LessLoss offer the BlackGround as DIY module as well as four different plug-n-play devices dressed in the same clear-lacquered Ply box as their entry-level Echo's End DAC. The BlackGround 6x/10x Power Bases price at $2'350/$3'942. The BlackGround 8x/10x Speaker Bases sell for $3'096/$3'942 and pack 8 or 10 modules respectively. A single DIY unit costs $446. Nine of those were sent my way. All necessary jumper wires ($12/ea.) were included. Srajan's test subject was the 10x version meant for power. My flock of nine were individual modules so I could connect them to the Blackbody v2 and report on that application. A standalone BlackGround cube measures 66 x 66 x 40mm WxDxH and weighs ~350g, surprisingly heavy given its small footprint. It's nicely assembled and features a cork base on its underbelly. Internals are proprietary. Judging by weight alone, they are likely more than mere circuit board. They work with speaker signal, line-level signals and all other junctures where any voltage relative to the ground plane occurs. The general idea is that one threaded post on the BlackGround receives an input voltage while the other connects to our dwelling's ground. This means that each pair of terminals must remain separate while daisy-chaining modules in series without crossing wires. To put this into practice, a single BlackGround's ground post gets a cable terminated with AC plug sans live/neutral connections to plug into a free AC outlet. Should we add modules, we simply daisy-chain them off the first one.

In my experience these cubes need l day to settle in which prevented instant A/B. To do this tech justice, my review thus stretched over several weeks. Not only this, the BlackGrounds constantly collect UHF airborne noise even through walls so after each swap I had to remove them from my listening room and ideally the building to fully nullify their effect. The fact that my setup had to remain powered up throughout was no real help. Although not being able to do quick A/B had me out of my comfort zone at first, it became a brilliant test for my own perception and patience. My system hasn't changed much over the past two years so its sound profile is well etched in my mind. A single unconnected BlackGround atop my DAC became the first baseline. Next I connected it to the mains then each day added an extra cube until I'd built a kind of train with nine wagons. Like a locomotive, I finally added a single BlackBody v2 to my train.

In the v2 story I explained how my system changed with these highly reflective rippled discs: "The entire view grew a touch more anchored and dense while higher humidity was the most obvious change. The air between images felt rich and fragrant just like before a storm. The overall vibe was less dry and chiselled. Instrumental and vocal shapes were more moist and bloomy, their outlines somewhat thicker. My sonic profile leaned deeper into colour, boldness and richness so away from twitchiness, sparks, elasticity and high contrast. Increased relaxation and less prickly incisiveness followed. So the Blackbody V2 fit the familiar LessLoss noise-killing profile."

I also said that "although five BlackBody v2 behaved along the lines of other LessLoss accessories, the effect wasn't quite the same. It steered mainly towards relaxation and softness while the LessLoss C-MARC cords or external Firewall filters do that plus other things. "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" by QOTSA and "Run Londinium" from King Arthur: Legend of the Sword are two examples of intense angry fare which the Blackbody v2s presented a touch lazier and calmer. They injected tone and gravitas at a somewhat higher cost of immediacy and dynamic scale over other LessLoss products. If your system is predominantly syrupy, thick and cozy and you like it that way, these round passive pucks plainly aren't for you."