electical power delivery from utility to rack - for the uninitiated

aKnyght

aKnyght

Active member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
1,052
Location
saṃsāra
for the uninitiated to this subject, it would great to hear members' recommendations for delivering electric power from the main circuit panel to the rack.

i am assuming all this removes any electrical noise generated by other usage within the house, but could be wrong in this.

several specific questions:

what is the topology of the circuitry? ie: main panel > sub-panel > outlet(s) ?

what would an audiophile materials list for the job? ie: type/brand and specs of panel, circuit breaker, wire, outlet, etc.

recommended amperage or a method to determine based upon system equipment requirements?
​

anything else on this subject would be welcomed as well.

thanks!!
 
I think KingRex or another did a whole detailed thread on this last year.

I ran a dedicated 20amp line from my box to a receptacle box using Hospital Grade outlets. Just getting everything off of the rest of the house is a major improvement. Then you can shoot for the stars from there.
 
The benefits are some of the best you can do. We are starting a business doing this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Most hi-fi rooms only need one 20 Amp circuit from the main breaker panel.
While a very large home theater system might need one feeder from the main breaker panel to a small 6 breaker box in or near the room.
Never a need for a sub-panel.

It's best to keep all audio equipment on one circuit when practicable.
 
I used all pure copper wiring and high grade outlets, pure copper there as well . And yes be sure to use only one side of your panel as to help with noise. That way you can do the best at keeping noise out from all the 220 units like the a/c system and kitchen items
And be sure you over sized the wires. If they say to use 12/3 Use 10/3. First number is the gage and second is how many wires
My last house I did two 30 amp outlets. I Had 2 krell amps and a sherborn amp and these had two power cables. And the rest can be 20 amp. And be sure they don’t cross the power wires over any other wires. If they have to, make sure they run them at a 90deg angle and not parallel to any other wires such as alarm systems , power sources or network cables. I know it sounds over kill, but in the end it’s worth it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For years I used two 20 amp outlets/circuits in my stereo room. It served me well when I was into home theater. Going to just a two channel system over the last three years I wanted a more isolated power to my equipment. So, recently I had two more 20 amp/circuits added to the room. The biggest improvement I heard was to the Diablo 300. Having it on its own power outlet gave me a instant boost in the dynamics and bass from the DIablo. To each their own as to how they handle their homes power distribution. But, it was for me a rather inexpensive improvement.

20 amp outlets (3).jpg
 
thanks for all the helpful advice here... sounds like a pretty straightforward thing to do. in my case, run a separate 20 amp circuit from the main panel to the two outlets on the wall behind my system. sounds, like 10awg wire to hospital-grade or audiophile outlets would do the job. also, looks like a sub-panel is not necessary.

i am sure there are more involved methods of doing this but i am assuming that this simple modification gets a high percentage of the all the possible benefit.

anything i am missing here?

anything you would do differently?

thanks!!
 
When the house was being built (given the fact that this is the 3rd new house I've owned and first since arc fault breakers became code), I had them run a 20 amp circuit (for my Torus 20 amp conditioner) and two separate 15 amp circuits (I have an integrated AV system) besides what was in the room. There are also tweaks that can help with things like generated EMF (both homemade and available for sale). In my prior house (which was wired probably in the first half of 1997), I had an extra circuit run on its own receptacle in addition to what was in the room. For the current house (bulit 7 years ago), I specified everything I wanted with detailed room diagrams for both high and low voltage. I have 300 amp electrical service coming into the house.
 
Speedskater said:
Are you using:
  • metal conduit (ridge or flexible)?
  • Plastic conduit?
  • non- metallic cable NM-B (aka Romex®)?
Click to expand...

i am starting with a blank slate here -- all specs are wide open and am looking for whatever would make the most difference.
 
After a period of time with trial and error experience I finally reached AC nirvana. This is three dedicated 20 amp lines. One line for each amp, and a line for the pre-amp and other gear. The important issue is the lines only support the stereo gear.
 
Is there a recommendation for good 20A circuit breakers (Brand & Model) of a for dedicated lines? I'm in the middle of new home construction (in USA) and putting in dedicated lines.

Thanks,
Duke
 
How do you guys run the wires from the panel to the audio room in an existing construction ? In my previous home, the mail panel was just outside the audio/ht room and the electrician drilled holes from the outside wall and used a conduit to run the wires. It was easy. My current home is a two story, mostly open floor plan construction and have concrete floor. I am very interested in running a dedicated 20A line but not sure if the electrician can easily fish the wires from the panel (which is situated in the garage) to where its needed. One option is to run the wires from outside perimeter of the wall (I will be a long run). Hence I am curious what folks typically do in these situations.
 
Duke97 said:
Is there a recommendation for good 20A circuit breakers (Brand & Model) of a for dedicated lines? I'm in the middle of new home construction (in USA) and putting in dedicated lines.

Thanks,
Duke
Click to expand...

Square D and call it a day IMO.

But I suspect there's some cryo treated, gold plated, audiophile certified piece out there for ridiculous $$ just itching to get in somebody's box ...............
 
Devg said:
How do you guys run the wires from the panel to the audio room in an existing construction ? In my previous home, the mail panel was just outside the audio/ht room and the electrician drilled holes from the outside wall and used a conduit to run the wires. It was easy. My current home is a two story, mostly open floor plan construction and have concrete floor. I am very interested in running a dedicated 20A line but not sure if the electrician can easily fish the wires from the panel (which is situated in the garage) to where its needed. One option is to run the wires from outside perimeter of the wall (I will be a long run). Hence I am curious what folks typically do in these situations.
Click to expand...

Mine was fun. I was unable to run conduit, but still made a huge difference. My panel is on the outer wall of may garage. My listening-living room is the other end of the house. I had to go up into the crawl space - attic above the garage, then between the drop ceiling and the next floor, thru the wall of where my heater is, then down into the crawl space under my living room and up behind my rack thru the floor. I used heavy insulated outdoor 10g cable terminated at hospital grade outlets which other than the breaker would be the weak kinks.
 
My panel is outside on the back wall. AC circuits come up into the attic, and then to the rooms. No problem if you do that when the house is being built, but a problem adding new lines. For my stereo the lines come up into the attic, and then drop down a living room wall and are terminated into Shunyata sockets. The only reason I could do this was because when the house was built a heater was installed there. A previous owner removed it, and installed a central heater/AC. This was fortunate because all the studs have a horizontal board between them, which prevent dropping a new AC line into a room. Otherwise I would have needed to remove the sheet rock, remove the horizontal stud, install the AC lines, re-install new sheet rock, and paint it.
 
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The A/V electronics are served by a dedicated 100A electrical sub-panel next to the media room. (4) 20A circuits with (2) 20A Furutech GTX-D duplex receptacles used on the circuits with the auxiliary equipment and stereo amp. The sub uses a third 20A circuit.

Twisted pair wiring (#12) is used for each circuit with the neutral and hot wires wrapped on 2" centers and the ground wire placed parallel in PVC conduit. A paper presented at the 2010 AES 129th Convention shows this method has the lowest ground voltage induction tested.[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The speakers are dead quiet at idle.[/FONT]
 
I ran a dedicated 20 amp line to the outlet behind my system and it was a worthwhile investment. To take it to the next level though I bought PS Audio P3 Power Plant which is a power regenerator. It takes the AC that's coming in from the outlet, converts it to DC and then reconverts it to an ultra-clean, hash free AC signal that makes a huge improvement in dynamics, bass and the size of the soundstage.
 
Duke97 said:
Is there a recommendation for good 20A circuit breakers (Brand & Model) of a for dedicated lines? I'm in the middle of new home construction (in USA) and putting in dedicated lines.
Thanks, Duke
Click to expand...
Each circuit breaker has to be 'UL' listed for your main breaker box (panel board). You can't change brands of breakers without replacing the entire breaker box.
Note that if you replace the box all the newest NEC rules for your area kick in. The total costs can be large.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top