?Noisey PWD DAC II > CJ ET3SE

[Coppy]

Originally Posted by medwardo

@coppy...something about putting a .99 cent cheater plug on the business end of a very expensive power cord makes me fret (a little OCD, I am) and think that I'm not getting my bang from the expensive power cord.

Of course, a Hum buster is hardly a reference component....

Also, it drives me crazy that I have to use a cheater plug on an $8K amp. You know...audiophile nervosa.

I understand all you said. You could just try the cheater and if it works really well for you, really expensive audiophile models are available from people like Furutec. Ivan can probably get you one.

Bob

[medward0]

Here's when I landed:

• Dac in for repair (hopefully will solve the noise from that source)
• New power cord that has a removable ground pin for the amp (PS Audio makes one)...if I don't like the sound of the cord on the amp, I can use it elsewhere in my system

@coppy, thanks, I didn't know that Furutech made a cheater and I'll investigate that as well.

-ed

[medward0]

Update from my end:

DAC will be off to Colorado this week and hopefully will be well behaved on its return.

PS Audio AC12 power cord with removable ground plug on the amp solved my ground issues and no restriction in dynamics. If I gotta float the ground with a power cord, I think it's preferable to use a power cord that is designed to have the ground pin out.

The AC12 is quite a good cord actually...would prefer a Ztron 'cuz I like Shunyata power products, but the PS Audio with the ground pin out far surpasses a Ztron through a cheater or Hum Buster in terms of soundstage, detail, micro/macro dynamics...you name it.

At least for my system, the ground-pin-less AC12 on the amp was the right move.

[AlexM]

Personally I wouldn't defeat the ground of any metal-cased piece of equipment apart from very briefly to diagnose a hum loop for safety reasons. This is so easy to design out within components it is frankly amazing that a high-end design doesn't include a ground lift circuit within the amp/pre-amp to seperate chassis and signal grounds. I'm not sure about electrical standards and regulations in the States, but in the UK all sockets are eathed and it would be extremely inadvisable to disonnect an earth connection at the outlet - I'd strongly advise against this as there is nothing to stop someone (in theory) plugging a piece of equipment needing a safety earth in there and getting a nasty shock if a fault condiditon arises.

It is far better to sort out the reasons for the hum loop this way than disconnecting any protective earth connections - better safe than sorry!. In this context, I'd lift the earth on the DAC as at least you will still have some earthing via the RCA leads if a fault arises that should pass enough current to blow the equipment fust and keep you safe.

Some good advice on this thread - hum loop solution

and here:

Grounding and Shielding Audio Devices

Regards,
Alex