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Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time.

RE: If your concern is safety

If you do not want hum and want a three prong AC cord the design of the whole unit is different. Ground currents through the chassis themselves are a subject of study, like, NO, don't put a circuit board pad there for the screw. It is a different design, not quite from the "ground" up so to speak, but close.

The engineer has to reconsider everything that has to do with grounds in the unit. Older units did not have as bad a problem with this so it was not addressed. Now it is but it has made things practically unserviceable. Going this way solved some problems but created a few others. In fact, back then when things only had two prong cords they were less likely to get blown up by a lightning hit. I know it was a different world but that fact holds true.

In my opinion, audio equipment should not use the grounded cord unless the ground is isolated by a suppressor or whatever network, like a 0.001 uF cap in parallel with a 2.2 meg resistor, and if you want safety two Zeners back to back, perhaps 40 volt units. And none of this shit gets you better sound, it is more likely to get you a hum and you will just cut it all out. If it was safe in 1975 it is safe now. When you talk 1935 that is different. But this is not that.

Unless the insulation is breaking down or the blades fall out of the plug, my advice is to leave it alone.


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  • RE: If your concern is safety - JURB 03:54:13 08/13/16 (0)

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