Hello OP,
Please unplug that.
Further reading will give reasons why, but unnecessary.
I would be hesitant to sound a whistle on an otherwise
lively discussion, but we have essentially anonymous posters making reckless assertions
having nothing to do with fact. Moreover
several are only their ‘observations’, based loosely upon their personal incomplete
understanding. I’m not getting into a
flame war with other posters by repeating inane statements and then
responding. But please unplug your
contraption. No EE or state license-holder
is going to suggest leaving it as a temporary solution. It’s creating more of a hazard than you think
regardless of the sound. I will explain
exactly what is wrong with your approach rather than point you to some
roundabout explanation not based in safety, science or fact. Of course, no one can exactly diagnose your
audio issue remotely. Not doing
that. Don’t want you killed or anyone
running around your sound room.
In terms of significance these issues are in no particular
order. First, at the core, even if that
idea of a ground were acceptable, you are using temporary and under-gauged wires. The RCA connectors probably a thinner gauge
wire than what a normal ground ‘plug’ wire would be. The-wall ground wire is around 14 gauge
(green wire). For an actual ‘ground’ you
wouldn’t want moveable, unplugable pieces (RCA M/F) that could be confused with
the same cables serving as interconnects.
If it’s only you living with the sound room and you can always remember
not to unplug ‘those’ wires, it’s still not enough. You have male to female connectors that might
have oxidation or be different metals…you should have just wire, or at least
soldered or crimped connectors…the ground or “a” ground is safety. In a car you don’t have to remember to turn
an airbag on or off. Secondly, whatever
was “solved” with approach wasn’t solved but rather relocated. You might have an offending appliance on a
shared same circuit having nothing to do with your audio equipment. Additionally to that, there are EM fields
everywhere on current carrying devices and a slight move of a cable or wire
could have created an issue. Guitar amps
can hum based upon a guitar’s proximity to the amp due to the type of pickup
used. It’s not the amps fault. Even if it’s a $3,000 amp, depending on the
setup it can hum and will. Single-coil
pickups.
Thirdly, a “ground” is not the same as a neutral wire (or
where the current goes ‘out’ from your devices). The ground is a safety belt mostly for the
equipment. It can help save humans
though. Conversely, GFCI’s are SOLELY meant
to save humans from accidental exposure and some fire hazards but even those
are not 100% and must be periodically tested.
“Ground” or “Earth” in electronics is not the same as a “green ground
wire” or ground hole in an electrical outlet.
“Ground” in electronics is a limitless sink which would absorb any
voltage so that a predictable “potential” or voltage can be provided within a
design. DC, best display by household batteries
do not have “ground”. They have “+” and “-“. They also don’t kill. Household batteries are nearly always limited
to under 50V because larger exposures can be lethal. In your amp, you have high voltage. AC is more lethal than DC at high voltages
but you wouldn’t want to touch 300V of either.
Designers of electronics don’t really care or specify whether the “earth”
means flow to neutral or ground. It’s
nearly always neutral bolstered by a ground, but that’s that what they focus
on. Someone will say, “Yeah, my service panel
showed me different. I saw that all the
white ‘neutral’ conductors at the bar shared a connection to the ‘ground’ bonded
to my cold water pipes and a giant copper rod that cost $300 to have an electrician
install before he’d put in a 200a panel for another $2,000.” That is true, but not the only story. Those “ground” connections are a last resort
of protection in case there is voltage within your house and the neutral
conductor to the utility is disconnected.
Undischarged capacitors are an example of that. That is fact and science. They are required or rather ‘supposed’ to
drain within a certain time limit but there can be older equipment or who knows
what people do to hotrod their systems.
I would try to figure out what changed system-wise to
isolate a component and eliminate the problem that way or you have a piece of
equipment with a problem (or a wiring problem, or competing load on the same
circuit…any recent wiring work?).
I remember a comment mentioning a “single” wire flowing into
a selector and logically, the “ground” then must be the equipment case. There are some minimalist systems and DIY
pieces that do that. You can’t have
voltage without a potential between two points.
HOWEVER, the voltage running through the selector to the case is 5V at
most if there are small lights or its in mV if just signal. Most electronics have a relay or other mechanism
to soften the transition. However, if
you had the ability to interrupt the voltage from tubes to the speakers without
a temporary sink, the circuit board will melt, capacitors explode because with
tubes that electricity can’t be in limbo.
Say if you held it in between states and there was no relay or resistor. And, it’s not the high lethal voltage in the
amplification stage NEVER running through tone controls or volume or gain
controls. The high voltages in any
system don’t go first to the chassis and then wherever else, doesn’t
matter. They ALWAYS by design return to
the neutral and as a safety at some point there is a ground wire connected to
the chassis, but also the ground on a 3 wire connection. There are rather cheap test device that will
confirm if you still have a “good ground” at your outlet. Tubes, solid state or not even an amp. Same issue. You are putting 115V or 120V in and expecting a result...which is not expected to be 120V or higher into your body or a burst of flames.
To go on, but probably the most important notion is that a ‘ground’
is the last resort. And it’s really
meant to save equipment. Electricity
will run through the path of least resistance.
If a short or surge occurs that completely melts your RCA “ground”, it
will try to travel through the next thing….a human body, a pet…anything
creating a new path. You’ve now created a
new path, maybe more preferable, that if water gets in, a piece of wire, a paper clip, a short from an
internal component fail or solder fail could be unpredictable. Those interconnect areas are supposed to be
very small voltages and completely unattractive to stray voltage. Accidentally leaving a system on and
something overheats? I would also not
purchase a “box” device to do something your system already did but then
something failed or was repositioned to create an actual or apparent
issue. Your ingenuity is great but in
dealing with any voltages over 50V its best to do in a controlled environment
or get solid PAID advice.