Is cheater plug safe with grounded monster power?

Wall-wart = "A small power-supply brick with integral male plug, designed to plug directly into a wall outlet; called a ‘wart’ because when installed on a power strip it tends to block up at least one more socket than it uses...."

So now that I know what a wall wart is I can unequivocally say that the Audiovox Sirius Home Dock does not come with a wall-wart. The power cord has a standard three prong plug on one end and a mini jack type at the other. In the middle there is a brick which I guess can be called a wart. But you can't plug it into a wall.

So Rex, my question still stands. Is the home dock grounded when plugged into the AC Enhancer via a cheater plug? Tbg says no, what say you?

All depends on whether the plug going into the Sirius is at 12 volts or 120 volts. I have no idea. It takes about 32 volts for current to flow through your body, so a 12 volt wire under no circumstances can hurt you. If the body of the Sirius is non-conductive, again unless you put a wire into it while standing in water on a concrete floor, you again will be beyond danger. If it is 120 volts presented to the Sirius, it has a metal body, you are grounded, and somehow the case is charged at 120 volts, you could be in danger. Incidentally, if you use a cheater plug and ground it grounding wire to the outlet, your circuit breaker would immediately open in the event of a charged body of the Sirius.

Rex strikes me a unduly concerned about the grounding wire to components. Underwriters Labs insists on grounded components with metal bodies, but few major manufacturers of front end audio components bother to ground their chasses, because of the ground loop problem thus introduced.

thanks tbg. it has a 12V output and is made of plastic.

Ldatlof - the "brick" performs the same function as a wall-wart. It takes AC in, puts DC out. It is an outboard power supply.

Since the power supply supplies DC through the mini-plug connector that goes into the dock, there is no AC current in the dock. So, it was never grounded to your house AC system in the first place. With a cheater plug in place, the outboard power supply is not grounded for sure. Whether is is going to cause a problem or not, I don't know because I've never looked at the inside of the PS. Usually though, there is a reason why earth ground is connected.

Look in your manual. Does it say something like, "this product must be plugged into a properly grounded outlet?"

Greetings!

I have read this thread with interest, and I am no closer to solving my ground loop issue.

Now, I don't want to appear overly stupid, but I thought electronics was an exact science based on math and physics. By reading this thread, I get the opposite impression.

So what IS the best way to eliminate a ground loop? Cookbook advice is always welcome. Telling me to isolate a component, for example, does not tell me how to carry out that procedure. Remember I don't have multiple degrees in electrical engineering plus an electrician's license.

The system in question has the following components:

Proceed AMP 5 (five channel amplifier)
Proceed AVP (five channel preamp)
Sony DVD player
Muse Model 18 powered subwoofer
Martin Logan Ascent loudspeakers

When the Muse Model 18 was connected between the amp and preamp using RCA ICs, a ground loop condition occurred. I tried cheater plugs on the power cords of the AMP 5 and the Muse Model 18. The hum was reduced, but not eliminated.

When I removed the Proceed AVP and the Sony DVD player and used a Klyne System 7 preamp plus a Musical Fidelity CD player while still using the Muse Model 18, there was no hum at all.

I would like to be able to use the Proceed gear, the Sony DVD player, and the Muse Model 18 to watch movies.

Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

Regards,