Consummate Ground

Reviewer: Glen Wagenknecht
Financial Interests: click here
Sources: Wyred 4 Sound Music Server/Streamer and Auralic Altair Music Server/Streamer
DACs: Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2, Ideon Ayazi, Auralic Altair
Preamplifier: Audio Space Reference 2S, Tortuga Audio LDR6 Passive, Auralic Altair
Amplifier: Bel Canto 200.4, Audio Zone D-2
Main speakers: Audio Space AS-3/5A, Mark Daniel Maximus Mini Monitor, Mark & Daniel Maximus Monitor Mk2, SVS SB3000 subwoofer
Rack: Codia Acoustic Design Stage 3000 BAB
Stands: Charisma Audio Function Stands   Target Stands
AV speakers: JohnBlue M3s
Desktop speakers: Swans M200 MkIII
Desktop DAC/pre/headphone amp: DA&T U-2
Cables: Arkana Physical Research Loom, Audio Art SE and Classic cable looms, JPS Labs Ultraconductor 2 speaker cables, Madison Audio Lab E3 Extreme 1 Interconnects/Extreme 2 speaker cables, Signal Cable Silver Reference interconnects, optical and coax digital cables, Audio Sensibility Impact SE balanced interconnects, Statement S/PDIF and Impact USB digital cables, DH Lab Power Plus AC cable.
Resonance control: KAT Audio Terminator 1 Feet, Solid Tech Feet, EquaRack Footers, Weizhi Precision Gold Glory footers, Boston Audio TuneBlock2 footers, Audio Exklusiv Silent Plugs, Audio Exklusiv d.C.d. Footers, CA Electronics Standard Cones, Feet, Cable Clamps, Isoacoustics L8R130, Aperta and L8R200 SUB speaker stands
Powerline conditioning: Exact Power EP15A, GutWire Ultimate Ground cable
USB conditioners: Ideon 3R Renaissance
Listening Room 1: 12' x 17'
Listening Room 2: 10.5' x 16.5'
Review component retail: $1099 USD/6ft

Grounds for improvement. How do you improve on perfect? How about ultimate? Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and see the GutWire Consummate grounding cable. It's bigger than big. It's colossal. It's new and improved. It can leap tall noise in a single bound. Step right up and hear the show…

When Canadian GutWire contacted me about reviewing the new Consummate, I was intrigued to find out if their latest offering might supersede their prior award-winning efforts. Owners Herbert Wong and Alex Yeung garnered a rare Blue Moon for their pioneering work in creating an effective, attractively priced grounding solution here. Their entry Perfect and then top Ultimate had proven eye-opening in their ability to remove noise from the system, dropping its noise floor, extending dynamic range, increasing image focus and cleaning up the frequency range. They acted as literally universal all-purpose cleansers. Windex for everything. The key to the concept was grounding at the component-circuit level, not the power cord of the comparatively ineffective approach favoured by traditional assumption. They were not alone in pursuing this line of thinking. There was alternative methodology in much more expensive grounding boxes with ancillary cables à la Computer Audio Design, Telos & Co. But flanked by expensive alternatives and mistaken assumptions, GutWire's superior design offered one-stop simplified shopping with fewer drawbacks at a fractional cost.

Listeners and press heaped acclaim on our cable duo but as often happens, success breeds discontent. The fine folks at GutWire began research to see if they could create an even higher tier to their ground cable lineup. After carefully consulting their Thesaurus for a suitable title, the Consummate was born.

The new cable improves upon its Ultimate Ground predecessor by increasing the number of solid-core 101% IACS copper conductors from 6 to 9, then adds Bincho-tan and Amethyst to the rare-earth element mix. It retains the metallic mylar braid shield and air dielectric while going from white braided sheath to a stylish black Flexo® noise-reduction braid with appropriate shrink wrap and subsequent girth increase from ¾" to around 1.125" diameter. The cable is extremely stiff, even more so than the Ultimate. Placement planning is required. Be prepared to leave generous room for gentle arcs rather than extreme angles.