Are two dedicated lines better than one?

When I built my house, I had one 30 amp circuit installed for the front wall to use with the amps, and a second 30 amp circuit installed on the side wall for the source components. I can't imagine anyone really needing 60 amps of power. But specifying 30 amps circuits gets 10 gauge wire, and I like the idea of separating the amps from the source components.

Since it is rather hard to compare one vs two circuits, I can't say this is necessary, but the cost is minimal. I would do it again.

You might talk to Chris VenHaus about using some of his wire for your project. His e-mail is venhaus@wi.rr.com.

Good luck.

Gofaststang,
I know alot has been discussed about this topic but as with many aspects of this hobby,there's alot of information and viewpoints. Thanks for the advice!

Unless your amp is 1000 wpc or more, if you use 30 amp circuit breakers, you run the risk of burning down the house before ever tripping the 30 amp circuit breakers.

On the other hand, I like to float most of my grounds, so I guess I really shouldn't talk.

You can still request 10 gauge and run a more reasonable 20 amp circuit suitable for the greatest dynamic current draws of 99% of the amps out there.

In addition, you should never need more than 15 amp circuits for each of your other components (except perhaps a subwoofer). Implying that you should reap greater benefits if each component is on it's own seperate 15 amp circuit (with the amplifier on it's own 20 amp circuit).

Digital sources inject a lot of digital noise back into the lines. Therefore, you definitely should put the digital source on it's own dedicated line. And you should not have anything sharing the line with your amplifier.

In summary, you should request, at a minimum, 3 dedicated lines. One 15 amp for your digital source, one 15 amp for your preamp, and one 20 amp for your amplifier.

And idealistically, since the electrician is already there, you might request a second 20 amp dedicated line for your subwoofer or second amplifier(or future growth) and another 15 amp dedicated for your tt, tv, or whatever.

And find the best 10 gauge and audio-grade outlets you can find for your electrician to use. Even very good 10gauge is pretty cheap and chances are your electrician's 10gauge won't be any better than Home Depot's run-of-the-mill 10gauge.

-IMO

Yes, to second the above:
a) buy some good quality industrial grade wire
b) get 3 dedicated lines, as per Stehno above: one being the "big" one, use one for digital, one for big loads, the 3rd for all others.

The electrician might complain for not using his/her own wire (i.e. lose some profit on that) but you'll make it up for him asking for 3 instead of 1 line.