How to check for common ground

heiney9
heiney9 Posts: 25,217
edited August 2007 in Speakers
I need a quick answer for the exact procedure to check and see if an amp is common ground.

My understanding is I take my Ohm meter and put the leads across the negative terminals on the back of the amp and if there is a reading then it's NOT common ground. If there is no reading then it IS common ground?

Have I got this right and of course the amp should be powered off. I have an opportunity to buy a Monarchy SM70-Pro and need to find this info out.
"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
Post edited by heiney9 on

Comments

  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    edited August 2007
    H9 - try it on the Yamaha integraged, because I know it is common ground. Doug.
    DKG999
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited August 2007
  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited August 2007
    heiney9 wrote: »
    I need a quick answer for the exact procedure to check and see if an amp is common ground.

    My understanding is I take my Ohm meter and put the leads across the negative terminals on the back of the amp and if there is a reading then it's NOT common ground. If there is no reading then it IS common ground?

    Have I got this right and of course the amp should be powered off. I have an opportunity to buy a Monarchy SM70-Pro and need to find this info out.

    there should be continuity between grounds. Anatech told me this trick, and also recommended tyeing the grounds together with some heavy gage wire as insurance,
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
  • unc2701
    unc2701 Posts: 3,587
    edited August 2007
    ben62670 wrote: »
    there should be continuity between grounds. Anatech told me this trick, and also recommended tyeing the grounds together with some heavy gage wire as insurance,

    In case it's not obvious: Do NOT tie the grounds until you've established that it's a common ground amp.

    One other trick for figuring it out without having the amp in front of you: If it's got a bridge switch, it's common ground.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited August 2007
    unc2701 wrote: »
    In case it's not obvious: Do NOT tie the grounds until you've established that it's a common ground amp.

    Would never tie the neg. terms together without checking first, thanks :) .

    unc2701 wrote: »
    One other trick for figuring it out without having the amp in front of you: If it's got a bridge switch, it's common ground.

    Even if it's a single ended amp? Meaning it's not a typical push/pull type amp. The Monarchy SM70 can be run in stereo or single ended mono.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • unc2701
    unc2701 Posts: 3,587
    edited August 2007
    Oh. That's weird. Bridged to Single ended mono? Ok, you've got me stumped- I get the feeling that it's not really bridging, but just freeing up the power supply to really push the one channel.

    Normally, the bridge switch take a pair of SE channels and bridges them into a single push/pull configuration.
    Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
    Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
    Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
    Backburner:Krell KAV-300i
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited August 2007
    I have to do some more research because I'm not sure how the Monarchy does it. It's my undestanding that when they are run in stereo (not their true design potential) their output is Class A and to my knowledge Pure Class A is single ended. These are 30 wpc in stereo mode and 80 wpc in mono mode.

    The true design idea with these amps is to run a pair of them balanced mono and again they are single ended in that config.

    I can get schematics if someone can determine if they are single ended in both setero and mono. I don't know of a true Class A design that isn't single ended, by the nature of the outputs being fully on all the time there is no push/pull thus being called single ended.

    H9

    P.S. I do have an e-mail in to C.C. Poon at Monarchy who designs these products so I' sure he will know if I can ask the right questions and make them clear enough for him to understand.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!