Ungrounded power cord: Will I die?


I'm always reading about the dangers of lifting ground from a power cord, especially in manufacturer manuals. Does this only apply to lifting ground from a grounded cord or just using an ungrounded cord, period? There are tons of devices in our homes that use ungrounded power cords (think wall wart). How is it possible that my house has not erupted into a ball of flames yet?

Anyway, I have a 2-prong power cord with a 3-prong IEC female end that came with my Luxman amp. I am getting the outboard power supply for my Calyx 24/192 DAC, but it requires an additional power cord. The Luxman cord sounds pretty good so I want to use that instead of spending another $500 to buy another one, which is +150% of the power supply itself!

What say ye?
eugene81
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Kijanki is correct on all points. Elizabeth, as usual, gives incomplete and/or bad advice.

Eugene, I really can't say how equipment designed for the Japanese market is configured, but the use of a ground connection (3rd prong) to a metal case is inherently safer than one without. I remember growing up in the 60's before 3 prong plugs and ground faults were common and we would get shocked when we touched the metal washing machine in the basement while standing barefoot on the concrete floor. My dad had an electric drill with a 2 prong cord and a metal case and you could get shocked if you touched it and something grounded like a water pipe.

That doesn't happen these days with better designs and better safety standards that involve plastic cases and/or grounded outlets. Using a cheater plug to defeat the ground can be dangerous. Note I said "can be". The problem for those who do it is they usually have no idea when that is.

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One could go technical with requirements (double insulation, clearances, leakage currents etc), but why?
Take Herman's sound advice "If it came with a three prong plug then safety standards dictate it should be there"
Logical and simple.

You can play with ICs, speaker cables etc. but this (safety) has to be done by the book.
"If it came with a three prong plug then safety standards dictate it should be there"

OK, so since my amp came with a two prong plug it should be safe to use with the amp even though the amp has a 3 prong inlet?
I guess even if the amp is safe to use with an ungrounded cord, they might put a 3-prong inlet for use with all of the other aftermarket power cords out there.

So the moral of the story is: It depends on the device. Stick to what it came with.