Dedicated AC Power Line vs. Power Conditioner?

I've had great success with two 20 amp dedicated lines and I use Shunyata power conditioners Hydra 2,Guardian 2,Hydra 8)and a Furman balanced power conditioner.

I isolate the furman on one dedicated line and only have my cd player on it.

The other dedicated line has a new Furutech GTX D,G,receptacle and into that go the two Hydras for the rest of the gear.

Keeping your cd player on a single dedicated line is quite the experience.
Better than using the dedicated digital receptacles on a power conditioner and plugging the rest of your gear into it.

Make sure your dedicated lines are on the same phase at your breaker box.

There should be one empty space between the new breakers, so that both lines are either on the top or the bottom panel sockets.Not one atop the other, leave a space.

Also if you go 20 amp, use 12/2 wire,which isn't too expensive if you buy 30 M,under $75.00(CDN) or you could max out and use 30 amp breaker and 10/2 wire-12/2 and 10/2 have a third wire which is ground wire so you've really got 3 wires.

If you start with dedicated lines, then use good receptacles(Hubble hospital at least) and dare I mention Upgraded fuses,you'll start to hear your system for the first time.

Then you can experiemnt with different power conditioners, power cords, inter connects, amps etc. and for the first time experience the differences.

I firmly believe that one of the reasons why some music lovers fail to hear differences in wires etc, is because the power to their gear is so bad it is robbing their systems ability to differentiate between brand A and brand B.

You get out of your system only what you put into it.

Do none of the above power tweaks and continue to listen to only a portion of what you've invested your hard earned dollars in.

The dedicated lines is the starting point, work from the panel(the true source component)first and then tweak down the line.

I wish I had discovered this a few years ago, when I switched gear like changing my socks.
Had I gone the power route I never would have wasted so much time and money going from one component to the next.

If everything is starting to sound the same,go to the panel and start from there.

The key factor is do you have the power line wire drop from a transformer only to your house, or is it shared with any neighbor, regardless of the distance between houses.

You don't need a metal outlet box with BX, but to continue the shielding effect, you should use one, including the cover plate. Cost difference is negligible. You could use a standard plastic cover on the outlet to match the rest of the house.

I should have mentioned that we live in a rural area. Nearest neighbor is 1 mile away. I think anything goes out here, but we'll definitely use a safe method.

Would BX require a metal outlet box?

Md8232: Your electrician won't have any options. It's the local code that dictates what you can use inside the walls. I personally like BX (http://www.seatekco.com/bx.htm) because it has a flexible steel shielding around it and if your local code allows it, I would use it. It's more expensive to buy and to install, but IMHO the shielding from stray RF, fluorescent fixture, microwave, etc. noises is well worth it.

I would also definitely install an "isolation transformer" (see Wikipedia for more info) which isolates the power from the rest of the house and your neighbors. The transformer effect also isolates any stray power line interference and noises. The power line coming from the transformer on the pole (or underground) is supplying power to many homes. That means all of these homes have a common shared power line in parallel until they get to the transformer. So if anyone is operating a electrical device that generates line noise, it will be fed back to your house wires and to your equipment.

I'm planning to add 2 new outlets to my listening room. Plenty of room in the box to add them. 2 Maestro's ordered. What do I ask my electrician to use to wire these runs? Is romex sufficient? If not, what should I use?

Thanks in advance.

The way i have looked at it is its done more for the system than any 600.00(or more depending)cable upgrade has done,youll never regret it.

2k95aero,

I had assumed you meant lines from your box and not a new service drop. In any case, there are some pretty good deals on used Hydra's out there and, depending upon how many outlets you need, it might actually be cheaper to upgrade your pc....but I'm a biased Shunyata fanatic. ;-)

Everyone here has made points worth considering. Please post about how things turn out when and if you make the change.

Thank you lady and gentlemen, always a learning experience here on the forum.

Didn't realize I could just go from the panel for a dedicated line but now that has been pointed out to me of course it makes sense.

I know plenty of electricians here, I'll pick up a nice outlet with the money I save.

Vhiner, you're correct - I was a bit lazy and used "vs." improperly in my title. And I think I may have to ask Santa for a nice Shunyata PC for Christmas.

Are you listening Santa? I mean, are you listening Dear?

Thanks again all...

2k95aero, why do you need the power company to drop a separate new line to your house ? The only reason a person would need to do such a thing is if they needed to power a massive audio/video system or home studio, and their existing service drop was inadequate. Looking at things from a practical viewpoint, even if you went ahead with such an idea, the new drop would be in parallel with the existing household system. With both drops being sourced from the same POCO transformer, you would achieve only so much isolation. Just get an electrician to install a dedicated line from your existing panel and you should be good to go.

I agree with liz's comments.

It shouldn't be that expensive, assuming there's no structural rebuilding needed. Just to run wires from panel to existing boxes cost me about $300, 150 per line. It old be less if you can find a certified electrician doing side (after hours) jobs for cash.

Who could recommend someone who knows what they are doing to install dedicated power lines without charging through the roof?

I agree with everyone so far. It was a great help in my system to add two lines to keep the components separate.

I have two next to each other. Having four dedicated Furutech outlets to use exclusively for audio is great. The dedicated outlets are well worth it.

The resulting loss of noise from isolating your audio system from other lines is well worth the relatively minor expense if you have a fairly resolving system.

The "versus" part of your system sets a bit of a false dichotomy IMHO. It's not a matter of either or. Improvements in power delivery are cummulative.

If you heard the improvements the Tice brought to your system, you will probably hear what a seperatepower line does. Finally, if you hear what the seperate power line does, you might be amazed at what the latest generation of power conditioners can do.

Having done so, and putting a good quality AC outlet on the dedicated line it made a large difference. One of the biggest differences I've experienced vs. a moderate power conditioner.