Great posts, Sean and Glen.
Following previous advice from several of you (inc Bob C) I installed two simple 10AWG Romex lines for my 300w idle (3 amps?) Aleph monos, and two dedicated 12AWG fancy Teflon/braided Belden 83802 for analogue (tuner and pre: less than 50w) and digital (CDP: 18w). I used ACME's silver-plated duplexes mounted in those separate "outdoor" junction boxes so I wouldn't have to dig up any walls.
I then made PCs with the leftover 83802 (like those DIY Vansevers?) with Schurters and Pro-Leviton, and am VERY happy with the improved dynamics...especially at lower listening levels. Seems that here's more BREATH in the air without having to increase gain.
As the lines are only 25' long from panel to junction boxes, I imagine that 10AWG was overkill for the Aleph 2s, but I decided to save bucks there rather than use the fancier Belden 12AWG 83802.
I'm considering getting another 100' roll of 83802 and selling off lengths of it ($2.50/ft+$5sh) if any of us want to use this excellent stuff.
Referring back to the high-current example used for voltage drop calculations: is the use of 15 amps continuous current draw (1800watts!) really necssary?? Can anyone REALLY justify using any wire bigger than 10AWG? I had a helluva time using 10AWG to gang together duplexes in a junction box. Semms nearly impossible with 8AWG, and I think that 12AWG would've been sufficient. I understand vaguely that "musical peaks demands" and all that may require temporarily high current draws, but isn't it the purview of power supply caps and/or Class A operation to limit the power available anyway? IOW would anyone ever really see that 8% voltage droop with real-world amplifiers and 12AWG?
1800 watts is a lotta consumption!
I remember that my decade-old NAD amp boasted 370w/ch for 20 millisec from its 100w/ch steady-state rating, and remember that it sported a 16-18AWG PC! So what's up...I don't remember the PC getting at all warm, even on sustained organ pedal.
Sorry to drag on, but I wanted to ntroduce a real-world example into this discussion.
Thanks. Ernie
Following previous advice from several of you (inc Bob C) I installed two simple 10AWG Romex lines for my 300w idle (3 amps?) Aleph monos, and two dedicated 12AWG fancy Teflon/braided Belden 83802 for analogue (tuner and pre: less than 50w) and digital (CDP: 18w). I used ACME's silver-plated duplexes mounted in those separate "outdoor" junction boxes so I wouldn't have to dig up any walls.
I then made PCs with the leftover 83802 (like those DIY Vansevers?) with Schurters and Pro-Leviton, and am VERY happy with the improved dynamics...especially at lower listening levels. Seems that here's more BREATH in the air without having to increase gain.
As the lines are only 25' long from panel to junction boxes, I imagine that 10AWG was overkill for the Aleph 2s, but I decided to save bucks there rather than use the fancier Belden 12AWG 83802.
I'm considering getting another 100' roll of 83802 and selling off lengths of it ($2.50/ft+$5sh) if any of us want to use this excellent stuff.
Referring back to the high-current example used for voltage drop calculations: is the use of 15 amps continuous current draw (1800watts!) really necssary?? Can anyone REALLY justify using any wire bigger than 10AWG? I had a helluva time using 10AWG to gang together duplexes in a junction box. Semms nearly impossible with 8AWG, and I think that 12AWG would've been sufficient. I understand vaguely that "musical peaks demands" and all that may require temporarily high current draws, but isn't it the purview of power supply caps and/or Class A operation to limit the power available anyway? IOW would anyone ever really see that 8% voltage droop with real-world amplifiers and 12AWG?
1800 watts is a lotta consumption!
I remember that my decade-old NAD amp boasted 370w/ch for 20 millisec from its 100w/ch steady-state rating, and remember that it sported a 16-18AWG PC! So what's up...I don't remember the PC getting at all warm, even on sustained organ pedal.
Sorry to drag on, but I wanted to ntroduce a real-world example into this discussion.
Thanks. Ernie