Going to have a dedicated line installed- What should i know to ask for?

Georgehifi, ground clamps on water pipes are frowned upon in the NEC

We use both, earth spikes and the water pipe, if you have good salinated ground earth spikes work a treat, but if it's not, then the backup water-pipe is great to have also.

Cheers George 

I want a newer circuit breaker box but I wonder if I'm just spinning my wheels. It's not the money, and the box is ancient, but OTOH before I call the electrician is this really worthwhile? I already have a dedicated line to the stereo...and the hospital outlets, and a bunch of cumbersome wire, also. Oh, and Also the power company wants to install a surge protection device to fit under my meter outside. The air-conditioner company says this is a good thing to protect my investment. Which is pretty substantial.

I had a great electrical contractor in Brooklyn when I lived there- sadly, he is in prison for life. When I saw the NY Post article about it (I had moved up to the Lower Hudson Valley by that point), I told my wife, "I’m tempted to go to court as a character witness. And say, ’Look judge, I know the guy was convicted or plead out to some really bad stuff, murder, embezzlement, money laundering, kickbacks, obstruction, etc. but you gotta realize, this guy was an unbelievably good contractor. You know how hard those are to find?"
You’ll be in good hands with @jea48 and some of the others here who really know their stuff.
A dedicated line will not isolate you from electrical gremlins within a system that shares ground with other stuff, even within a private house. It is still a good idea, if only to get a new fresh run, unencumbered by other appliances or connections. That does sound cheap, even by the standards of the guys with, ahem, you know, good connections? :)
good luck,

@french_fries ,
You could do what I did and add a subpanel for your audio lines. The electrician tied into my house service panel and installed two dedicated 20A breakers, Romex, and 2 Hubbell duplexes which are grounded to the subpanel (not self-grounded).

Dedicated lines are not completely isolated, but in my case, the noise floor was lowered and a buzzing sound from an old circuit was eliminated.
And @jea48 helped advise me along the way.

Lots of good posts already so I won't add any redundancy, just will comment that I ran a dedicated (also called a "home run") line to my dedicated listening room. The results were entirely satisfactory. Worth the $, IMO. YMMV

Tom