Wire the House A/C or get Power Conditioner?


I was thinking of wiring the house for Hi-Fi. You know, 10guage wire, separate lines for digital and amps, 20 amp breakers etc.
One of my buds asked "Why not just get a power conditioner?"
So I would like to know if a conditioner will do the same thing as new wiring?
Thanks, Scott.
abbeydog
You can carry this to any extreme of excess you're inclined to pay for. In my experience doing this three different times in different houses, you'll get very good improved results by using a standard 10ga solid copper wire. The biggest improvements will come from

- pulling direct home runs from the breaker panel (no intervening breaks or splices),

- using a separate home run cable for each receptacle,

- having your electrician apply Walker Audio Extreme SST contact enhancer on each connecton from the breaker to the receptacle (not kidding here),

- having the electrician clean and tighten the connections at the grounding rod and at grounding bar inside the circuit box, and if there is any question about the grounding rods, driving new replacement copper clad grounding rods, and

- installing cryo'd Porter Ports or Synergistic Research TeslaPlex receptacles. If you can install non-ferrous boxes for the receptacles, do this too.
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Keep the runs separated by about six inches, over their total length, to avoid any induction.
Wire off of the truck is fine . Just make sure that it is copper , not aluminum .

Your electrician will be happier with 12g. wire than 10g. when it comes time to make the connections at the recepticles !

Another consideration , that I like , is to have the new circuits installed with an 'isolated ground'. This will make sure that you do not get any noise/interference from anything else in your house . This is how hospitals and computer rooms do their sensitive stuff . While it is not difficult it is different and will probably require the services of a commercial electrician rather that a residential one . Just google isolated ground systems and get a rudimentry knowledge of it so that you know what you are getting . As I said , it is not difficult .

This way should be cheaper and longer lasting than a conditioner . As above , you can go to any extreme that your wallet will allow !

Good luck.
I bought a brand new, American made, 250' spool of 10/2 Romex off eBay, for $75.00(shipped). That was about one third the price locally. It's YOUR aural satisfaction that's important, not your electrician's happiness! Use 10 AWG for your dedicated runs.
Agree you should use 10ga wire, and yes some electricians may grumble a bit.

As to installing isolated ground circuits and receptacles, I've become convinced that in residential construction with wood stud walls, or solid masonry, isolated grounds do not add any benefit.

Isolated grounds are used in commercial construction because of the metal studs in all the walls makes the entire structure one big grounding grid with lots of potential for adding multiple ground loops and noise.

This is simply not an issue with outlet boxes nailed to wood studs. In the residential construction setting, the single home run pull of cable back to the circuit panel makes for a single "isolated" ground wire connection. (But if your walls are built with metal studs, by all means use an isolated ground wiring installation and receptacles.)
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