component grounding

In the UK, we have 230V, but for the last 50 Years it’s been mandatory to use the 3 prong plug with an internal fuse, most appliances are supplied with an IEC Plug on the equipment end & a moulded fuseable plug on the other, these leads shouldn’t be no more than a meter (3 feet) long, all tv’s & similar equipment are usually fitted with a figure 8 cable with 2 conductors & a 3 prong fuseable plug, so potentially dangerous. I have some US gear here Audio Research which is supplied with a UK 🇬🇧 Compatible Lead of really good quality, I also have a 120V Theta Dac, which is supplied with a three prong 🇺🇸 lead, but equipment is fused, I now live in France which has 3 prong 230V receptacles, but not fused, but everything has to have breakers on both + & -, no more than 3 sockets on each power line, there appear to be no cases where anyone has died in either case, but I am surprised. You see on social media sites that in Countries such as India, there appears to be plenty of cases where people have been zapped to Death.

Hello,

As said above a lot of people float the ground. It prevents noise from ground loop hum especially on single ended equipment. Also, by having the ground plug only connected to the wall and not the component provides some type of RFI/ EMI protection. I bought a Nordost Purple Flare figure 8 power cord for my BlueSound Node 2i. I bought a cheater that turns a three prong EIc into a figure 8. I then plugged in my Nordost Blue Heaven which is grounded. Their was a definite improvement over the sound. At a Nordost/ Ayre/ Kef show at my local audio store I asked the Nordost rep about it. He said the cables are the same except for the ground wire and the figure 8 end. I tried it several times and had the sam sound improvement each time. I think Paul at PS Audio has talked about only connecting the ground or shield cable on the starting side. The interesting thing is the ungrounded Nordost Purple Flare still uses a three prong plug on the wall side even though their is no ground wire in the sheath. So not using the ground but using it as a shield. 

The new Arcam Amp I just got  (I am in th US) has a US mains style cable and plugs but the ground prong is absent, and the power socket on the amp has no ground element..

The new Arcam Amp I just got  (I am in th US) has a US mains style cable and plugs but the ground prong is absent, and the power socket on the amp has no ground element..

The Arcam Amp AC power wiring is certified Class II, double insulated AC power wiring.  It doesn't require an EGC.

Appliance classes - Wikipedia

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You would think with gfi outlets and now the entire panel in a home having gfi that the plug is no longer an issue even it was in the past. Now not to go there but I feel I must. Manufactures want to be able to sport the UL stamp of approval on their products, this will allow for them to charge customers 100 time the cost of that extra prong. We all know UL is another government tied bureaucracy and a vital part of their money laundering operations. Although adding one more prong to a plug is minimal in cost the payments to the UL are not and that grounding prong gives them cover.
Sorry to go there but as the saying goes “there are no conspiracies just as there are no coincidences”!