Installing Dedicated Power Lines -- Need Advice

- what Miller Carbon said. 👍

Standard outlets are if such low quality and unsuitable for any device that works with frequencies.

Thanks very much for the responses.  Miller, your system looks mighty fine and you've obviously put a lot of thought into your power needs.  I'd love to pick your brain further.

1.  Will definitely advise the electrician to use 10ga if he hasn't already specced it.
2.  I've already purchased two Furutech GTXD-NCF duplexes with matching NCF covers and GTX Wall Plates.  Does each duplex need its own breaker to isolate from the other?  My architect says our main panel is getting crowded and is urging me to limit to two breakers for the audio rig.
3. I will be purchasing some kind of power conditioner/distributor.  Can digital be plugged into the same conditioner as analog?
5. Would I plug my tube integrated directly into the outlet or can it go to a power conditioner?
6. If I buy speakers that each have an onboard Class D amp for subwoofers that need to be plugged in, can they be on the same circuit as the power amp?  I'm considering getting two single outlets closer to the speakers to avoid a long power cable run to each of them.

Lastly, did your electrician know this stuff and advise you or did you have to educate yourself completely?  

Thanks!

I’d run 2 lines since you have the way cleared for an easy run. Its easily done now that the place has been gutted. After the drywall goes up, its a different story. I Have one dedicated line now but wonder what the result might be if digital and analog were separated. Maybe the Power conditioner will work for the same. Maybe not. it may be overkill. But I was a builder for 50 yrs and would rather overbuild than under build. And it will be MUCH cheaper NOW. Besides, you never have too many outlets do you?

FWIW, I have a balanced power conditioner which doesn't like my TV. So it is not plugged in the PC. Some don't like their amps plugged into PC. IF you ever get mono blocks you will need the 2nd circuit. Just a thought.

2. I've already purchased two Furutech GTXD-NCF duplexes with matching NCF covers and GTX Wall Plates. Does each duplex need its own breaker to isolate from the other?

No. And you only need one outlet.  

Let me expand on that. Ideally you only need one outlet for one condititioner, everything plugs into that. This minimizes ground loop issues to pretty much zero. It is nice to have one free outlet to plug whatever into. Lamp, whatever. Main thing is you want everything that is a connected together part of the system to all be plugged into just the one circuit. If you can get a conditioner with enough outlets to do that, fine. If you have something like a lot of subs to plug in, those are less particular with power they can plug straight into the wall, but they still are part of the system and must be on the same circuit to avoid ground loop noise. Keep this one simple principle in mind it will avoid an awful lot of grief. 

My architect says our main panel is getting crowded and is urging me to limit to two breakers for the audio rig.

First, you only need one breaker for the whole system. Second, if you do need to add breakers and no space get a thin twin. These are two breakers designed to take up half the space of a normal one. Take one of your non-critical circuits like a bathroom/bedroom and swap the two breakers to one thin twin. Then use the free space to do the room. 

3. I will be purchasing some kind of power conditioner/distributor.  Can digital be plugged into the same conditioner as analog?

Yes.  

5. Would I plug my tube integrated directly into the outlet or can it go to a power conditioner?

Either way. As long as you do as above, no problem. If your conditioner is any good however then it will sound a whole lot better plugged into the conditioner. Any time you hear anything like this conditioner is good for this but not that, run, this is what we call a crappy conditioner. The good ones are good for everything, period. Right now Decware has one, that I haven't heard but looks to be very good indeed. https://www.decware.com/newsite/ZLC.html   Keep in mind that since this is sold direct, like all Decware, you would at least double the price to find anything comparable at retail. 

6. If I buy speakers that each have an onboard Class D amp for subwoofers that need to be plugged in, can they be on the same circuit as the power amp?

Yes. They should be. See above. 

I'm considering getting two single outlets closer to the speakers to avoid a long power cable run to each of them.

I would avoid this. Use passive subs like I do powered by a Dayton SA1000 for all the bass anyone could ever want and run ordinary cheap 14ga wire off a reel.

Lastly, did your electrician know this stuff and advise you or did you have to educate yourself completely?

 
Electrician? We don't need no steenking electrician! This whole system, everything you see and a whole lot more, is all me. It ain't rocket surgery you know.

Depending on where you live, the applicable code will indicate whether you need a permit. I chose to use a commercial electrician to do the work, based on positive experience with that electrician doing other work here. @Jea48 is very knowledgeable on code-related issues (nationally, he may defer to the local code and those who know it) but a lot of it is also good practices-- most electricians in my experience are not necessarily specialists in audio and may regard some of what is taken from the chat boards as nonsense; in other cases-- and I found this to be true in the current house, using the commercial electrician-- he was pretty much totally onboard with the various suggestions. I had them install a whole house surge protector on the main service panel, run a feed to a sub panel that delivered 60 amps, which in turn feeds a 10kVA iso transformer that sits in a large weatherproof NEMA case about the size of refrigerator/freezer cut in half. (You can see it on my system page here). The output of that transformer runs from 4 gauge feeder to a sub panel adjacent to my listening room- dedicated lines are pulled from that interior sub panel-- 10 gauge, running to hospital grade Hubbells sourced from Albert Porter (unplated contacts, brass strap, no fancy cover plate, I think they were nylon in bulk).
I had a chance to listen to the system for a while without the iso transformer, which was still in the process of being put together in Michigan, so a junction box was used to connect the two parts of the circuit where the isolation transformer was eventually installed.
My immediate impression was that the system sounded a little bright, but it also had not been fully dialed in; I had moved from NY metro to Texas, new room, new challenges. The system with the iso transformer is quiet, I think the overall infrastructure here is newer and in better condition than that I had in NY (notwithstanding the power outage here recently due to the extreme cold).
My loudspeakers (Avantgarde Duos) are extremely sensitive at 104 db/meter, so you can hear electrical gremlins if there are any anomalies. Inter-component grounding issues, tube noise, etc. are all pretty hard to ignore. My goal was to reduce the overall noise floor to increase the amount of musical information I could hear at low levels. That also meant reducing the amount of ambient noise in the room. I do not like heavily treated rooms which sound "dead" so I used a minimal amount of treatment (bass traps, some multilayer treatment on the front wall window) and a large Persian rug that more than fills the room. The house itself is quite old, made of shiplap that has petrified in the Texas heat and is harder than hell.
I’ve been through a number of dedicated rooms over the years, starting with a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, then a few houses in the lower Hudson Valley before my move to Texas. Each time I learned something.
I would ask the electrician what he plans-- some don’t necessarily want to work with the heavier gauge wire, may not be as concerned with spacing between the lines (which may also be a code issue, I dunno) and get some input here before he starts. Usually contractors work with the same subs but if you aren’t confident in the electrician that your general contractor wants to use, it’s gonna be on you to find someone better. Frankly, my best experience has consistently been with commercial electricians- they are used to working with heavy duty stuff, whether it is lighting or sound, they seem better equipped than some of the residential electricians I’ve encountered over the years.