confused about 20 amp power cables
I've recently acquired a pre-owned T+A PA 3100 HV integrated and this is my first exposure to a 20 amp power cable. The supplied cable has what I think is a C19 IEC connector (20 A) on the amp end, but the connector on the wall side has parallel hot and neutral blades as opposed to the 20 amp T blades. Is that end really rated at 20A?
I have a dedicated 110V 20 amp circuit with 20 A receptacles, but is about 10 ft from my equipment. I am currently plugging the amp's supplied cable into an Oyaide OCB-1 SX V2 power conditioner which is plugged into the 20A wall receptical. The wall plug on the Oyaide appears to be a 15A plug and the 4 distributed receptacles are not 20A and I assume they are rated for 15A. Is this dangerous to have this 15A section between wall and amp?
Would I be better off, or safer to find a 20A extension cable so I could plug the amp directly into the wall? I've recently started building my own PCs and could make a 10 ft one with C19 on one end and 20A wall plug on the wall side ( ouch for wire cost for 10ft). I know that its unlikely the amp will ever draw more than 15A.
Any suggestions would be helpful!
@mintakax Are you the individual who purchased a PA 3100 HV locally in CO? If so, I work with the previous owner from time to time as well. FWIW, the optional PS 3000 HV power supply should be on your consideration set for down the road. It significantly improves the performance of the unit in terms of coherence, soundstaging, and control. |
@blisshifi --Thank you. Nice to know about the 10A fuses. This is really an amazing amp and I look forward to using a decent PC. |
@mintakax The only benefit you will get from plugging it into a 20A circuit is that likely that circuit would be a dedicated line, so it would be isolated from other noisy electronics on the same circuit. I am an authorized T+A dealer, and I can tell you that the most powerful fuse in the unit is 10A, so it for sure never draws more than 15A. If anything, it actually only uses less than 5A continuously. Actually for both my own T+A A 3000 HV and PS 3000 HV, I replaced the 20A IEC with 15A ones. This opened up my ability to choose from many more available power cables with 15A connectors. And in case you ask, no, a 20A cable does not deliver more current than a 15A cable if it is not needed. Quality high current cables (e.g. 10AWG conductors) can do wonders to help that amp sing. Congrats on your purchase of a fantastic amp. |
