Another cheater plug thread

Hi Minorl, Great advise. You sound like a very knowlegable person so perhaps you could answer a question I have.

I have an amp which is grounded properly driven by a pre-amp which is grounded properly. When I plug in a CDP it creates a ground loop and I get a hum thru the speakers. When I put a cheater plug on the end of the CDP power cord the hum goes away.

What risk to I incur in operating the system with this cheater plug in place? Why is that so? So I better understand, please create a situation where the risk you describe will be encountered. Please take it beyond electrical theory. If you can back it up by referring to an actual occurance that would be better yet.

In anticipation of the thoughtful reply I will receive, thanks. Perhaps I'm not lazy or seriously stupid, just a little bit ignorant. :-)

Another "non cheater plug" solution for a difficult to isolate ground loop might be the Ebtech Hum X device (available from Amazon and elsewhere). I've been using a "cheater" with my C-J CT5 for 3 years, and just ordered the Hum X as a safer alternative. I don't believe the 6 amp max capacity of the Hum X will be an issue with the preamp current draw.

Anybody else using one of these?

Newbee, if you use your CDP normally, probably not much will come of it. But if it gets dropped or abused in such a way that the power switch or AC power is able to contact the chassis, then you may have a problem. If the chassis is ground, a fuse will blow and all is well. If not, it may be possible to start a fire or create a shock hazard in the system.

Atmosphere, don't the rca's connecting the CDP to the pre-amp effectively ground the CDP chassis?

Newbee; I agree with Atmasphere on this. If you unplug and disconnect every piece of equipment and then plug in the Amp to the speakers and turn it on and no noise. then plug in the pre-amp to the amp and no noise. Then plug in the CD player and there is noise. First thing I would suspect is a faulty ground scheme in the CD player. But before I replace it I would try other interconnect cables. the ones you are using from the CD player to the pre-amp may not be shielded properly or the shield may be tied to the signal ground. If you still have noise, then just for fun, plug in a different CD player or DVD player to the same input on the pre-amp. Noise? No? then your CD player has issues. Yes? Then it may actually be the pre-amp's internal ground scheme. But, I believe that it will be the CD player or the interconnect cables. If you try all that, then try this. Plug all you low level devices, Pre-amp, CD players, TT, etc. into the same conditioner device. Then plug your amp into the wall outlet. typically with all the low level devices connected together and the amp plugged into its own wall outlet (hopefully a dedicated line to the circuit breaker panel), not only will your noise floor drop significantly, but ground loops disappear.

Try it.

enjoy