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Dedicated Circuits/Isolated Grounds

I’m getting ready to run dedicated lines for a combination Home Theater/2channel setup. The question is how many. I know to run at least two, one for analog equipment and one for digital equipment. However some additional advice for my particular set-up would be greatly appreciated. My equipment presently consists of:

1. Samsumg DLP TV
2. Yamaha RXV1 Receiver for HT processing and rear channel amplification (I may get a processor and a separate amp for the rears in the future)
3. Plinius 9100 Integrated amp for 2 channel and HT fronts
4. Direct TV receiver
5. Sony 9000DVP for DVD and CD (I will be adding a dedicated CDP down the road)
6. Bel Canto DAC 2
7. Velodyne DD12 sub
8. Totem Model Ones (front) and Mites (rear). I probably will not run a center channel.

My current plan is to run three 20 amp 120 volt circuits with 12 guage wire and one 15 amp 220 volt circuit (for the Plinius) with 10 gauge wire. Each amp/sub on a dedicated line, all digital on a dedicated line, the receiver on a dedicated line, and the TV on a dedicated line. What do you think? Over kill, not enough?

Also I’ve heard talk about isolated grounds. Can someone clarify this? Does this mean burying a rod somewhere in your yard separate from the electrical box? Or is it sufficient to ground each circuit back to the box?
jaffeassc
warnerwh
539 posts
 
I'm not an electrician but asked a similar question. You DO NOT want to run two separate grounds. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in. I think it's even illegal or against code. What you have in mind may be overkill but putting in several lines while you're at it would be the easiest way to do it anyway.
nerspellsner
41 posts
 
On a regular outlet the ground screw and pin are bonded to the mounting yolk on the outlet. An isolated ground outlet has the ground isolated from the mounting yolk. In buildings constructed with metal studs,metal outlet boxes are usually also used. When a regular outlet is installed with this type of contruction, the ground is bonded (connected) to all the metal studs in that room and probably the whole building. Electrial noise is introduced into the ground pin of the outlet this way. If an isolated ground outlet is installed the ground will not be bonded to the building metal studs and will not pick up electrical noise. If you install an isolated ground outlet in a metal box you would have to run 2 ground wires the box. One to ground the box and one to ground the outlet. They would both connect to the same ground bar in the panel. The outlet ground has to be insulated so it does not touch any other metal on the way to the outlet. If it did touch metal the isolated ground outlet would be useless. There is no advantage of installing an isolated ground outlet if the outlet box is mounted to wood studs and fed with NM (romex) cable.
twc
42 posts
 
There was a nice article in "The Perfect Vision" that addressed the additional ground and dedicated outlets. The author used the additional ground and loved it. I think the article came out in the late summer. I am planning on installing one in the future.
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