Ground loop, cheater plugs, power cords, many ques


I thoughly done a search on curing a ground loop problem I had with my CATV and amps. Cheater plugs did work the best without any trade offs as with matching transformers and whatever, and I did numerous things on this problem. Couple questions? Has any one ever measured and compared the noise level with a cheater plug and CATV on and without the CATV and cheater plug. Just want to know if there is any differance. Please post.

Example, you just bought a $300 power cord and added a 50 cent cheater plug to it. Now that the ground wire is not being used, does this mean you are using only 2/3 of your power cord, or $200 worth? No pun intended, but why not remove the ground wire at the female end of the cord, cover and heatshrink, then reassmble?

To go even further, has anybody thought of putting a toggle on back of the amp or power conditioner to switch the ground wire out (float or lift). This means drilling a hole in the back of the unit, but wouldn't this give you a more purest path than using a cheater plug?

One last thing, you have your Porter outlets, Hydra cords, Wattgates, Hubbles and etc, why add a cheap$ cheater plug in the chain. Granted, it is only an inch and half long and made out of something that is really not the same quality level of conductance as stated above. My last question is, is there a oxygen free copper, shielded, cryoed, teflon coated, polyurethane jacketed high end cheater plug out there? If there is, let us know.

I have only been in audio for a year now, and I am finding out that the biggest impact per dollar on a descent sound system, other than the source, is what is feeding it, the ac. By eliminating as much ac noise as possible, my audio system does sound much better, but its those 50 cent cheater plugs bothers me the most. Yes, it is quick, easy and cheap to do, but are any of the alternatives I mentioned above would have a better impact on sound than the magical cheater plug? Please post any comments and thank you.
eldulcesol

Showing 5 responses by subaruguru

Holzhauer...could work fine to unscramble potential loops, but be careful if salivating kids or critters visit!
El, this is easy. I assemble DIY PC Kits that provide inner lifted-ground shields AND an OUTER 3rd GROUND that's SWITCHED simply on the fly if necessary with a quick-disconnect. No need to use cheaters or compromisiong adaptors, or break off ground pins. RSVP for details. Ern
If you have to, lift it at the IEC (middle terminal). In some designs of the plug you may be able to simply pop out the terminal itself and just let it hang outside the case, as a reminder of what you've done, and allowing an easy rebuild without soldering or otherwise much surgery. If the manufacturer has globbed a lot of heatshrink over the IEC then you of course have to cut it all off. Now you know why I provide a simple quick-disconnect in-line switch....
Easy, Jeb. Hate to be around when the insurance appraiser discovers this if there's ever a fire! Better to "cheat" the ground in the PC or component than the house-wiring!