Input grounds

[fossilshark]

Hi, was just wondering if its better to tie the ground lugs on these input jacks to an actual ground terminal or not becauase the jack sleeve is touching the chassis. That would make a ground loop right?

[sluckey]

Technically it makes a ground loop but I don't care. I do it because I don't want to rely on the input jack for a ground. I rather have a dedicated ground lug near the input jack that will not be subject to becoming loose.

[acheld]

Good question.  You would think so, but not so in practice.

If you have your preamp stage ground point close to the input jack -- and that is a great place for it -- then there will not be a ground loop formed. 

Not sure if this is the correct explanation for it, but I look at it as if any "loop" is too small to be self sustaining, or as if the area of the loop is too small to be an effective antenna.   

I'm sure someone will correct me on that, but the practical answer is no.

[fossilshark]

Very useful info. I will probably tie them to a proper ground then.

[acheld]

Sluckey is one of the masters of layout and lead dress/management.   You can learn a lot by spending some time looking at some of his builds:   http://sluckeyamps.com/supro/supro.htm   --  this is just one example.

[dude]

In Sluckey's Supro build link above, are the laces wrapped around the turrets or just the 'sides"  touching..? Of course soldered

[sluckey]

My laces are always wrapped to provide a good mechanical/electrical connection before solder is applied. If you look closely at this pic you can see that some of the wraps are more visible, but be assured, they are all wrapped, even the ones on the end of a run.

[Fresh_Start]

In an over abundance of caution, I use insulated input jacks and had the single preamp chassis ground star located very close to the input jacks on at least 1 build. I’m sure that is overkill, but it is an option.

Chip