can be used in a variety of turntable configurations, illustrated below, including for turntables with or without built-in phono stages. In systems with external phono stages, a second PhonoARAY can also be added to connect the phono stage to the amplifier’s earth.
The PhonoARAY is housed in a thick-walled enclosure machined from solid aluminium billet that’s resin filled and protected with lightweight, decoupled isolation feet to minimise vibrations.
Priced at £1,000, the PhonoARAY comes with a 0.5m Clearway earth cable as standard, while an upgrade to a 1m Clearway cable costs £140 or £280 for Shawline.
Visitors to this year’s Bristol Hi-Fi Show will also get to experience the PhonoARAY for themselves in the Chord Company’s demo room (Empire 3 suite, on the ground floor).
Visit the Chord Company to find out more.
