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Best way to handle this ground loop

This might have been questioned a lot but I can’t find a proper answer for this: 
I have two components that form a ground loop together. Both my integrated amp and my cd player are grounded and they’re connected through RCA cables.
I did all sorts of things to try and prevent this ground loop (all power cables in one strip, tried different wall sockets, even different power circuits), but nothing helped except removing the ground plug from the cd player (or the amp of course). As I saw it, it now has one route to ground, right?
So my question is, did I do the right thing here? Can’t it damage the equipment like this? Or should I have taken an other route?
Are there for example RCA cables that break this ground loop also? Please advice..

sjeesjie
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Not a problem. Cannot damage. No, there are no RCA without ground. 

Whether in Europe or US power is the same in that they all use redundant ground. The first ground is through the neutral wire that completes the circuit. The redundant ground is earth ground. Millions of homes here in the US are wired with the older single neutral ground. Not a problem. 

RCA cannot work without ground. The outside is ground, the inside hot, break either one and no circuit no sound. You did the right thing. There's more expensive solutions, highly recommended too by all the guys around here with money to burn. If that's you, go for it. Otherwise, relax, pat yourself on the back for finding a creative solution that cost almost nothing.
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
Would you trust MC over the President of Jensen Transformers with your life? His advice is morphing from unsound to unsafe. lol

Take a look at pages 6 and 7 in particular:https://www.webcitation.org/5nhOeXhRQ?url=http://www.jensen-transformers.com/an/generic%20seminar.pdf

"In the professional audio and video fields, the cheater plug has been identified as a serious safety problem. Its casual use as a method for avoiding ground loops in analog audio and video signals (to eliminate hums and buzzes) is dangerous.Bill Whitlock, president of Jensen Transformers, writes, "never, ever use devices such as 3 to 2-prong AC plug adapters, a.k.a. ’ground lifters’, to solve a noise problem!" Whitlock relates how an electrical fault in one device that is connected to its electricity source through an ungrounded cheater plug will result in dangerous, high current flowing through audio or video cables. Whitlock notes that in 1997, consumer audio and video equipment electrocuted nine people."


Even PS Audio recommends using a HumX to safely lift a ground. They state "It is not recommended to run your equipment ungrounded, for safety reasons."

https://www.psaudio.com/ps_how/how-to-find-and-fix-hum/


imhififan's avatar
imhififan
2,217 posts
 
I wish I could buy a HumX but I live in Europe and it’s not available here.
If you can DIY, try the circuit below, use a 0,01uF 600V capacitor and two diode rated 15A 600V or higher:
https://i1.wp.com/circuitcellar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Novacek301-4.jpg?w=371&ssl=1

For RCA cables, try a transformer like the Jensen:
https://www.jensen-transformers.com/product/ci-2rr/
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
The Jensen Iso-Max really does work. I used one a while ago between an amp and preamp. It's better than an isolation transformer which may colour the sound.


sjeesjie OP
51 posts
 
I don’t understand how you can get electrocuted if there is one straight point to ground. Of course I want to trust someone who wants to sell a product (Jensen) but it’s not that there’s a ground loop because I’m holding a guitar or touching a microphone.
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