I wouldn't say it is unsafe, per se, but many designers deliberately lift the ground to prevent noise issues. Seeing a 100 Ohm resistor between the chasis, which is directly attached to the AC ground, and the signal ground is quite common.
The quietest systems I've ever heard completely isolated the signal ground from the AC ground, preventing ground loops altogether.
I would not encourage anyone to start hacking this way.
The quietest systems I've ever heard completely isolated the signal ground from the AC ground, preventing ground loops altogether.
I would not encourage anyone to start hacking this way.