Ground Cheater plug or....


Maybe this isn't a good idea, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

I have what I believe to be a persistent ground loop hum from my amplifier. It's quiet, inaudible if music playing or unless you're standing next to the speaker, but knowing it's there is annoying.

I've heard suggestions to use a cheater plug to defeat the ground, but it seems counterintuitive to stick a 35cent plastic plug between expensive cables and power supplies. My question is, couldn't you accomplish the same thing by disconnecting the ground wire in the outlet, and still exact the benefits of better cables?

I'm sure the fire marshall would disapprove, but I'd like to hear what the hi-fi nuts have to say.

Cheers!
grimace
The only audiophile cheater plug that I know if is the Ebtech Hum X. It retails for $60-$90 depending on the retailer you go to. It lifts the ground without any of the unsafe effects. I use it in one of my systems when I got too lazy to troubleshoot the hum I was hearing from my speakers.
There is an audiophile cheater plug (IMO) that I employed in one of my systems because I was just too lazy to do the proper troubleshooting.

Ebtech Hum X - Plug-Style AC Voltage Ground Loop Hum Eliminator

http://www.ebtechaudio.com/humxdes.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyYb266R2-M

The same effects of the cheater plug but safe.

Prices range from $60 to $90 depending on where you shop.
Al is correct. This will not be solved by cheating the ground. Grimace, you've not mentioned your speakers; if they have an efficiency of over 100db or if your room is really really quiet this might be perfectly normal.
speakers are 89db Spendor S8e. I can only hear the hum from the listening position if there is no ambient noise - i.e. the fridge is not cycling - or if I'm standing right next to them, but not when music is playing. I sent the amp in for service and Cary said this was normal, but I'm not convinced. They said they weren't able to duplicate the hum.