2. misc-audio
  3. 156719-128813

Dedicated 20 amp circuit - Electrician laughed!

I brought my electrician out to my house today to show him where I would like to install a dedicated 20a circuit for my system.  He laughed and said that's the stupidest thing he's heard and laughs when people talk about it.  It said, if you're going to do it, you have to have it separately grounded (shoving a new 8 foot rod into the ground) but even then, he sees no way there can be an audible improvement.

Now, he's not just an electrician though. He rebuilds tube amps on the side and tears apart amps and such all the time so he's quite well versed in audio electronics and how they operate.

He basically said anyone who thinks they hear a difference is fooling themselves.  

Personally, I'm still not sure, I'm no engineer, my room's not perfect, and I can't spend hours on end critical listening...  But, he does kinda pull me farther to the "snake oil" side and the "suggestive hearing" side (aka, you hear an improvement because you want to hear it).

I'm not taking a side here but I thought it was interesting how definitive he was that this not only WILL not make a difference but ALMOST CANNOT make a difference. 
dtximages
fleschler
2,029 posts
 
I decided on using 10 awg wire on a 20 amp circuit from a dedicated subpanel rather than 8 awg because it fit into my SR blue outlet.  It feeds all my equipment with a Bryston Bit20 isolation transformer (my amps go into another box and then into the same outlet).  Maybe 8 awg is better but I did not want to deal with it's size.
mitch2
4,086 posts
 
I have read about the 220-240V opinion previously.  Otherwise, the article is mostly about wire gauge vs. length.  Front end equipment is not going to draw near enough to matter so I suspect the concern is primarily related to big amps (like I have).  My dedicated lines are only about 25 feet from the main 200A panel so I am fully comfortable using 10awg wire for 20A circuits.  Note, he indicated a junction box is necessary to change the larger wire that covers most of the run to a 10awg size that can feed the outlet.  Not sure about silver paste on an electrical connection as long as the connection is mostly gas tight with copper on copper or copper on brass/bronze etc.  I have used the Quicksilver stuff from Xreme AV LLC on power cords I have made but quit using it because I noticed no difference.   I also noticed he carries the wire gauge recommendation on to speaker cables.....made me wonder whatever happened to the guy recommending 0 gauge car battery cables.
spenav
443 posts
 
 Hi Mitch

I suspect that 10 AWG is very adequate for your distance.  My panel is much farther to my outlet (50+) and since I was going to start from scratch I figured why not do it by the book.  I probably would not change a thing if I had a 10 AWG installed.  Having said that, I was frankly surprised by the improvement going from a clean 14 AWG (house is only 3 years old) to an 8. I didn't expect the highs to be improved so much.  I was under the impression that my bass was going to get all the benefits, but I was wrong.
For people starting from scratch, listen to Mr. Galbo's recommendation:
  • 1 to 40 feet: 10 gauge wire
  • 40 to 60 feet: 8 gauge wire
  • Over 60 feet: 6 gauge wire


heaudio123
689 posts
 
Unless you are clipping bass your power supply is more stable with some resistance not less. However, neutral to ground differential can induce noise in unexpected places as chassis and signal ground vary with load.
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,420 posts
 
The best mechanics in the world are not necessarily the best drivers for Formula 1 or alike. Just saying.
More to discover