Ungrounded power cord: Will I die?

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I was wrong and Elizabeth is right.

The risk of death or injury from floating a ground is so low it is not a practical concern.

I apologize for my previous comment.

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Anyone using ungrounded power cords will die eventually. Alas, so will those using grounded ones. That said, as Forrest Gump remarked "Stupid is as Stupid does"; I have known a fair sample of the shallow end of the audiophile pool and none of them have yet succeeded in hifi Hari Kari despite their best efforts. The prize probably went to the guy who built a large outboard capacitor bank, charged it up, unhooked it without discharging it and then tried to hook it up again. He also liked to leave the cage off his EAR 509s despite the presence of potentially lethal voltage. They looked better that way.

That is a universal 100-240 switching supply. Since outlets in many countries don't have a 3rd prong for ground it would have to be designed to not need one.
01-28-12: Herman

Herman,

You could be right..... I checked the Net for an owners manual for the unit with no luck. Maybe the OP will chime in and let us know what the manual says.

I did look at the link you provided and noticed the picture of the back of the unit shows the male IEC connector has the safety equipment ground blade contact.

I have no way of knowing if the PS is Listed by a recognized safety testing agency for use in the USA.
(Such as UL)

Just curious about your thoughts,... if the PS uses an IE transformer with an electrostatic shield that is connected to the metal chassis, enclosure, of the PS and the equipment ground contact of the IEC connector. If the ground is floating will that have any effect on the EMI/RFI rejection performance of the PS?

I can say that style of male IEC connector can be purchased without the ground blade contact.

To go back for just a second to the OP's Luxman amp, the manufacture should have supplied with the amp , at least for sales in the USA, a 3 wire plug PC with the IEC grounding type connector. That way the cord would be idiot proof and could be used on IEC fed equipment that require the use of a safety equipment ground.

Just one example, that is how the Arcam Alpha 9 CDP was designed/manufactured. The unit has the universally used male IEC connector with only the hot and neutral blades. No safety equipment ground blade. The unit uses double insulated power wiring.

The cheap OEM power cord the came with the unit is a 3 wire grounding type. The ground wire is not used in this case but if for some reason the cord was just thrown in a box and later found, there would not be safety issue if it was used on a piece of equipment that was intended to be connected to an AC grounded system equipment safety ground.

I was wrong and Elizabeth is right.

The risk of death or injury from floating a ground is so low it is not a practical concern.

I apologize for my previous comment.
01-29-12: Herman

Sorry, to broad of a statement.

If the OP's cord in question was used on a home computer in a basement with a bare concrete floor and for some reason the user was in his/her bare feet it could become an issue.

Plain and simple the cord is not idiot proof. There is a reason for electrical safety standards. Yes they can be defeated. And if the user chooses to do so he/she then takes that risks if any.

But how about the person that doesn't know there could be a potential safety problem with using the cord.

That is why NEMA standards makes sure the square peg will not fit in the round hole.

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Just curious about your thoughts,... if the PS uses an IE transformer with an electrostatic shield that is connected to the metal chassis, enclosure, of the PS and the equipment ground contact of the IEC connector. If the ground is floating will that have any effect on the EMI/RFI rejection performance of the PS?

What is an IE transformer?

If the shield is tied to the neutral and the neutral line is tied back to earth ground I'm not sure if the lack of the 3rd line makes a difference, but I don't think all countries use polarized plugs with the neutral tied to earth. Interesting question but I'm not familiar enough with power around the world to answer it.

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