I assumed the outlet was still faulty and the circuit was not truly grounded. Can you explain what you mean by "the equipment is probably providing a ground between neutral and ground"? What would be the application of this feature?When you plug equipment into the socket, the equipment is probably providing a ground between neutral and ground, assuming you are using a 3 pin plug (North America). The outlet is still faulty...
I've never seen a YT video explaining how plugging in a PDU will change the reading on an outlet tester. I'm sure Tony Stewart has it correct in his explanation. The only problem is it's too over my head. Open Ground on the tester made sense to me - no connection to the EGC. Plugging in equipment and seeing the test results changed is where I got lost.I think you should watch YT tutorials regarding this issue. It would help.
I suggest you move your concerns to something else - the mains supply is almost certainly not going to affect audio quality - unless you've got massive noise coming up it, which your system can't cope with (which is extremely unlikely).I've never seen a YT video explaining how plugging in a PDU will change the reading on an outlet tester. I'm sure Tony Stewart has it correct in his explanation. The only problem is it's too over my head. Open Ground on the tester made sense to me - no connection to the EGC. Plugging in equipment and seeing the test results changed is where I got lost.
I've been doing kind of a deep dive into electricity, currents, voltage, breakers, ground faults, noise filters, etc. I've been learning a lot, but it's also been a lot of learning how much there is to learn and how much I don't know. I've gained a ton of respect for electricians. I'm going to keep learning, but ultimately the main thing I've learned is I'm probably never going to be a DIY electricity guy. But, I still think it's good for me to understand some of the general concepts.
One of my goals is to get good power quality for audio. I'm planning to move out of my current home, so I'm not concerned with my open grounds. I've been here for 7 years and never realized I had them. I'm wondering a bit though now if the open grounds actually improve my audio quality. I've heard a lot of noise can travel along the ground wire.
I was curious about the behavior where the tester changed when plugging in a PDU. I thought I would ask about it and maybe learn something. But, mainly, I'm trying to plan for my next home. It sounds like the #1 thing I can do is have an electrician wire me up with a dedicated line to my recording studio as well as my hi-fi room. I've also read that the dedicated lines should be on a separate phase as major appliances and GFCI outlets. I might not have too much control over that, though. But, I do plan on going with dedicated lines, and possibly isolated grounds as well.
It does seem like a bit of a waste of time rabbit hole. However, on top of my music studio, I might look into setting up a hi-fi listening area as well. I will be taking your advice and trying to shift my focus elsewhere. But, the one thing that's been fairly consistent in my research has been the concept of dedicated 20 amp circuits with 10 gauge wire. Audiophiles do seem to chase a lot of snake oil and spend money on ridiculous things. But, generally on internet forums there is always someone calling out the BS. There is generally consensus on the dedicated 20A lines. There is a lot of disagreement on how many circuits you need, types of wire, isolated grounds, etc. But, there's general agreement on the dedicated line to reduce noise. They say it's one of the most impactful upgrades you can make. This is a pretty inexpensive thing to have an electrician take care of, so I will probably do it. I might buy one of the noise meters to measure the actual noise --> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MEFVYQD/ref=ox_sc_act_title_23?smid=A3IN8OGD15IG0Q&psc=1I suggest you move your concerns to something else - the mains supply is almost certainly not going to affect audio quality - unless you've got massive noise coming up it, which your system can't cope with (which is extremely unlikely).
In electrical, there are 2 grounds:
one is the neutral which is the one your aware of, which is the circuit ground, it runs down a wire back to the pannel.
The other is the chasis ground, which is the third prong on the plug and a wire from it on the inside usually bare copper or green, this wire also runs from the breaker pannel, but it runs to each junction box causing grounding in each of your electrical plates.
this is like a backup ground, so that if there is a damage to a device that causes the hot wire to put voltage on the chasis, it will cause a short circuit and trip the breaker instead of keeping the chasis of your toaster live till you pick it up.
That's another item in the "Snake oil" category, and the results would be totally meaningless.I might buy one of the noise meters to measure the actual noise -->
It radiates potentially harmful electromagnetic fields into homes, schools, businesses, and other settings.
Just more BS - but feel free if it makes you happy, you won't hear any difference - but you might imagine you do (placebo effect).But, the one thing that's been fairly consistent in my research has been the concept of dedicated 20 amp circuits with 10 gauge wire. Audiophiles do seem to chase a lot of snake oil and spend money on ridiculous things. But, generally on internet forums there is always someone calling out the BS. There is generally consensus on the dedicated 20A lines. There is a lot of disagreement on how many circuits you need, types of wire, isolated grounds, etc. But, there's general agreement on the dedicated line to reduce noise.
That's another item in the "Snake oil" category, and the results would be totally meaningless.
It even attempts some typical panic-mongering nonsense in the description:
Just get the outlet earths (grounds) sorted out.
As long as all your power wiring is properly installed and outlets grounded, which exact one you use for audio is totally irrelevant.
I could go on for days about the nonsense claims of audiophiles, but suffice to say any normal, decent audio gear by any of the classic big-name makers (Sony, Technics etc.) with normal power and normal audio cables connecting everything together should produce excellent audio with noise and distortion below human perception, when fed from a suitable source.
If you are considering playing "Vinyl" you do not need a high end system as the disc surface noise is only around 60-70db below the peak level, vs. roughly 100db down for CD audio and rather more for newer digital formats such as Blu-Ray audio.
I don't even own any hi-fi equipment right now. Assuming I purchase a setup and the room has outlets in the location I want, then perhaps I will start out with the existing circuit. That way I can try before and after. Based on testimonials it seems as if results can vary, which could be based on the existing noise and interference, the sensitivity of the equipment, and like you say the placebo effect. But, overall, the dedicated line is recommended even by folks that are against the use of line conditioning. They agree to go straight to the wall, but they claim the dedicated line makes a big difference. It's a cheap enough upgrade, so I would probably give it a go. But, now I'm thinking rather than prewire the new home I will do it after the fact. That way I can hear for myself if I threw my money away or not! Thanks for sharing your opinion on the matter. I really appreciate it.Just more BS - but feel free if it makes you happy, you won't hear any difference - but you might imagine you do (placebo effect).
The other claim of the audiophiles is that with regular gear the noise is less of an issue, but with their $100,000 systems it matters. I sometimes also here from skeptics or realists that in fact sometimes the audiophile gizmos will indeed change the sound, but the improvement is subjective.
Even more snake oil
Do what makes you happy - it will almost certainly not make the slightest bit of difference - but the poor quality of American electrical infrastructure doesn't help.
Essentially, in the 'civilised' worldthere are two types of appliances - Class I (earthed, three pin mains lead) and Class II (non earthed, two pin mains lead). Class II 'may' have plastic casing, it may have metal casing - it makes no difference, in either case it's double-insulated.
In the UK ALL sockets are earthed, and all mains plugs are fused, and the sockets are mostly connected in a ring, usually a separate ring for each floor. So each socket is fed twice, from either side of the ring.
Thanks Nigel. It's my understanding the 3 prong is a primarily a safety feature but also can be a place for leakage current. Can you help me understand leakage current? Also, am I correct that surge protectors do not generally use the ground pin to work?
Also, what is "floating ground"? Would I be correct in assuming that all 3 prong devices are earth grounded while the two prong devices and power adapter devices like phones and computers are floating ground? I have also heard the term "signal ground", which I'm understanding to be the 0V reference for a device circuit. I'm assuming signal ground is the same as earth ground for the 3 prong devices. The other term is "chassis ground" which I'm understanding to also be pretty much be the same thing as earth ground for the Class I devices.
Ground loops can be a genuine problem, with domestic audio gear.
A ground loop is eg. when two pieces of equipment both have grounded power cables & signal grounds internally connected to that, plus cables between them with the ground (via the cable screen).
The result is a continuous electrical connection from the outlet ground through the equipment grounds and signal cable ground/screen, back to another outlet ground - and of course the outlet grounds are connected through the building wiring, so there is an endless loop connection through everything.
That can act like a magnetic loop antenna and impose hum and noise from the power system across the signal connections.
That's why many HiFi units do not have grounded cables, so the only grounds between them are via the signal cables, avoiding the loop effect.
Just one item the overall system needs grounding for safety & to avoid "open input" hum.
Any equipment using single-ended signal interconnections (ground with a single signal wire per channel) may suffer from ground loop problems, and of course there are crazy price items & cables at $100 - $1000 or more a metre for audiophiles that will supposedly make things "better".
Professional / Studio equipment simply uses balanced line connections via XLR cables. The wanted signal is the difference between the two signal wires and ground noise is ignored as the signals are not ground-referenced, so everything can be grounded without problems.
Stage & Studio grade cabling is about $1.50 a metre for the really rugged flexible stuff for dragging around on mics or instruments, and ~$0.50 a metre for fixed cabling, which to me makes a massive joke of the whole Audiophile super-expensive magic cable concept.
On the subject of audiophiles and interconnects, Digital interconnects cannot affect the audio in any subtle way, as the adverts and reviews claim - it's totally and absolutely impossible.
Claims about those are on a par with someone claiming documents will read differently and have different characters, depending on the make of flash drive or disc they are stored on.
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