15 amps or 20 amps outlet


I'm in the process of installing a dedicated line plus Acme outlet in my house and was wondering if there's any benefits in choosing a 20 amps outlet over a 15 amps one. I have a Big 350 watts amplifier. Also, any advise on a good, not too expensive wire is appreciated . Thanks in advance.
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I have a dedicated 20 amp line for my Krell 100s and have also used it with a dedicated 15 amp line. I honestly did not notice a difference. But for the price of material I would go with the 20 again.
Forgive me if you are aware of the diatribe I am about to deliver, hopefully someone will avoid a dangerous mistake by reading this.

Unless the amp is fused and corded for more than 15A of draw there is no benefit in switching to the NEMA 5-20 configuration. IF, however, you are looking to run a large system from just one wall outlet and then run splits to your components this type of outlet will allow you to safely draw an additional 5A. BIG important thing to remember - if you have a 20A breaker and plug, you must be sure that the wire in between is rated for the capicity (NEMA publishes length:gauge ratios for loads). Also remember that just replacing the plug on a power cord with a 5-20 end does not make the cord 20A rated - EVERY PART of the power path needs to be rated for the amount of juice that the breaker will deliver (20A)!!!! The breaker is there to protect components from being delivered more juice than rated for - so a 15A cord pluged into a 20A socket is UNDER protected by the breaker.
I agree with Sean and while your at it run two. One for your amp the other for everything else:~)
Run four or five dedicated lines as the price for the additional runs will be minimal and you will probably use them all someday. I ran 5, one for analog, two for digital and two for monoblock Krell amps. Go 20 amps for your amplifiers minimum and 15 is adequate for the rest. I did 20amp for all. Hubbell is a great hospital grade outlet for the off the shelf variety, but the others mentioned above would probably add to sonics. Good luck..its a great tweek, just give the wire a few days to burn in.
That's good advice Glen, especially given the size of the amp. I would further add that they should make sure that if they do two dedicated circuits, both of them should be tied into the same side / phase on the mains and share a common ground between the two circuits. Otherwise, they could end up with the front end components being out of phase with the amp and one helluva hum from different ground potentials on the two outlets. Talk about going crazy trying to figure out what went wrong with the "upgrade" !?!?!?!

The same thing goes for doing several dedicated lines. Try to keep them on the same side of the box. If you can go one step further and make sure that they are on a side that has lower current demands ( such as opposite of the fridge, electric stove, washer and dryer, etc.. ), you'll be even better off. I would also recommend using one gauge heavier wire than what code calls for, especially if you have a long run back to the breaker box. Sean
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