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Dedicated 20a lines, 125 feet distance, which gauge wire to run?

Want to set up 4x dedicated 20-amp lines for my hifi system. The distance from the outlets to the breaker box is about 125 feet. What wires should I use? 10, 8, or 6 gauge? And should they be solid or stranded? If you could be as specific as possible that would be appreciated (brands, links, etc), as I am out of my depth here. The wire will need to run underground for a good portion, and then into craw space, if that makes any difference.
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curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,789 posts
 
Where I live it’s illegal to run the four separate lines, so I’d run a 220 line to a sub panel and then run my separate lines from there. It’s also much easier and safer that way.

All the best

JD
gs5556
1,235 posts
 
125 feet is quite a long run and you should consider using a subpanel. Even with #8 wires you will lose 3 volts at 15-amp draw. A subpanel with minimum #4 wire will limit voltage drop to a little over one volt at total current draw of 15 amps. From there go with 10/3 romex to the outlets. The 10/3 comes pretwisted and that helps eliminate common mode noise. Never run 10/2 parallel romex, that acts like an RFI antenna.
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battbot OP
20 posts
 
Does more voltage drop also hurt sound quality? Or does it just affect how much total power my system can draw at a given time? 
ditusa's avatar
ditusa
1,889 posts
 
''Does more voltage drop also hurt sound quality?''
Yes.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
No, voltage drop isn't a worry unless it exceeds 5% from the transformer to your outlet then it's not code. Quit obsessing over irrelevant stuff and listen to your electrician. Get him or her to test the voltage on an existing outlet and see what it is. I've had 121 volts on  a 120 volt outlet. It can vary during a 24 hour period. 
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