What type of wire for dedicated 20A AC lines?

Good discussion, thank you.  Just to reiterate my question:  what “10 AWG or better” wire to get, that is solid core copper.

So, assuming I wanted to get this caliber of wire, which should I get and where do I buy it?

Any electrical supply house will have 10 AWG solid core. Home Depot, too, I'm sure.

@nyev

I assume you live in the US...

Solid core #8awg 600V insulated power wiring hasn’t been made in years. Insulated #10awg is the largest solid core wire made...

For a 50ft run, length, #10 should be more than adequate. I doubt if pushing the amp hard playing music with high dynamics will cause any VD, (Voltage Drop), on the branch circuit wiring.

Here is a review quote from Six Moons on the amp:

Gryphon are purists. For electronics that’s fully balanced, dual mono, DC coupled, high bandwidth and zero NFB. With 200W idle and 1’900W max power draw

I am not sure if the 1900W is continuous or short, quick, draws of current that would be caused from pushing the amp hard playing music with high dynamic passages. 50ft of #10awg should handle the load without any AC Line VD. Power amp’s power supplies like a steady state AC mains voltage.

As for the type of branch circuit wiring to use I would recommend 10-2 solid core with ground MC, (Metal Clad), aluminum armor cable. * MC, NOT, AC armor cable *... 2nd choice 10-2 with ground NM-B, (Romex Trade Name), sheathed cable.

Breaker size 20 amp

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@nyev,

what “10 AWG or better” wire to get, that is solid core copper

Run 10/AWG BX/MC cable with solid copper core conductors from the breaker panel to metal receptacle boxes.

Mike

The 240V Option

Some high end amps can be switched over and run on 220 volts and I recommend it may sound better. The transformer primaries and the core seem to run slight more efficiently yielding lower impedance so the supply might appear slightly ‘stiffer’ to the amp’s audio circuits (always a good thing). Because the amp is now running at twice the voltage but half the amps (current) the wall wiring looks twice as thick to the amp as it does at 120 volt (ohms law). Now the amp makes even less audio noise on the line and it then rejects its own line noise better. The 220 volt outlet can be a standard 15 amp with 10 Ga.. Wire up to 80 feet then 8 gauge beyond that.

For the 220 volt lines, the electrician may, or may not know about a NEMA receptacle and plug number that is the same size and form as our common Edison duplex 120 volt receptacle but the wide blade of the plug is on the opposite side as the 120 volt duplex. Hubble or commercial Leviton works fine for 220 volt, and the 6-20 series looks less industrial in your home.

It is Nema plug number 6-20P. ‘Stay on line‘ is a good source but your electrician may like a local supplier.

BE SURE TO CHANGE OVER THE AMP INTERNALLY IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN 220 VOLT !

Last Trick – Twist the conductors

Lastly, you might ask him to twist the conductors one twist every 6-8 inches or so. Each line should be alternately twisted relative to the one next to it. This prevents any coherent coupling between them. Keep them away from each other by minimum 4 inches. It is perfectly OK to cross them at a right angle.

Final Word

If your electrician has any concerns about all this, be aware he is always concerned about CONTINUOUS current draw and rates everything and splits up the loads like the air conditioning and the electric dryer for the available amperage. Please explain to him that we are designing for incredibly short peak current pulses and we need the resistance back to the utility as low as possible for best amplifier performance. The continuous draw is negligible from an electrical standpoint. 10 gauge wire is the largest size that will fit into a wall outlet and as far as I know does not violate any codes but you and your electrician are responsible to be sure this is true in your state, county, and city.

Be sure that your speaker cable is at least 10 gauge. You should consider 8 or 9 gauge for speakers that are below 87db sensitivity, and/ or 4 ohms. Some manufacturers say, ‘our 14 gauge behaves like 10 gauge, etc.’, this could be true but I go for the real measured gauge.

Now, without exception over the last 12 years, comments from those that have done the above heavy gauge wire wall power mods say there is audible improvement in dynamics while making the sound even more detailed, yet much more relaxed with dark backgrounds leaving only the notes and music. I was very surprised the first time I did this house power mod. I did not expect the mid-range and the highs to clean up and get more coherent as much as they did. Of course bass and dynamics are better as you would expect with better current delivery.

Voltage drop is proportinal to current, so unless you are planning to run your amp full out all the time I doubt you need more than 10 gauge.

As I mentioned in another thread, converting your Diablo to 240V would cut your current in half, making it dead easy to use plain old 12 gauge.