GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: It’s mad, mad, mad... electricity.

Post Subject: Ground levelsPosted by floobydust on: 2/21/2009

Romy,

Yes.... in a city or congested neighborhood what is available as a ground can vary substantially. I keep referring to my own situation (sorry about that). Your points about a congested city and the power grid ground, etc. would be correct. I've not lived in a city or congested situation before with a focus on audio.

I live about 10 miles west of the ocean in South Florida, all new construction/infrastructure and all wiring is underground (all communications is fiber). I do have a large copper bar sunk deeply into the ground right at the house. As Florida is known for "wet ground" it is a very low impedance dedicated ground and it is quiet. I've scoped the power coming into the house many times. In general it's reasonably clean and the voltage creeps up a bit at night as businesses shut down for the evening. Obviously I'm luckier than many in this respect. Still, you can get dirty power with all of the A/C units running (winter time has the best power). My neighborhood (and house) are also exceptionally quiet so any hint of hum and/or noise can be easily heard.

One point however.... an isolated power regeneration source like the PP2000 should provide full isolation from the neutral and hot lines (the actual current carrying lines) from your grid power. If this is the case, you should be able to obtain a reasonable grounding scheme as neither side of the power is at the grid ground level. Depending on where you are will limit your ability to do this... but it seems you have managed this.

Regards, KM

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