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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 3 responses by tednep

tednep
33 posts
 
Remember to consult with your electrician
tednep
33 posts
 
Hi From Denmark
I have worked in the industrial segment as a engenier for 13 years and as a electrician before that for 12 years. 
My English is poor though, so..... 

My advice is to keep it at simple as possible. I do not know your rules in the US but here in Denmark we can have a seperated Ground pole for the HiFi if it is placed at least 40 feet from the other Ground pole and that i can not physically reach between the two potentials. We Are also bound by law to have a house surge protector.

That beeing said My main consern is noice and emc and how to build your system up to get rid of this.

1: Sepperate Ground pole with Ground wire to the main board for HiFi. 

2: Sepperate Circuit for hifi with propper connections in the main board

3: Sepperate shielded cable with gound wire, All wires is 10 gauge or better from your HiFi Circuit to your receptacle. Connect the Ground wire from the cable and shield to the GROUND wire from the pole in the main board. BUT MAKE SHURE THAT THE SHIELD WIRE IS SORTER THAN THE GROUND WIRE FROM THE CABLE. 

4: your receptacle must be placed in a metal or aluminium box. The shield from the cable is connected to the emc connector wich is connected to the metal box. The metal box MUST NOT be connected to the Ground wire from the cable, it is Isolated from the box and is only connected to the Ground in the receptacle. If you have multipel receptacles you must connect one Ground, hot wire and neutral wire for each, a star configuration.

5: receptacles should be with good connections.

6: You can connect a Ground bar on the box metal chassis so that you can connect extra Ground wires from your equipment, but only if it is approved by the manufacturer. This is to dismiss noice and magnetic fields from chassis. 

Your Ground and shield from the cable are only connected in the main board. Your box with the receptacles now works as a shield against WiFi, static electricity, and other noice. NOICE "RUNS" THE SHORTEST PATH NOT IN THE WIRE WITH THE BIGGEST GAUGE.

This is a good start and I Hope you can understand☺️
tednep
33 posts
 
A almost free tip. Wrap some foil around your cables, make sure that the foil is propperly connected to each other. Connect a Ground wire from the foil to your shield box. ALL GROUND WIRES SCHOULD BE THE SAME LENGTH. 
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