Dedicated AC Power Line For System
tophatjohnny
Posts: 4,182
in Electronics
If anyone here has done this, what are the do's and don'ts as far as having one installed? Is there a Good-Better-Best way to get it done?? I thought I'd ask here as I am thinking seriously of having this done and know nothing about it. Any help would be appreciated as far as to what to be asking for and I'm sure it wont be cheap, nor am I looking for a cheap route. Quality is important to me. Thanks in advance,
THJ
THJ
"if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
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Best Answers
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If I had to make a suggestion it would be this. Have them run one powerline to a subpanel located near where your stereo gear is. Then from that subpanel you can start with using just ONE dedicated line, but get one with at least 4 connections so you can have up to 4 dedicated lines in the future. Much easier to run one cable close to the end termination, and then 4 small runs to your lines than to run 4 long lines straight from the panel.
In addition make sure you get a nice receptacle as well. PS Audio PowerPort's seem to be a good call. And then of course get some Pangea powercables once you've got your dedicated power lines.
My thoughts.....
Its on my list to do (just like I suggested) but given my layout is gonna be too costly unless I can convince @ZLTFUL to pay me a visit and help me out on the downlow...."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
I have 4 dedicated 20 amp lines. Three for the two channel system, and one for the HT. Plenty of people have done this, and is one of the more inexpensive tweaks you can do.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
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Three 20 amp circuits. -
I've run two 20 amp circuits for my two channel. One for my amp, the other for the gear. One thing to remember, you don't get the full 20 amps. National Electrical Code specifies that a circuit should not pull more that 80% of the rated load of the circuit. Most breakers will trip 2-4 amps below rating with constant load. Good rule, always do the math and total up the loads for your circuit(s) before going ahead. With audio, sometimes it's good to have some head room if you want to add a bigger amp down the road.
You going to have someone do this for you? They should be qualified, licensed and bonded is good. Check local code. Do you have to run pipe (conduit) from breaker box to outlet box, or just for exposed wiring? (Some folks pull romex in conduit, conduit extends into wall, romex continues to box). I like pipe all the way so I can pull additional wire if desired.
Do you have a basement? Easier to get into walls from below. How long of a run? 12 gauge will work for 20 amp circuit unless it's a really long run. There are calculators for voltage drop/amperage that help select proper gauge for a run. I have short runs so I just used 12 gauge.
A qualified guy will know local code and box/pipe fill specs. By fill I mean just cause you can get it all to fit don't mean it's up to code.
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SCompRacer wrote: »You going to have someone do this for you? They should be qualified, licensed and bonded is good. Check local code. Do you have to run pipe (conduit) from breaker box to outlet box, or just for exposed wiring? (Some folks pull romex in conduit, conduit extends into wall, romex continues to box). I like pipe all the way so I can pull additional wire if desired.
^^^I like 99% of the comment from Rich^^^
Good advice. But the part about pulling Romex thru conduit is a no-no, at least in my area. Too much heat build-up. If I'm not mistaken THHN is the wire to use.
Just my .02
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SCompRacer wrote: »
^^^I like 99% of the comment from Rich^^^
Good advice. But the part about pulling Romex thru conduit is a no-no, at least in my area. Too much heat build-up. If I'm not mistaken THHN is the wire to use.
Just my .02
G
IIRC Chapter 9 in the NEC book has all the conduit fill info and even tells you how to calculate the area of an eliptical cable (Romex for instance). Romex in pipe is legal in the city next to me, usually used for short runs from main box into a wall (no exposed wiring allowed, but romex in walls/ceiling OK). Or romex from covered drop ceiling runs through pipe to exposed outlet box on concrete wall, etc. Next town over spring clips holding ground wires to box is OK. I like ground wires screwed to metal box.
Thats why I always suggest check local code.Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
Answers
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I'm checking into it tomorrow! Thanks"if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
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I just received a quote for a 125 amp sub panel, 6 breakers and 2 whole house surge protectors (1 for each panel) for 850.00. This sounds reasonable since the sub panel installation scares the shite out of me.
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Quality is important to me.
You'll be going with Coconut wire then I take it.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
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But the part about pulling Romex thru conduit is a no-no, at least in my area. Too much heat build-up.
Interesting....one would think the aluminum would act as a heatsink if anything. So out of curiosity, I just grabbed one of the flexible conduits filled with 10 gauge Romex, cool as a cucumber. Maybe I need to crank up the volume.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
One or two, 20 amp dedicated lines, using BX, not Romex, would probably be the easiest. BX is Shielded/Armored cable, and less likely to pickup interference from adjacent circuits. As mentioned, Pipe/Conduit, with THHN wire will also work, but will me more expensive than BX cabling.Home Theater/2 Channel:
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Quality is important to me.
You'll be going with Coconut wire then I take it.
Close Jesse, but there's a sale on "CocoF1nut" wire and is said to provide ultra bottom end support as well as scriptofliptic resonance to the flackadunka wave particles, so probably hooking up with that. Plus there's a 7 year same as cash deal offered. Can't go wrong there. Am I right??"if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
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westmassguy wrote: »One or two, 20 amp dedicated lines, using BX, not Romex, would probably be the easiest. BX is Shielded/Armored cable, and less likely to pickup interference from adjacent circuits. As mentioned, Pipe/Conduit, with THHN wire will also work, but will me more expensive than BX cabling.
Not a bad idea at all...thanks
