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RF at Ona wrote:

Reading about the sensitivity of your system to electrical power supply problems reminds me of the days when I used to make my own equipment as much for the learning experience as for the final result. One of the mundane things I learned is that standard audio equipment, including shielded cable connections, did not (and possibly still does not) follow good GROUNDING practice. You connect the stuff in the usual way and you are bound for problems.

You might be right thought whatever I know on subject suggests that the problem is not related to grounding. I would invite your apparent expertise to asses what it going on.

My entire playback is all single ended. The playback is powered from 3 dedicated 8ga 20A each lines taken as close to the “street” and the “code” allowed me.  Do not use the household grounds for years with my playback. In fact the 3 dedicated power line do not even grounded to the common grid’s ground. I have my own ground – 10 feet 5/8 cupper poll driven in backyard’s, in the electrically fertilized soul (at the time what it was driven in). From the grounding poll I have 12ga cable running to the grounding terminal of my preamp. I did not measure the grounding impedance but I think that it should be marginally low.

I did not do it recently but a few years ago I checked the AC polarity on all elements of my playback and made sure that they all where in phase. There are no (known to me) loops in the systems. There are few sources that are not connected to the dedicated audio lines and plugged juts to the ground lifted household lines: motor of my TT, the logic section of my preamp and etc… None of them have any electrical or grounding contacts with signal path.

Now is the freaky part. The effect of grounding in my entire playact is absolutely not auditable. I checked it when electricity was good or bad – it was irrelevant to Sound and to noises. What I meant - the connection or disconnection of the main ground of my playback had absolutely no auditable affect of any kind. In fact I am known to run my playback sometimes in complete lifted mode, with no reference to ground at all. It is not a good or secure idea but I had my rational sometimes (current bios of the cables and so on…) In fact I had once running my entire playback at 220V with reference to 120V on lifted ground – there was no effect to sound as well.

On another hand the misery that coming from electricity comes and goes and it is very much auditable with day by day fluctuation or sometimes by hour by hour fluctuation. So, I can make a presumption that it is NOT the grounding problems…. Please, explain me if you feel otherwise

Robert, you said that if I live in apartment building then I should consider moving. Well, it is not juts apartment building but the apartment building located in the very hart of Boston, right in downtown in the middle of everything. Surely it is the worst possible scenario but it is how it will stay for a while. I kind of like to walk outside of my building and be able to see women who can afford plastic surgery…. :-)

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