That dreaded hum


Hello all, I hope I'm in the right place and my question is what can I do to get rid of a ground loop hum in my rig. The particulars: I have my audio and video hooked together and when I want to watch dvds I have to disconnect my cable from the wall to eliminate the hum. I know Mondial used to make a box for this problem but that was many moons ago. I thank you in advance and happy Memorial day.
south43
Another approach I've used successfully: attach a ground lead to the coaxial shield at the point where it connects to your equipment. Wrap the bared end of wire around the coax a few times & cable-tie it securely, or use a small hose clamp. The other end of the ground wire connects obviously to ground: use your AC wall outlet's plate-mounting screw, or perhaps a handy ground post on your preamp, etc.
Realize that inserting back-to-back baluns results in several dB of RF signal loss: check your picture quality before & after to ensure that it hasn't degraded.
I guess I should explain my setup: I have a hdtv box from my cable company--this connects to my tv via componet cables and audio cables. The cable signal of course comes from the wall. Next comes my dvd player(Philips 963sa)which also plays my cds and sacds. I have componet cables connecting to my tv as well as audio cables.(tv had multiple in & outs) The 963 also connects to my pre for cd listening. When I want to watch dvds I have to disconnect my coax from the wall to kill the hum. Funny thing is I don't get a hum with cable box hooked up the same as my dvd player. I know it sounds confusing but it's a quick fix I'm sure. Bob if I connect a ground as you explained it would have to connect to the cable box as it loops the tv via coax and componet cables. Mind you the only coax connection is from the wall to the box. I hope I made this a little more clear for everyone. I may just wind up with the Mondial box since it was made for my situation. Stay tuned.
Tomcanale is precisely correct. I use the same setup and it works like a charm.