Jack Grounding

[draperworks]

Long time listener ... first time caller. Apologies if I get the protocol wrong.

I'm building a 30 watt amp based on Kevin O'Connor's TUT3 schematics which consists of a Plexi power supply and pre-amp married to a Bassman power amp. I am applying Kevin's "galactic earth" principles throughout.

I want to use Switchcraft jacks for the (four) inputs and the (single) speaker connection, mostly for the looks. In their native form, these jacks are not insulated from the chassis. So unless I get some insulating washers for the jacks, there will be physical earth connections at the front left (input jacks), middle rear (speaker jack) and rear right (power cable) of the chassis.

I will of course be connecting the earth pins of each jack to the appropriate places in the rest of the amp's electronics either using shielded cable or twisted pairs.

I have just read Dai H's excellent translation of Tetsu Kimura's article on grounding. I am not sure if I am creating some undesirable earth loops via these jacks. Should I insulate them from the chassis or will the earth wiring to the jacks elimin ate any problem?

[Elcabong]

This is just a gut feeling but I would isolate the jacks from ground. If the "appropriate place" section where you bring your wire has another path to ground, then you create a loop. If not, you are grounding each section at the jack location. If it ever comes loose, it can became a problem. It also gets you away of the goals of the "galactic" scheme.

Did you read the star grounding described on Aiken site?