dedicated curcuit question????


I am in the process of having an electrician friend run a dedicated curcuit to my HT-2 channel system.I currently have 2 seperate systems in the same rack.My 2 channel(power amp,cd player,preamp,DAC.My HT system consists of an AV reciever,DVD player,5 channel amp,vcr,cable box and a 36 inch TV.I have most of my gear plugged into a power conditioner,surge protector(Monster Cable HTS 5000) My question is: I can run whatever I want everything is very accesible(its in my basement) Should I run 2 seperate lines from 2 dedicated curcuits? Should I use a 20 amp breaker? What about an isolated ground? I was going to use the PS Audio power ports for outlets.Are these worth 50 bucks apiece or is it overkill? I would greatly appreciate any advice?
krelldog
Hi. Dedicated grounds are always best, run large copper conductors(minimum 10 gauge or smaller) to a copper ground rod, ask you electrician buddy about installing one, they are cheap, but sometimes hard to find. If no ground rod is possible, run dedicated ground to your water pipe, before your water meter, and make sure that your lines coming in from the road are copper or metalic. Also, attach dedicated ground BEFORE any other grounds that may be attached to your water pipe.

The PS Audio Power Ports are excellent, but, the most improvements heard with an accessory like this depends on the quality and resolution of your system components. You know, is your gear going to benefit from the costs of the Power Ports? Or are you going to upgrade down the road and be able to use the PS outlets to thier maximum potential? Either way, they are excellent, and if you are installing dedicated lines anyhow, and have the extra money, why not install them?

Also, top quality after market power cords can do wonders, but thats another story, and they should be investigated.

I would suggest running 3 or 4 dedicated lines for your system, if you have the spare spaces in your board. Use 12 guage, or less, solid core conductors, and Audiophile in wall conductors would also be nice, but pricey, but not neccesary. Use the 20 amp breakers, some say 30 amp breakers, but be careful, the breaker will not trip on overload until, well, ask your electrician about it! But we all agree that the 20 amp breakers sound better than the standard 15 amp jobs.

You can also try the system with everything on the same phase, unless you have monoblocks, in which case you could try running the amps on opposite phase, for a poormans balanced scheme. But many agree that everything on the same phase sounds real nice, but perhaps the HT system would not benefit too much by this, but keep you 2 channel on the same phase unless you have mono amps.

Definately keep your digital on one dedicated circuit, amps on another, then your analog/preamp equipment on another.
Especially the digital needs to be isolated, but if you are using power conditioners, this may help alot, if you cannot efficiently isolate everything. But the digital isolation should have priority, then the preamp(s), then the amp(s).

The HT5000 has some isolated outlets for digital, and I would still use them, perhaps to take the edge off the digital, but I still might want to isolate the HT5000 on its own dedicated 20 amp line, and keep the digital on it, and perhaps some other non-priority sources.
Many preamps sound better without power conditioning, experimenting may be in order, its up to your ears.
Also, you could probably plug the TV into the Monster unit, should make a difference, just check the power ratings of the units.
As always, check things out with a liscensed electrician, and check your local state/fire/electrical codes first.

You could get by on 2 dedicated lines, but 3 or 4 would be much better, especially since you seem serious about the install.

Peace.

Regards, Bill M.
Krelldog,

This has turned out to be an interesting thread IMO. There is a lot of information already given. Some I agree with, some I don't. You should use the search feature to find many threads to do with this subject. KEY WORDS LIKE *Dedicated* *Dedicated circuits* and *Voltage drop* should bring up plenty.

It is never my intention to bash anyone’s comments as I can see their intent is genuine and sincere. Having said that I will say that I am an Electrician in a very High Tech area (Silicon Valley) And I have the mindset of an audiophile. Which is to say I believe in the best possible installation for the money invested.

I have installed six dedicated circuits in my own home and many in other peoples homes not to mention twenty-years in the commercial end of the industry (Impressed yet?)

My 2-cents on this topic would be run four or even five dedicated circuits (Mainly because you have a lot of gear) each with it's own dedicated neutral. Also add an isolated ground and a dirty ground to the receptacle location.

Use I.G. rated receptacles; you should probably run a 1" conduit between your panel and new location to cut down on labor and material. You will be required to pull #10 wire by code because of a de-rating issue when pulling more than five current carrying conductors in a raceway. THHN wire will work fine and personally I'd use stranded because it's easier to work with.

I recommend 5-hots 5-neutrals 1-isolated ground and 1-dirty ground.

Try to get a Commercial grade Electrician to do the work as opposed to a Residential Electrician. A Residental Electrician won't understand what you’re trying to accomplish, and may look at you funny.

Keep in mind the issue is not the current demand of your system but rather the isolating of different types of components from each other. This will lower the noise floor dramatically.

Don't forget to report back when it's all done.
Good luck!!! :^)
Krelldog, checkout the cryo/silver ACME plugs.
Spoken highly of at AA, I just picked up 4. Maybe today or next weekend I'll have them installed, into 4 20amp runs.

KP
LAK,KILLERPIGLET,GLEN,andBILLM- Thank you all for great advice.I am going to have to live with 2 dedicated lines.Thats all the room I have left in my panel.I am going to use Hubbell 20 amp isolated ground outlets.My electrician can get them from a hospital he's doing work at.I will print out the reply's I got and show him .But for the record he thinks its a great idea,and its not like he's charging me much(a case of beer and a good bottle of whiskey)of course for after the job is done.LOL Thanks again.This website is awesome. Thanks John
Krelldog - don't skimp on the whisky...a good single malt can lower your noise floor up to 5 dB!