Hey, Colin, I'd agree! Been working on a phono preamp and they can be particularly frustrating (especially without a scope here in T-town). I think one of the most frustrating issues is what to do with the power ground relative to chassis ground, and how does that relate to the rest of the grounds floating around the system? I think the old days of 2-wire cords was much easier! By the way, I learned a number of years ago that some problems can be solved by making sure all your stuff plugs into the same power strip - and/or get one of those light-up line checkers to make sure all the outlets you're using are correctly wired. I remember doing computer installations (back in the old main frame days) and it was just incredible how many outlets in commercial buildings had hot and neutral reversed, and/or missing grounds.