Oh Pls Help

Thanks again all. Just talked to Mr. Poon at Monarchy Audio. By the By, super nice and helpful. He agreed that Cheater plugs would fix the problem and that my Hafler didn't have the problem because it has a two prong plug. Can't wait to get out of work and give it a listen

A quick way to see if your hum is from a ground loop is to plug everything into the same outlet(via an outlet strip, if you need). If it disappears, it was a ground loop problem, nothing wrong with the equipment. Then you can go to work on attacking the problem

I heard of a case recently where a guy touched the chassis of a power amp that had a cheater plug. He ended up wearing his beer after the jolt he got. Okay, there may have been a problem somewhere, but beware of cheaters...the ground prong is there for a purpose....so the chassis does not float.

Hey, Ralph Nader, thanks for that hair-raising anecdote. I think we can agree that it's certainly tragic when good beer goes to waste. :) I guess I'll just have to install a dedicated earth ground for all my audio gear. If your heads-up prevents just one more drop of beer from being spilled then... Sniffle... I'm sorry, I just can't go on... Thank you and may God bless! Seriously though, you raise a valid issue. People do get struck by lightning, win the lottery, and get shocked with the potential to be badly injured from touching improperly grounded gear during major malfunctions when current shunts to the chassis.

Not meaning to beat around the Busch, but are you sure this guy didn't spill a little beer into the powered-up amp before he touched it? How many did he chug down anyway. I have to apologize for my indefensible flippancy, but I've always held that drinking and critical listening don't mix--and this is just another classic example to support my case. :)