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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: It’s mad, mad, mad... electricity.
Post Subject: Dirty GroundPosted by Paul S on: 12/22/2008
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Again, for anyone who may not know (and not to torture or talk down to those who do know):

US electrical systems (along with most others I am aware of) have by code but one main ground that is shared by the "neutral"/return wire (white, hereabouts) and the "ground" wire (green) that run to and between all outlets in a modern home, apartment, etc.  Since these grounded wires must be "unbroken" system wide, any noise on either can easily get anywhere else in the system.  Speaking in very general terms, one cannot count on one's system ground path to be a "downhill" run of decreasing resistance as the grounded wires approach the main neutral/ground bus, so current/noise tends to hang around, back up, meander "upstream", look for easier ways to ground and generally become a systemic nuisance.  Further, in practice, neutral and ground busses are often shared at system "sub-panels", which basically serve as noise transfer stations for hi-fi systems.  What I'm saying is that it is a good idea to at least trace back through the system and be sure that neutral and ground wires are kept separate until they get to the main box.

Lastly, Romy, some of the power conditioners, etc., attempt to isolate all/each of 3 wires.  Since you did not mention anything specific about ground and/or neutral noise, I wondered about it as it relates to/is influenced by the APS, that's all.

Best regards,
Paul S

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