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Why are there no high end cheater plugs?

Yes, I know there are safety reasons for not using such ground lifting devices; but as many audio magazines have suggested, the benefits from lifting all grounds except the preamp are quite substantial. But the 79 cent cheater plug covers much of the improvement. I made some cheater plugs using silver wire but Eagle plugs. They are better than the grey guys. Why does no one make a quality plug? I understand that at one time Siltech did make such a plug.

Please no "educate" me of the safety reasons for not using cheater plugs. I think the success that our immediate ancestors had in surviving two plug ac, suggest that chassis shorts must be quite rare.
tbg
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,311 posts
 
"High end people don't cheat."

You would think.....
ait
480 posts
 
I can't imagine lifting the ground on my tube amps, which use a 2500V power transformer and run at 2300V plate voltage...instant death from a ground fault. Instead, I made a parallel earthing conductor (PEC) from 9 gauge Cardas copper litz wire, which clips onto the ground sleeve of the RCA on each end of the interconnects to the amp. This reduces the ground potential difference between the amps and the preamp, and greatly reduces any ground loop hum. Look up PEC on the net, it's a commonly used technique in pro audio. It works for me.
ait
480 posts
 
Also, if you're handy, you can measure the potential on the chassis of your gear, then reverse the power transformer primary leads and measure again...one orientation will be lower in chassis potential, and that orientation will thus produce less current between components. Do this on all your gear and you will decrease ground loop hum.

I recommend you try these techniques before resorting to cheater plugs; they were enough to lower any hum to levels undetectable by ear in my system.
ait
480 posts
 
Finally, there are "ground loop breaker" circuits published in various places on the net which can also resolve ground loop issues. These consist of a resistor, cap and diode in parallel and allow the breaking of ground loops without resorting to the unsafe lifting of safety grounds.
brf
1,715 posts
 
If your preamp is grounded, doesn't that automatically ground your amp via the interconnects?
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