Upgrade Receptacle on 15A breaker


I have seen suggestions for 20A upgraded AC wall receptacles to receive the power cord, but shouldn't a line with a 15A breaker go no higher than a 15A receptacle? Same answer if wire used from receptacle to breaker is 12 guage? Assume location in is in US. If 15A receptacle is required, what is a good one?
soundbit
The following Wikipedia writeup may be of interest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

Note this statement: "In new residential construction since about 1992, a 20-amp receptacle with a T-slot for the neutral blade allows either 15-ampere parallel blade plugs or 20-ampere plugs to be used."

Regards,
-- Al
Soundbit,

You are correct......

If the overcurrent device, breaker, is a 15 amp then the branch circuit is a 15 amp branch circuit. Even if the branch circuit wire is #12 awg.

With that said according to NEC code, only a 15 amp receptacle can be installed on a 15 amp branch circuit.

You can install two or more 15 amp receptacles, (a duplex is two), on a 20 amp branch circuit per NEC.

Per NEC a 20 amp receptacle can only be installed on a 20 amp branch circuit.
The branch circuit breaker must be a 20 amp. And the branch circuit wire must be a minimum size of #12 awg, per NEC.
20 amp circuit breaker can be used only on a circuit that has receptacles. If the circuit has a mix of receptacles and light fixtures only a 15 amp breaker is permitted.
Apparently, there is no sense in upgrading to a 20A receptacle having a 15A circuit breaker on the line. Hard to imagine that my amplifier would ever draw current approaching 15A. It is rated at 120 watts per side. Maybe I fell for the hype that a 20A receptacle would improve sound, but it makes sense that the 15A breaker is the bottleneck and would trip if current approached 15A anyhow. Hope I am making sense.
Yes, I agree that it would be best to not install a 20A receptacle on a 15A line.

The alleged sonic benefits of some 20A receptacles, if they exist, would not be due to their higher current rating per se. They would be due to other less well understood and less well accepted factors, which could very conceivably be found in a similarly designed 15A receptacle as well.

Putting in a 20A receptacle would also be a code violation, as has been pointed out. The reason for that code provision, if it is not clear from the previous comments, is to prevent devices that would draw more than the 15 amp capability of the breaker and/or wiring from being plugged in.

The reason I mentioned earlier that it would be a no-no to put in a receptacle rated at less than 15A, if one exists, is of course to eliminate the possibility of the receptacle itself being required by the plugged in devices to pass more current than it is rated for, which could lead to overheating that would not be protected against by the breaker.

Finally, if it is not clear, be aware that there is no direct correlation between the 120W output rating of your amp and its ac current draw. Tube amps and pure class A solid state amps, in particular, are highly inefficient and can draw far more power from the ac line than the power that is put out to the speakers. That said, I agree that you are very unlikely to approach 15A consumption by the system with just about any 120W/channel amp.

Regards,
-- Al