Dedicated 20 Amp Line for Audio


Lots of threads on the subject already, but I’m a little confused on one thing. Is the dedicated line just for the amplifier (in my case an integrated) and another line for the other components? Or, is it just one line for everything in the complete audio system?

Thanks!

high-amp

Showing 1 response by thyce

Audio gear is unique compared to the average appliance that the electrical system in your house was designed to accommodate a century ago.  The original pioneers in household electrical design were designing around predictable resistive loads like toasters and incandescent lamps that demand X amount of amps continuously, but modern amplifiers are extremely dynamic electrical loads.  Also, most amplifiers are more sensitive than you may think to the many different challenges presented to them by home wiring and nearby equipment.  Even if you aren't actually fixing a problem that exists now, you are future-proofing your audio room so it can accommodate larger amplifiers or future nearby noise producing appliances.  I commend you for your effort and your sound system will reward you with better sound.

You are getting great advice from previous posts but I would like to add two recommendations. The single best thing I can recommend you do to eliminate most of those electrical problems is have a small subpanel installed very close to your audio gear and only use one electrical phase for all of the audio gear no matter how many breakers you decide to install.  For example installing a 24 space subpanel you could have a maximum 12 breakers for audio gear leaving another 12 unused breaker spaces.  This way you will have much larger wiring running most of the way to your amplifiers that can easily supply the  instantaneous current they demand.  Then, if you want to use 12 AWG the last couple feet to your outlet it doesn't matter much, but I prefer to use 6 AWG in conduits feeding a single audiophile outlet.  An audiophile power cord that doesn't break the bank like a Pangea Audio AC-9 MkII Power Cable uses 7 AWG so using a similar size wiring in the wall would make sense.  After your licensed electrician has finished the work you can hide your electrical subpanel behind a picture or sound treatment panel.  The electrician may give you grief for requesting oversize wire but they won't refuse to install it like they would if you were requesting undersized wire which would be a safety issue.

The next best thing you can do for your system is plug your amps directly into an outlet because almost all but the most expensive power conditioners will make your amps sound worse.  If you insist on plugging your amplifiers into a power conditioner, then buy something like the AudioQuest Niagara 7000 that can handle the instantaneous current demands of an amplifier.