Dedicated Line, Surge and Safety

After consulting with Ernie (Subaruguru) I installed two dedicated lines, one using 12AWG Teflon-insulated Belden wire, and one using 10AWG Romex (for my amps). The difference was not subtle. Before I installed the dedicated lines, I had my entire system powered using the existing, shared line. My amps had been bordering on clipping when trying to drive my Thiel CS3.6's to even moderate levels. After giving them a dedicated line, I never saw the distortion lights flicker even once, even at loder listening levels.

The nice thing about the Belden wire Ernie sells is that if you have any left over, you can make some very nice power cords out of it.

Good luck, Tom.

Are these wires available at Home Depot?

Romex is available at Home Depot. Belden is not.

I'm glad this question was asked as I am thinking about placing dedicated lines in my house as well.

Shopsmartjazz, The Belden 83000 Series cables can be bought in 100'+ spools from a couple of industrial/commercial suppliers. I do just that, "cure" the Teflon insulations with my EST process, then chop them into custom lengths to resell to you guys on A'gon. It's a whore's business, taking over my office workshop with various unspooled lengths everywhere. Ellen won't even go in there anymore (hmmm....), but I figure somebody's got to do it. This cable is very expensive as commercial stuff goes, given its complete Teflon construction and double-shielding. Even the outer jacket is Teflon, so it's an installer's dream. Belden explains that the 9AWG costs nearly double the 12AWG because there's no real cost saving in doubling the materials because it's offset by the difficulty in making such a hefty cable with fluorocarbon insulations. Teflons sell for $7/lb, vs a few percent of that for PVC. And as we know, oftentimes you CAN hear the difference. I'm not sure that the benefits of using the 12AWG version cable on big amps will offset the possible advantage of 10AWG, but that's why having the 9AWG version is nice, especially for short PCs on my PoBoxes, for example. But using the 12AWG on a dedicated line for preamps, DACs, etc., can be quite beneficial.
(Disclaimer, etc.) Cheers...and Happy Holidays.