2. amps-preamps
  3. 154659-435

How to guarantee to lower noise- ground loops in your system

I have been through many problem area where noise in the  audio chain was a problem.
my friend Who is a Electrician solved the problem . All too many times people add a dedicated 20 amp circuit 12awg is standard 11-10awg even better lower resistance , also most important 
you need a Isolated dedicated ground, this is totally insulated right back to the earth ground in the 
breaker box this will dramatically lower your noise floor and remove ground loop problems .many people just put a dedicated line and think 
that’s it ,not so, if you are going to go through the trouble, then  for maybe $100 more the isolated dedicated ground  to the dedicated circuit is a must. I can tell you without question .
my Audio has a noticably quieter background .in songs i now hear low level musical artifacts like reverb off a guitar fading cymbals and clearer seperation of instruments .well worth the effort .Hopefully 
this will help others .this is a essential system upgrade .
audioman58

Showing 2 responses by cleeds

cleeds
6,105 posts
 
vv32bl
Your response that me using a ground isolation receptacle and running the ground wire to an outside grounding rod does not sound logical that the circuit breaker could never trip.
I never said that the breaker would never trip. Please read more carefully. What I did note is that your grounding scheme was an NEC violation and created a dangerous situation (that could be lethal) where it would fail to trip under a specific circumstance.
... you do not even need a ground wire between your electrical meter and the first electrical panel in the house ...
You do in my town. In addition to NEC, you need to check local codes.
From your response above anyone that did not know any better would think that even with a dead short a non defective breaker would not trip.
I can’t imagine what I wrote that would lead you to that claim. You don’t quote the person to whom you respond, so it will remain a mystery, I guess.
cleeds
6,105 posts
 
vv32bl
... I drove a new ground rod directly outside of my dedicated listening room, and connected an 8 gauge ground wire to an isolated 20 amp receptacle. That receptacle feeds my Pure Power 2000 a/c regenerator and also my APC S20 power conditioner. That isolated ground was the only ground wire for my stereo system, and did not connect to my electrical panel. It worked fine but I did not notice any great improvement in my sound.
That’s an obvious NEC violation and a potentially dangerous scheme, because a fault on the ground wouldn’t trip the breaker back at the panel. That’s why all grounds must be tied together with the neutral bus bar in the service panel.
More to discover