Dedicated Power Line Project


I’m going to be adding a dedicated AC line to feed my audio system. Currently, the system is fed by a 75 foot run of 14 gauge romex that is likely daisy chained a few times in the wall between outlets. Needless to say when I turn the volume up, dynamics suffer and the overall sound quality is much less than I know my system is capable of. At louder volumes, bass notes will make the lamps dim and if I go louder, it seems like the system struggles and the bass notes get rounded off or sound “fuzzy.” My calculations tell me that with 75 feet of 14g romex, the voltage at the end of the line could be dropping by 5-10 volts, maybe more, during transient peaks. What I think is happening is that the power amps’ power supply caps are draining and there isn’t enough current to recharge them quickly enough and the amps start to draw directly from the AC line which causes a large voltage drop. 

Initially I was looking at a 10 gauge or 12 gauge line with a 20 amp breaker. After running the numbers, even a 10 gauge run could see some significant voltage sag at 75 feet during transients. At that point I considered 8 gauge, but the problem with that is that no electrical outlets will accept anything larger than 10 gauge, so I’ll have to do something fancy like place a junction box and step down to 10 gauge at the breaker panel and just before the outlet. Then I thought if I’m going to that much trouble with an 8 gauge, why not run 6 gauge? My calcs tell me 6 gauge could have a volt or two less variance than an 8 gauge and it wouldn’t be much more cost. So as of now, the plan is to run a 6/2 solid core romex line and run all the equipment of that. (I could run another line for the front end in the future but that isn’t the plan right now).  I have a few questions if anyone would be so kind to reply:

1) Are there any foreseeable issues with running “too large” a power line? I’m not sure if it’s accurate, but I’ve heard that large gauge is good for bass and small gauge is good for treble. Since I’ll be running everything (including the low current draw components like sources, preamps, etc) off this one line, is there any chance I’ll change the sound signature in a negative way?

2) What is better? In-wall romex or THHN inside a grounded conduit? I’m leaning towards romex because my gut tells me having the wire surrounded by something could hinder transients or hurt clarity but I’m not sure that’s accurate - that may just be from my personal experience with low level signal cables where too much insulation can be a bad thing. 
3) Are there any other “gotchas” that you can think of?

I’ve read the MSB Technology article and I’m subscribing to that theory which is this in a nutshell:

“It is the subject and goal of this paper. The gauge of the wire is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than the fact that the line is “dedicated”. The subject of this paper works on the theory that the varying musical demands of your amplifier are actually modulating the incoming power line, divorced from the utility (power company) by some resistance (12 or 14 gauge wall wiring at some length from the breaker panel has too much resistance for audio purposes).”

Thank you and wish me luck!
128x128mkgus
I stopped by Lowes and here is what I found.

8-2 with ground Romex.
Two #8 stranded conductors with one #10 solid bare equipment grounding conductor.

8-3 with ground Romex.
Three #8 stranded conductors with one #10 solid bare equipment grounding conductor.

6-2 with ground Romex.
Two #6 stranded conductors with one #10 solid bare equipment grounding conductor.

6-3 with ground Romex.
Three #6 stranded conductors with one #10 solid bare equipment grounding conductor.

All of the above matches Southwire manufacturer website information.
https://www.mysouthwire.com/medias/sys_master/product-specifications/product-specifications/h77/hfc/...

Jim

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Yes, thanks for looking into that! That may change things. I’m not sure how I feel about stranded wire for dedicated lines. With interconnect and speaker cables, I’ve had the best luck with solid. I wonder if it’s the same story for power wiring. 
noromance-
Millercarbon, your set up is awesome overkill. Some pics in Virtual Systems would be entertaining and educational.
Working on it. The camera is literally on a tripod right now. So when I get home what will I do? Take pictures? No. Eat, sit, listen. Get enough Perfect Path Solutions Total Contact in your system and believe me, that’s all you will want to do too. Well, and drink.... and.,... well let’s just say its legal in Washington State....

Recently pulled the step-down transformer, took it in the shop, stripped it down, coated with Total Contact, put it back. Whew. Pics woulda been nice. Ripped the Medusa Power Center open, more mods, pics? Actually probably not a good idea. More than enough guys here already think I’m nuts. If they saw inside that thing it would be the end. Lol! Try to make it look nice, sort of, but bottom line results-oriented.

I’ve learned stuff you guys would not believe. People worry about a measly few volts. There’s an Audio Consulting isolation transformer inside the Medusa. Its only about a 35 watt transformer. Connected with tiny hair thin silver wire to an outlet originally used only for one Oppo player. That was years ago. Forgot all about it. Then last March added 2 Dayton sub amps to power my DBA. Guess what they got plugged into? Right.
By the tech spec types I’ve heard a million times here that should have a) burned out, b) flamed out, c) taken the neighborhood out, d) been the weakest most pathetic bass ever, or e) not worked at all. Right? Right???
Pretty sure there’s something right here in this very thread about the bass being so poor from big ol copper wires. This is hair thin silver strands. When I get around to pictures people will freak. Well it was by accident.
Point is, go back and read my review of the DBA. Awesome bass. Best ever.

Now granted, when I opened it up and discovered my mistake I fixed it. Moved the transformer over to the MPCs and ran ordinary 12 ga copper to that outlet. Not gonna lie, the bass got even better. But nothing like anyone would think. In fact if you didn’t know you would never suspect. You would be freaking impressed with how good it was.... when running through a 35 watt power supply.
So yeah, in light of all that I guess you could say overkill.
I’ll try and get pics up this weekend. Thanks for the reminder.


The ideas put forth here are good. Sometimes though, I just can't stop at the assumption that all the other receptacles in the house aren't hurting anything. because of sloppy connections, cheap outlets and more making noise on the line in general, every dwelling that I have ever lived in gets all new power outlets just on principle. And yes, some of installations that I have seen are just horrible, so there is peace of mind, and the benefit of reducing total noise in the power system. I even made the power company replace the very old power lines going through the trees on the way to my house. Ironically, the power transformer was already new. I even made them replace the same type old wire to every house associated with that transformer. Yah, it's that important.