Quote:

I was told I could unhook the secondary, bare wire, from the outlet my AV equipment is hooked to, and see if the "static", not hum goes away. This would tell me if I'm getting interference somewhere else in the line, which is being picked up by the secondary ground (bare wire).

As MDrew said, the ground is a safety ground. It creates a pure path back to earth for safety reasons. You ground the boxes so if a loose hot wire hits the box, instead of it becoming energized, it trips the breaker. It's a safety issue.

Quote:

Anyway, my friend from work I talked to is 60, and has been around networking and phone topologys his whole life. He gave me information to help me wire my basement, as it was not rocket science. I'm sure I'm not phraseing everything as it might be stated in the textbooks, so sorry.

I don't think we're picking on you for nonclemature, but for mistaken reasoning. The neutral and ground wires are there for different tasks. If you keep considering your next move with a flaw in the logic, you may end up hurt.

Bren R.