Clean AC power

An Audioquest Niagara 1200, AQ Edison receptacle, AQ Thunder power cord to amp, and an AQ Z3 power cord from Niagara to the receptacle. Dedicated circuit 12/2 to 20 amp breaker on panel. Relatively low expenditure but good results. Surplus receptacles provided by a Furman pst-8. One and done! All electrical work performed by me...saved $$$.

Doesn't keeping your audio components on a dedicated circuit protect them from noise generated by other household appliances? If not, what purpose does a dedicated circuit achieve?

4krowme, The grunge I cleaned off wasn’t greasy, or oily like the de-oxit spray. It was the sort of powdery oxidation that’s so common.

Also, I have the same question about a dedicated circuit. What is it actually doing?

vgizzi OP6 posts

07-05-2021
10:31am

4krowme, The grunge I cleaned off wasn’t greasy, or oily like the de-oxit spray. It was the sort of powdery oxidation that’s so common.

Are you referring to the line side of the breaker contact to the Hot bus tap connection? Is the electrical panel Line bus copper or aluminum? If copper is it bare or plated? Manufacturer of electrical panel?


How did you clean the electrical connections surfaces? Abrasives should not be used on electrical aluminum bus in an electrical panel. The aluminum bus and aluminum alloy neutral/ground bars are plated. Even light sanding can remove the thin plating.

Also, I have the same question about a dedicated circuit. What is it actually doing?

Basically a dedicated wiring circuit is used to feed a specific, dedicated, load(s). Like audio equipment.


Unlike a convenience outlet branch circuit that may feed several outlets and in some cases will also feed ceiling lighting fixtures/lights. The convenience outlet branch circuit has many electrical connections. With the passage of time and connected varying loads over time the connections may/will loosen and or corrode. (Methods used for making the connections can very. From very good, to not so good). Poor electrical connections can add series resistance to the branch circuit wiring. Also a loose and or corroded connection can cause micro arcing which can/will create electrical noise on the wiring. Add to that the integrity of the wall duplex receptacle female contacts. Most houses have cheap residential grade outlets installed. With the passage of time, and use, the outlets lose their contact pressure and ability to grip the male plug tightly. When a load is connected the poor contact connections will cause micro arcing and put noise back onto the branch circuit wiring. Last but not least the loads that are connected to the convenience outlet branch circuit will add their own noise directly onto the circuit wiring.


A dedicated branch circuit in most cases will not have any splices/connections from the breaker, neutral, and equipment ground connection in the electrical panel to the electrical wall outlet. No other loads are connected directly to the branch circuit.

The type of branch circuit wiring used and wiring method used can greatly influence the quality of how your audio system will sound.

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You will need an oscilloscope to see the sinusoidal waveform of your AC coming into your home. If you're dead keen on seeing it, that's what you want to use.

What you use in your house / stereo system will introduce noise into the supply, especially localised noise.

What I liked that sold me on the idea of the Puritan PSM 156 power conditioner is the no nonsense approach. Twin transformers to allow for good current flow with no bottleneck, DC (direct current) removal (also can been seen using an oscilloscope) and each receptacle is isolated from each other by using a high pass shunt of electrical energy to ground, from both neutral and active, individually. It also has circuit protection.

And it's one of the least expensive, with the most features.
I'll admit it, I am a performance buyer, with limited budget - so it had better perform!