Hi,
Quote:
Originally Posted by brucehinrichs
Hi and welcome.
onebucks suggestions are great, especially:
I'm having some (different) sound issues, and during my googling have run across some other reports of background noise and hum. From what I've seen this is usually due to onebucks reason and/or insufficient grounding. Make sure your computer and associated peripherals are well grounded (preferably to the same ground source). Also, if possible, make sure your residence is connected to a 'pure earth' ground (a metal rod driven 3-4 feet into the ground outside and connected to the ground terminals of your breaker- or fuse-box with fairly heavy (#10 AWG) wire works great). Hope this helps!
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Good points about the grounding but I think it will be due to poor switching design and filtering for a after market PSU. Some of the low end China imports don't have good filtering. Partially due to low grade capacitors along with poor design. Add to the mix poor load match and you will be pushing the PSU therefore noise will be introduced into the system.
If the switching PSU is designed properly then the grounding will facilitate better system grounding which is more for safety then noise. With good filter designs then nominal noise will be introduced by the switching.
Sure some noise can be introduced through ground into the system via a ground loop or even a open ground to the frame. Or even radiated noise from some form of transmitter. U.S Electrical systems use a single phase L1, L2 and a neutral from the transformer off the distribution grid. In order to get the 110VAC from the 220VAC we use L1 to neutral or L2 to neutral within our breaker box for internal distribution for a balanced load. We do provide a 'Earth ground' via a ground rod to the breaker box. But internal the system ground is bonded to the neutral. Again you must look at the ordinance,local code or the NEC.
I'm not sure about your locale so the ground resistance will be different. Most ground rods in the Midwest are driven 6-8 feet into the ground. Most shops have the 6, 8 and 10 foot clad rods that can be used dependent on the installations geological ground resistance for the site.
The 10AWG is sufficient but make sure it is solid gauge wire (this to may depend on code). Be sure to use the proper strap technique for wire to rod. This wire should connect to the ground buss terminal within the box. Depending on your ordinance if they utilize the NEC then strapping/bonding within the breaker box maybe required for the residential installations. Commercial installations have different requirements but basically some of the above relates.
If you need a noise filter you can get power strips with filters, not just MOV for surge but clean designed Pi filters. Even better would to get a good UPS for your computer system. APC has some good consumer grade units at a fair price. Be sure to size to your system needs if you want a full backup capability along with good filtering.
I haven't even addressed the sound system design or speaker matching. I'll leave that for another post.
HTH!
