Interconnects & power protection Help PLEASE

I'm throwing together a stereo system and I was wondering what a good cable for connecting a cd player to the receiver. I don't know jack about cables.... or tasteful puns. I know i dont want walmart trash but I know theres probably a clear line when spending over x amount of dollars your paying big for slight differences. I just want a solid, good connection.

Also, my stereo system had to be hooked up to an extension cord, for the time being. Quality loss? I would love to hear solid extension/surge protector suggestions. I should note my old house doesn't have grounds on the wall sockets. Should i get a grounded surge protector and use a crappy adapter for the time being (I'm not living here forever). I'm currently using a extension cord that has grounds in the female end and not in the male. Is this dangerous to my system???

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated, This is a very grey area for me.€€

THANKS!

If you could list the equipment you might be selecting we might give better advice.

it would will be marantzcd5001 to NAD325bee. Should I be concerned with hooking my equipment through my old houses two prong sockets? What kind of protection can I get??? Thanks

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Originally Posted by dilda

it would will be marantzcd5001 to NAD325bee. Should I be concerned with hooking my equipment through my old houses two prong sockets? What kind of protection can I get??? Thanks

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It sounds like a tough problem. Ungrounded circuits are no longer considered safe, and many appliances today come with grounded plugs and it is unsafe to use "cheater" plugs. Among these "applicances" is a lot of hi-fi equipment, though probably not the Marantz or NAD.

Normally for a person with a modest system I would recommend something like this Tripp Lite Isobar surge protecter and mulit-bank EMI/RFI filter. But guess what!?! It requires a ground circuit to work properly.

Agree with Feanor. Surge protector need grounding for best protection.

Best solution might be to run a ground from your fuse panel to your A/V location, and replace wall AC socket with grounded version. But it depend how a handyperson you are, you might need a electrician.

But in the mean time it wouldn’t hurt to uncover your current AC socket as to see if casing is grounded via a green/bare wire or not. If it is then you you’re in luck as you can use ground readily.

Call your local power company and see if they have any Idea's about surge suppressors for a 2 wire system.

Check out www.bluejeancable.com for good low cost IC's and speaker wires.

Thanks for your help guys. I removed the faceplate and the sockets had two beige wires on the right side and then a copper looking wire in a black sleeve on the lower left. Is that the ground? (Its a three plug socket if that matters) Sorry i don't have a camera.

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Originally Posted by dilda

Thanks for your help guys. I removed the faceplate and the sockets had two beige wires on the right side and then a copper looking wire in a black sleeve on the lower left. Is that the ground? (Its a three plug socket if that matters)

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Black color wire is your "hot" and biege/white color is nautral. If you don't see a green or bare wire, you probably don't have any ground. Did you pull out the whole socket fixture to see any wires are attached to the metal casing?

yeah i just pulled the casing out. There wasn't any green or bare wires. Just black and neutral maybe even a red. What dangers to my stereo can a ungrounded socket pose? Thanks

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Originally Posted by dilda

What dangers to my stereo can a ungrounded socket pose? Thanks

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If your stereo plugs are two prong and your wall sockets polarized (one blade insert is wider), then you should be all right.

The problem comes with equipment that have three prong plug. The ground connection inside the equipment is for safety issues, and defeating it by using a cheater plug might pose a danger to the user--by way of hot wires coming lose inside equipment and touching the metal casing.

Also grounded equipment seem to alleviate static “shell” build up.

And you welcome :)