To Aesthetix users

Please do not attempt to enter the service entrance if you are not qualified to do so. Your risk serious injury or death.

When your electrician looks at the service entrance (panel) there would be, in modern set-ups, a buss termination where all grounds go to..usually bare wires or green wires This buss strip is directly bonded to the panel. There is another buss strip where all white(neutral wires) go to this is isolated from the panel and bonds to the neutral main coming in. Your electrician would be able to see the two distinct buss strips indicating a grounded panel.If you do not see this it is unlikely that you have a grounded service. Have your electrician look at how the latest addition to your panel (the AC) has been added. Is there a ground from this branch and where does it go insided the panel?...this could be a clue..

Outside of panel Take a voltmeter, set to AC, measure from the wide prong of a receptlce to the ground ...should be zero if the receptlcle is grounded correctly. Also measure from the ground prong of the receptlce to the narrow bar of the receptcle should be 120vac.

I'm not familiar with your codes or practices in NYC. This is general information. You need an electrician to look at the main entrance of the service wires: should be 2 black & a white and possibly a ground bonded to the neutral dependant on the era and the codes at time of installation.

Just ran a wire from the receptacle's ground screw to a new screw and hole I drilled in the conduit box. As before ratshack wire says there is now a ground.

I have a shielded supply AC cord on order as per your recommendation.

I think I will use an electrician for the next step!

In the meantime I will be searching for Telefunken 12AX7s to try in the Io's front end.

Thanks to everyone in this thread... audio's a journey...

Patrick

Hi Cello,

It's funny, I was just wondering whether to post another update because it seemed maybe it was just me and Nkj at this point!

I got the shielded Belden AC cord for the Io and have exactly the same RF - so that's a no-go. (For those interested, it looks extremely similar to the stock cord, and didn't sound quite as nice - perhaps not broken in, perhaps other differences!)

I will be having an electrician in soon to find out whether my outlet is actually grounded at the circuit breaker box.

In the meantime, I'm investigating Telefunken (and other) 12AX7s / ECC83s. Man have the prices for NOS tubes gone up since I was last looking (about 3 years ago).

I just noticed oldvinyl's recommendation to use cryotweaks on the Io for RF rejection. I may try this too.

More updates as they come...

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

Wondered how you were making out. Now no one said this was a science!. At least you're only out some frustration and not alot money so far. I really think the ground issue is a red herring with the RF. To be sure ground is good... But I think you have a positioning problem(think antenna), too much gain problem or interconnect sensitivity problem to RF. Look back on the thread did you clean your connections? A simple move of your equipment could solve these problems if it is possible.

I think audio advisor has some rf clamps that can be attached to cables to mitigate RF. Might be worth a try. If you're really stuck I think I have some of those MF cables I mentioned in my black box of used cables that you could try.. I'm sure we could work out an arrangement for a trial if you wanted to go down that road.

Best,

Nkj