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 .
128x128audioman58

Showing 4 responses by lowrider57

Agree with @atmasphere and @andy2. Ground-loop is caused by components having different ground potential. This begins with the design of the grounding scheme. Some designs share a signal ground and a safety ground, or some components don't have the earth ground bonded to the chassis.

I agree that wiring the duplex
with an isolated ground to the  circuit panel ground does reduce noise from other devices and appliances in the home. Using a self-grounded receptacle is not the way to go.


@volumizer, so if using 12/3 instead of 12/2, you would have an extra conductor. This would need to be tied off so it is not connected, correct? 
I understand the benefit of twisted cables, although I have never heard of anybody doing this.

If all circuits are to Code, AND there is a proper low resistance earth ground, you won’t have any mains circuit ground loops.

If "proper low resistance earth ground" means the earth ground from the components, then that is correct.
If just one component doesn't have a proper grounding scheme and is using unbalanced ICs, there is a probability of a ground-loop.