Dedicated 20 amp for music room?

[DrJRapp]

"Hospital Grade" is just the architects and engineers specification for a "isolated grouind" circuit. It requires wiring with an additional "isolated" ground ...ie: a regular 20 amp circuit can be run with 12/2 with a bare ground or grounded through the metal sheathing as in BX cable and hospital grade wiring (isolated ground) would use 12/3.

Be sure the electrician knows what you are seeking BEFORE he comes over. Most electricians (especially smaller ones) will not stock the required special wire or special devices on their truck and that will turn into a second trip back ...and therefore more cost.

Once you have your "hospital grade" wiring in place be sure to run all your gear off that one circuit. The ground potential of that circuit may be different than others therefore creating the possibility of hum.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Glen, so long as you have the breaker space in your service panel run two dedicated lines. It will be a minimal cost now and down the road you will be glad you did.

Thanks Dave, I'll check into that.

Glen

 

[wrat]

I have been giving serious thought to doing this but just have not gotten around to it,that and a whole house surge protector

 

[DrJRapp]

I have been giving serious thought to doing this but just have not gotten around to it,that and a whole house surge protector

Here in S. Florida the whole house surge protector is worth it's weight in gold!

 

[MOON]

Hi Fountain,

Definately worth the effort to put in dedicated 20 amp circuits.Your noise floor will cut down . Use 10 guage wire as suggested and put each line on it's own circuit.

After market recetacles do make a noticable improvement . My favourite has been the Oyaide R1 20 amp receptacle.They make outlet boes that you just cut the hole for the size of the box in the drywall , insert the box and there is a steel sleve on either side of the box that buts up to the drywall . you tighten that with a screw in the box and it's a done deal. Before inserting the box you have to have your wires fished through the hole already . This kind of box will save cutting the drywall out to secure the box to a stud.

I used them in a kitchen reno and they work great.

Cheers

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Hi Fountain,

Definately worth the effort to put in dedicated 20 amp circuits.Your noise floor will cut down . Use 10 guage wire as suggested and put each line on it's own circuit.

After market recetacles do make a noticable improvement . My favourite has been the Oyaide R1 20 amp receptacle.They make outlet boes that you just cut the hole for the size of the box in the drywall , insert the box and there is a steel sleve on either side of the box that buts up to the drywall . you tighten that with a screw in the box and it's a done deal. Before inserting the box you have to have your wires fished through the hole already . This kind of box will save cutting the drywall out to secure the box to a stud.

I used them in a kitchen reno and they work great.

Cheers

Thanks Moon for the extra information. I was hoping to get this started last week before vacation, but it did not work out. So when I get back from Itasca I'll have to setup another appointment with the electrician. Hopefully it will be an affordable option to get done soon.

Glen

 

[twich54]

Glen, one other 'tidbit' of information......when installing new dedicated lines, if at all possible install the line (at the breaker box) on one of the two legs (buss bars) that DOES NOT have noise making devices on it....ie refigerators, A/C, flourescent lights, etc.

You can if nescessary have an electrician rearrange your panel to accomodate this if need be. Your money will be better spent doing this than spending mega $$ on a fancy 'power cord' !!

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Glen, one other 'tidbit' of information......when installing new dedicated lines, if at all possible install the line (at the breaker box) on one of the two legs (buss bars) that DOES NOT have noise making devices on it....ie refigerators, A/C, flourescent lights, etc.

You can if nescessary have an electrician rearrange your panel to accomodate this if need be. Your money will be better spent doing this than spending mega $$ on a fancy 'power cord' !!

Thank you Dave, I never would have thought of that. As far as power cords, I've replaced them a while back. Probably should have done this first though, but at the time my system was upstairs way away from the electrical panel. Now it is pretty close and the job should be less involved, I hope so anyway. Thanks again and I'm still waiting on the electrician to come by, I'll let you know how it turns out when it gets done. Hopefully next month.

Glen

 

[FOUNTAIN]

Well I finally got around to getting an electrician over to my house and installing a dedicated circuit. Actually there are two dedicated lines with 20 amp breakers connected to a JPS outlet that I picked up from my local hifi store. When it was finished I decided to take out the Monster Power center and replaced it with a PS Audio Juice bar. The Juice bar is not a conditioner or surge protector but rather a high quality power strip that allows you to plug in several componets into one outlet. It also has a detachable power cable which I replaced with a DH Labs power cable. So now everything is plugged into the new 2 dedicated outlets except for the Depth sub which is on the original 15 amp breaker.

As for the difference, it was not noticeable at first. But after a couple of different listening sessions I began to pick up on two different things: One was the ability to hear all the way down to when the song is completely faded out. What I mean is if the song ended with either a long sustained note that faded away or if the song just faded out, then I could hear to the very end where I had never heard before. Also the soundstage dosen't collapse as the music fades as it did before. Even in some quiet passages there is a noticeable amount of detail that was barely there before, but is now more pronounced and more easily heard. In one of Diana Krall's songs, I forget which one at the moment, there is an opening piano play that has a slight hiss or something to that effect that you can hear between each piano key stroke. I could hear this a little before, but now it is much more apparent. Since these softer sounds are more easily heard then when an instrument fades into the background it seems to add more depth because I can follow the sound of that instrument futher as it slowly dissapates. The second area in which a difference was noticed was with the consistency of the system sounding dynamic and more like night listening sessions. My favorite time to listen was later in the evening when my stereo sounded more robust and even sweeter. Now that sound quality is more like that whenever I turn it on no matter the time of day.

I just wanted to update those of you who helped me with this and again thank you all for your assistance. It was definitely worth the money and effort and would recommend trying this if it is an option.

 

[David Matz]

Well I finally got around to getting an electrician over to my house and installing a dedicated circuit. Actually there are two dedicated lines with 20 amp breakers connected to a JPS outlet that I picked up from my local hifi store. When it was finished I decided to take out the Monster Power center and replaced it with a PS Audio Juice bar. The Juice bar is not a conditioner or surge protector but rather a high quality power strip that allows you to plug in several componets into one outlet. It also has a detachable power cable which I replaced with a DH Labs power cable. So now everything is plugged into the new 2 dedicated outlets except for the Depth sub which is on the original 15 amp breaker.

As for the difference, it was not noticeable at first. But after a couple of different listening sessions I began to pick up on two different things: One was the ability to hear all the way down to when the song is completely faded out. What I mean is if the song ended with either a long sustained note that faded away or if the song just faded out, then I could hear to the very end where I had never heard before. Also the soundstage dosen't collapse as the music fades as it did before. Even in some quiet passages there is a noticeable amount of detail that was barely there before, but is now more pronounced and more easily heard. In one of Diana Krall's songs, I forget which one at the moment, there is an opening piano play that has a slight hiss or something to that effect that you can hear between each piano key stroke. I could hear this a little before, but now it is much more apparent. Since these softer sounds are more easily heard then when an instrument fades into the background it seems to add more depth because I can follow the sound of that instrument futher as it slowly dissapates. The second area in which a difference was noticed was with the consistency of the system sounding dynamic and more like night listening sessions. My favorite time to listen was later in the evening when my stereo sounded more robust and even sweeter. Now that sound quality is more like that whenever I turn it on no matter the time of day.

I just wanted to update those of you who helped me with this and again thank you all for your assistance. It was definitely worth the money and effort and would recommend trying this if it is an option.

Fountain, congratulations. As a next cheap tweak, try to audition the PS audio noise harvester in the empty outlets. It removes an extra layer of grunge and hiss, creating a more black backgorund.

Enjoy!

 

[Cherian]

The most current I have measured in my system when it is rocking and rolling is 12 amps. This is running all MY CJ (Premier 140, premier 350, Premier 16ls) gear and my 50" plasma. This is about 1440 watts of power. Again the system was cranked up to what I would call way above my normal listening level. A 15 amp circuit can deliver 1800 watts continues and I have not come close to hitting it.

Having said this if you want the head room a 20 amp circuit can be installed for very little money. $250 to $500.00

 

[RichTeer]

Congrats on the upgrade! A dedicate circuit or three is on my "one day" list for my system.

 

[houstonshark]

The PS Audio Power Port Premier is a very nice outlet which can be used as either a 15A or 20A outlet. They retail for $99 so it is not a bad upgrade to go along with a dedicated outlet.

I am working on a system right now that will require 4 Dedicated 20A outlets!

 

[marck]

I had a dedicated 20A circuit installed to supply my hifi room and I can definitely say it was a worthwhile upgrade. I also had a seperate dedicated earth installed on that circuit which lowered the noise floor by a fairly substantial amount

However, I have a question. I am thinking of adding a power regenerator (either the PurePower 2000i or the PS Audio PPP) and plugging this into my dedicated circuit. I would then plug my components into the regenerator. Has anyone tried this and is it worth doing?

Thanks
Marc

 

[DrJRapp]

I use an APC H10 poer conditioner/regenerator for all my sensitive equipment because here in South Florida we are subject to wide fluctions in voltage and frequent brownout conditions. The unit is plugged into a dedicated/isolated 20 amp circuit that also has the heavy loads, ie" power amps, (which are not so sensitive to voltage flucuations) plugged directly into it.