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Dedicated 20 amp circuit - Electrician laughed!

I brought my electrician out to my house today to show him where I would like to install a dedicated 20a circuit for my system.  He laughed and said that's the stupidest thing he's heard and laughs when people talk about it.  It said, if you're going to do it, you have to have it separately grounded (shoving a new 8 foot rod into the ground) but even then, he sees no way there can be an audible improvement.

Now, he's not just an electrician though. He rebuilds tube amps on the side and tears apart amps and such all the time so he's quite well versed in audio electronics and how they operate.

He basically said anyone who thinks they hear a difference is fooling themselves.  

Personally, I'm still not sure, I'm no engineer, my room's not perfect, and I can't spend hours on end critical listening...  But, he does kinda pull me farther to the "snake oil" side and the "suggestive hearing" side (aka, you hear an improvement because you want to hear it).

I'm not taking a side here but I thought it was interesting how definitive he was that this not only WILL not make a difference but ALMOST CANNOT make a difference. 
dtximages

Showing 1 response by ejr1953

ejr1953
902 posts
 
We are in the early stages of building a home, one with a "bonus room" above the garage for my "man cave".

Since we had all sorts of options to customize, I decided to have the builder install a dedicated 20 amp circuit to where my component rack with live.  I'm not sure it'll make a difference, but what the heck, it can't make things sound worse.

I have an "all digital" source system, and I have found that the better control of the AC power, the better my DAC's perform.  I upgraded my power conditioner from a PS Audio P10 to a P15, when the P15 became available, and the result was and immediate and significant improvement in the clarity of the bass, improvement in the sound stage and the sound seemed a little more "relaxed"...both with my PS Audio DirectStream DAC and my Mytek Brooklyn DAC.

So, I wouldn't discount the wisdom of installing dedicated AC lines, though I can't "prove" they make a difference, my experience with power conditioning was pleasant and unexpected.
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