Ground Loop Isolator effected my bass when plugged in it seems. Help?

I've had a cheapo little ground loop isolator for about 5 months, maybe 6. I got them with my new Kanto Yumi speakers around the same time. These speakers are a little naturally bassy for my taste so I have the bass turned down. The isolator never really effected the sound quality or anything to my ears, i just wanted to avoid any static and stuff. This morning , I was listening to music that was a little bass demanding, and the bass would have audible clipping at a slightly loud and even a little quiet volume. This alarmed me, I reset my speakers and even re-adjusted my speaker wire and that didn't help. For curiosity, I unplugged my speakers from my Loop isolator and plugged the speakers directly into my computer, and ta-da, no more bass clipping. I plugged the loop back in just to check, and it clipped again, took it back out, no clip. Was the isolator just worn down? i got it off amazon for about 10 dollars, so i feel like that could be the case. Any ideas? (PS: It didnt DAMAGE my bass long term, my bass is fine without the isolator.)

 

Maybe your ground isolator clips when it receives high level bass signals.

 

Just like anything, the cheap stuff rarely is as good as the more expensive stuff. I'd suggest getting a bass isolator made by a reputable company with an eye on good sound reproduction instead.

 

Thanks for your replies guys, I'm not a regular poster here. I appreciate it.

 

Out of curiosity, what brand is the ground loop isolator?

 

Your ground loop isolator is basically a transformer that you place in line between your components which breaks up your ground loop. However, it is in that signal path, and the transformer is probably not large enough to handle higher voltage and output from that specific bass track. Jensen transformers are the best and most transparent for that application but expensive!

 

Cheapo ground loop isolators will saturate when a large signal is sent through them. If you need to break a ground loop, then I would suggest buying a high-quality product, such as one of the isolators which Jensen sells.