Can Static Destroy Electronics?

I ordered a grounding mat from Amazon yesterday. I’ll let you know if I destroy anymore expensive equipment with static while using it!

Follow-up question: if I ground the turntable to a chassis screw on the amplifier, should I *also* ground my phono preamp to the chassis of the amp? Same screw, or different screw?

Added detail:

Two weeks before this, the same thing happened to a different phono preamp, a Trichord Dino. Pop, channel gone, R out out goes out. 
I troubleshot it to a faulty DIP switch component on the board and swapped it out. 
Coincidence? An unrelated swan song??

Should I contact Dynavector? What did I do wrong?

It seems very unlikely that the exact same incident would happen to two different phono preamps, completely randomly. 
Is there anything downstream/upstream that could cause this? Could I have a grounding issue in my house wiring?

Yeah, one setting of the dip switch would ground out the R output channel. No idea why or how. 

The dip switches on the Trichord Dino are for gain and loading. I took a multimeter to see if there were any shorts, and the R output showed that both its signal path and ground path we’re going to ground. Different gain settings at the dip switch would make it so that ground short was no longer there, so it seemed like that has to be it for that device. 
For the Dynavector P-75, I have no idea. 

Yes, the turntable is grounded to the phono preamp. 
And I can’t as readily troubleshoot/repair the PCB on the Dynavector P-75 since it has surface mount components rather than through-hole. 
Any other theories? I bought it used, should I send to Dynavector?

Just realizing something...the Technics SL-1200 turntable outlet plug does not have a ground pin. Neither the Dynavector nor the Trichord phono preamps have a ground pin on their plugs either. Thus, if I am grounding the turntable to a device that also doesn't have a ground, I essentially have no path to ground for those devices. I always though the turntable should have its ground wire connected to the phono preamp, but is that just wrong? How do you guys ground your turntables/phono preamps?

I checked the outlet with a socket checker device, and it indicated that the ground was good. It’s a device with three lights on it: two yellow and one red. When I plugged it into the socket my main power conditioner is normally plugged into, I got 2 yellows, no red. 

Current Theory: I believe the ground wire coming out of theTechnics 1200 is attached to the tonearm. When the ESD happened upon lifting the tonearm, it makes sense it would travel through that ground wire and arrive at the phono preamp where it was connected, as the next stop on its journey for ground.


Since the preamp does not have a 3rd prong (the ground prong), the electrostatic discharge didn't have a safe path to ground, so instead of bypassing the sensitive electronics, it pulsed through them, breaking something along the way. 


I've attached my TT ground to a screw on the chassis of my fully earth-grounded amplifier, which will hopefully send any electrical discharges down a safe path to ground. As an added benefit, I have discovered an all-new blackness to my vinyl background I didn't even know possible. 


Hopefully those who are more knowledgeable about electrical theory can confirm or deny the above hypothesis!

But can the chassis of a component WITHOUT a ground pin on its plug actually act as a ground? I would expect that the chassis has continuity to the ground pin of the plug, which then plugs into the grounded socket, thus completing the path to the actual ground.

I'm currently in touch with Dynavector about this. I'll keep the thread updated with any new info as it comes!

Just wanted to update this thread. Mike at Dynavector was VERY helpful regarding this issue. He worked with me to get a replacement Dynavector phono preamp into the system, and there have been on issues since.

After such a great service response from Mike, I'm a loyal Dynavector customer now. Great company, great products. Thanks, Mike!