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advice on dedicated line

Hello.

I need to have an electrician do some work on my house, and am mulling over a dedicated line for my sound system while she or he is there.

I am new to this, though, and not especially sophisticated about electrical matters. So I am wondering what exactly I want to ask for, and thought maybe you all would know.

I have an amplifier, a cd player, a Sonos unit, and a DAC.

Do I want two dedicated lines--one for the amplifier and one for everything else? So 2 20 amp circuits with 10 gauge wire?

Do I need to say something else about ground wires etc? About the breaker box?

Can I get 3 outlets on one dedicated line?

What kind of outlets do I want?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks!

mc
mcanaday

Showing 5 responses by lowrider57

lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
"Do I want two dedicated lines--one for the amplifier and one for everything else? So 2 20 amp circuits with 10 gauge wire?"

If you have a small system and as long as your amp is not a monster, you can get by with 2 dedicated 20 amp lines. The current draw from a CDP, DAC, Sonos, or preamp is very low. Good outlets are important and so is surge protection. Later on, you'll probably want to get a power conditioner.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
Here's a question to all you knowledgeable folks...Its been mentioned many times to have the digital components on their own dedicated line; now I'm assuming this means a transport cabled to an external DAC or a hard drive setup.

Why is it recommended not to share the same AC line as analogue components?
Secondly, is a surge protector using isolated receptacles an alternative?
Thanks.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
Would it be workable for me to get 6 outlets instead if 4 in case I ever wanted to plug in a small fm receiver to listen to the news? Or is that pushing my luck?

IMO, a better idea is to use a high quality power strip for your low current components and plug your amp into the wall. Then you won't run out of receptacles and you'll be protected.

a very popular power strip by Furman...
http://www.amazon.com/Furman-Standard-Conditioning-Aluminum-Protection/dp/B0009GI65Q
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
I live in philly in a neighborhood that runs off the same transformer and we're prone to lightening strikes. Even with my modest system I use a Furman Pro pwr strip for my Sunfire amp, but as Al stated, effect on SQ is system dependent. There have been more than a few nites where I've lost power and heard the breakers on the surge protectors click off. You have an awesome amp, Bifwynne and its worth trying one.
FWIW I like the design of the Brickwall with it's isolated receptacles
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
Thank you, Al. A great explanation that I can understand.
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