I got your non grounded amps---Ever get a static shock on a dry windy day;when touching your non grounded amp??
Worthwhile $5 Tweak
A recent thread at Audioasylum about an $800 grounding system being marketed at Audiogon got a response from an inmate there suggesting that making a clean and secure ground connection was a worthwhile thing to do. While I cannot comment on the system being marketed, I can tell you that checking the ground in my 40 year old house was a very worthwhile thing to do. An old clamp, all rusted up, attached the ground wire to my main waterline. Bought a new brass or bronze clamp for $4 Cnd. (the cheapies are about $1-looked at them and they appear to be the same as the corroded one I had), gave the water pipe a sand and clipped and stripped the ground wires down and reconnected. A very worthwhile improvement to sound quality for under $5-highly recommended if you are in an older (or maybe even newer property) without dedicated circuits, grounds etc.
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Hdm: To take your comments one step further, i would recommend applying some type of weatherproof sealant to the ground rod / point of connection once it is all cleaned up and re-connected. If you don't do this, you'll be right back where you started from in a matter of months due to corrosion from being exposed to the elements. Coax Seal is the best product that i've found for this type of work. You can use it as a semi-permanent sealant on just about any type of connection that you can think of. It is highly moldable, so it fits just about any shape or contour that you're working with. It is also waterproof when properly contoured, so it keeps corrosion from finding a way into the connection. On top of this, it is easily removed should you ever have to get to the connection to make repairs or do general maintenance. You simply take some type of a blade, make a slice in it, peel it off and have at the connection. When you are done working on the connection, you can simply slap the old Coax Seal back on and mold it back into position. Rat Shack used to sell this stuff, but i don't know if they still stock it. I haven't been able to find it on their website, but if i can find a part number for it, i'll post it. This stuff is very handy and once you use it, you'll understand why i think so highly of it. Sean > |
Swampwalker: Thanks for making me aware of that. I just provided a link to their website and didn't even know that they had further info as to part numbers to purchase it from Rat Shack. As to your cable tv signal degrading over time, corrosion seeping into the connectors might be part of it, but my guess is that it has more to do with the cable itself decaying. Unless manufacturers use what is called a "Type II" jacket, the plasticizers in the jacket of the cables leech into the dielectric between the center conductor and the shield. This causes signal degradation due to altered impedances, increased dielectric absorption and higher levels of signal leakage. Using some type of a 100% foil shield between the dielectric and outer jacket can drastically reduce the situation, but it is not a cure all. Short of using a cable with a Type II outer jacket, a foil shield and waterproofing all of the connections along the way, the only solution is to replace the coaxial lines every couple of years. Good luck telling this to your Cable Company : ) Sean > |
If you guys are getting better sound from lifting the grounds, there's a reason for it - something is up with your AC. Lifting the ground is a band-aid solution, not really a wise move - better to fix the root of the problem than half-assed things like cheater plugs. I have used those in the past but don't any more. A good power conditioner (ideally a balanced power setup, like Monster HTPS 7000 or Equitech 1.5Q or 2Q) should cure most of those things, if not all of them. Good tip on redoing the main house ground - I will probably do that soon. Sean, thanks for the info on Coax seal. Looks like good stuff. -Ed |
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