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Dedicated power and outlets

I'm having a room addition built and will house my audio gear there. I was thinking of dedicating a circuit to just my equipment which consists of amp, pre amp, cd player, and laptop I use to play lossless digital files- my main source.

Will also set-up a home theater separately, but not really concerned about it cause I don't watch many movies or TV other than sports.

Mainly want to insure optimum sound quality at a reasonable price.

What should I use in terms of outlet(s), cabling from circuit box(which is about 3 feet away from where I will hook-up) or whatever else would seem appropriate? I'm not looking for super high end, just something that would make sense since the situation presents itself to "do it right".

Thanks for any input.
jamesk58
overhang
199 posts
 
Mrjstark,no hard feelings :)
This hobby is frustrating as it is.You're right,if you upgrading from stock Home Depot outlet,even the besr ones they sell (Levitton $9=74)PS Audio outlet is an upgrade.
mrjstark
1,112 posts
 
Yes Overhang, you nailed it.
Any one of above AC outlets will be better
then Home Depot stuff. Quality of audio outlets might be questionable, but these are still way better then your regular wall outlets. So...lets agree that dedicated line, audio ac outlets and ac-cond. will benefit any system.
Cheers.
jamesk58 OP
73 posts
 
One last thing. While debating which power conditioner to use I've also read where some prefer plugging their amps directly into the dedicated outlet- no surge protection or anything. They feel with the dedicated line there is no need for power conditioning. Without the surge protection is that wise?

If one just used a surge protection strip only, any recommendations?

I normally plug my amp into the switched port in my pre so the amp kicks on with the pre. The pre plugs into a surge protector strip like a Belkin. I have also plugged a power strip into the pre's unswitched outlet for the cd and the subwoofer AC adaptor feeding it's integrated amp.

I have been using decent quality Belkin power strips between the wall outlet and the pre and other gear. Never ran any comparisons so don't know what effect they may have on sound quality
metralla
945 posts
 
Easy test. It will take 10 minutes.

Unplug the preamp from that Belkin power strip and plug preamp and power amp into separate outlets - don't plug the power amp into the switched socket on the preamp. Unplug the power strip from the unswitched socket and plug your CD player into a 3rd outlet - use an extension cord if you can't reach.

Report back. I would be super surprised if you don't notice a decent improvement.

Regards,
jamesk58 OP
73 posts
 
Thanks Metralla, will do the test.

Is it wrong to run the amp into the switched outlet port of the pre-amp? I thought that's why it was built that way ( Audio Research) so it would power-up with the pre?

You suggest that all the components should have a seperate power outlet but using a decent grade extension cord is OK. No power strips at all even if they're good quality?

BTW, I don't use my CD player much, mostly play lossless(flac, shn, etc) digital files off my PC and external hard drive via a Music Bridge- no sound card. Music Bridge is connected to my pre-amp with decent grade IC's.

Thanks again.
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