I installed a dedicated circuit and used 10 gauge 3 conductor Romex, install double duplex boxes at each point instead of single. I think this is a must for every serious audiophile..... good luck ... |
Dill,
Thanks for the response. Is a double duplex box one that holds two outlets? Is there a reason for this other than having space for four power cords? Also, does the 10 gauge Romex fit most Hubbell-type outlets?
Thanks, Joel |
Stay away from romex, its Crap. It was never designed for audio applications. The best is 10 guage stranded, silver plated coper with teflon coating. The same wire used in the power snakes. I bought mine from storm products directly. I recall it was about 12-15 cents a foot. I believe ther website is www.stormproducts.com. John |
John . . . thanks for the input. I visited the storm products website but was unable to find the 10 gauge wire you mentioned. They have hundreds of cables and wires and I will continue to look. Joel |
Hi Joel; I put a dedicated AC system and ground in about a year ago, and yes it was a very worthwhile upgrade. I used 6 gauge stranded wire as it was already in place. The electricians connected the 6 gauge to a four 20 amp breaker submain, and then much smaller gauge wire to four Hubbell duplex outlets. For ground, I had 3 six foot copper rods driven into the ground within a few feet of the outlets.
One bad side effect of this dedicated system was a significant brightness in my system that was only cured by good quality power cords, ie I was hearing the "sound" of the stock power cords. Otherwise, music had a dramatically lowered noise floor, and became much more transparent. It cost me about $800. for parts and eletrician labor. Good Luck. Craig |
A few of you have asked so hear is the parr # for stormproducts. #WG1037-9. This is UL1180 10 guage 37 strands of silver plated copper. This is what the powersnake man uses to make his expensive chords. He told me this about 1 year ago. I bought 250 feet of wire in Jan 2000 for $270. Its the best I know of. John |
All the above are correct and well do wonders for your system. One more thing ,use fuses they are sonically better and well give you a much better result than switches.
steve |
42659, can you tell us more about how you terminated the Storm Products wire? I'm curious how you arrange 37 strands between hot, neutral, and ground. Thanks. |
I've been following this thread because I want to install a dedicated circuit also. I'm not 100% sure but I think that you need three separate runs of the cable that 42659 is talking about. One 10 gage run for hot, one for neutral and one to ground. |
WHEN I first did a dedicated lines they were 12g. solid to 20 amp. switches, at the ic end they were pigy backed to the 2nd ic.Reading other post here on audiogon I changed the whole thing with stagering results and to any considering this should start off the correct way .
Seperate box with ceramic fuses, use the 35 amp they are bigger and well handle monoblocks. I chose 8g braided 3lines one for hot,nueteral and ground since i have 2 ic i have 6 lines this is dedicated, don,t let your electician pigy back,.
I think garfish brightness is due to switches ,fuses well be consideribly smoother, a lesson learned the hard way
10 g is minnimum for dedicated lines
steve |
I ran my own dedicated line: three strands - the usual black, white & green (with some advice from Mike VansEvers) using #10 solid copper THHN. Line them up straight, & tape the ends all together. Put that combo into your power drill chuck & fasten the other loose ends tight in a vice. Now spin the whole bundle slowly until tight like a spring. It will unwind a lot when you power off the drill. Exchange ends & finish the twist. Run this bundle from the fusebox to a dedicated outlet. BTW: a 20A ceramic fuse sounded much warmer & smoother than the glass fuse.
Regarding directionality: you just look at the printing on the wire's insulation & ensure that all 3 conductors are aligned identically. One direction may sound better than the opposite direction - you can try running the bundle either way (first install it temporarily of course). Re: the twisted conductors - this relates to something about the magnetic flux fields canceling each other. You'll find that some upgrade AC cords are made this way too.
Of course you must run this twisted wire bundle in a conduit (or in 3/8" Greenfield if code permits - much easier to work with). Regarding surge protection & filtering: I have a big Joslyn gas-discharge primary arrestor, across the whole house' primary, in the basement. Then a G.E. MOV (metal oxide varistor) in parallel across my Wattgate 381 outlet (mounted in a box) upstairs. MOV's are not supposed to degrade the sound; Chang Lightspeed uses them internally for transient protection. I also use two Chang Lightspeeds (a 3200 and a 9900 Amp) in addition to some pretty seriously expensive upgrade AC cords. The dedicated line sounded even better with the Chang's than it did standalone.
I'm gleefully satisfied with the results so far. Dramatic improvements over the house wiring! I polished the ceramic fuse clean & bright with crocus cloth, then applied Kontact. Same with the #10 solid conductors' ends, just like I do with all my AC cables. If you use anything larger than #10 it becomes a bear to work with. #10 is stiff too, but at least it's still workable. Also consider isolated grounding. |
Evo & Bob b, more details please. Are the fuses you are using standard cartridge type or edison base screw ins? Is there manufacturer or model number listed on the fuse box? Also please detail how the fuses are connected to the main supply. Is there a circuit breaker(s) installed somewhere between the fuses and main lines?
Caution note to DIYers, most 20 amp recepticles accept a maximun of 10 gage wire. The recepticle may not be mechanically strong enough to hold up to the mechanical strains of installing larger gage cable. |
Alex Iam using standard ceramic fuses 35 amp that you snap into place on a seperate fuse box.The fuse box is just a plain box for the larger fuses, i highly recomend the larger fuses which start at 35amp. Has far has 8g. goes they are terminated to fit the ic, your electrician well be able to take care of this my total cost for the box fuses,wire and instalation was 400.00
steve |
My fuses are the reg. old screw-in base 20A Buss Fusetron's. We have an antique farmhouse with old fuseboxes, so there's no inside breaker panel to even be concerned about. There is however a pair of large main cartridge fuses in that big black phenolic main pullout disconnect. I don't know what material those are, but I should check because I didn't know that ceramic was availabe in that size. There is also a single large safety breaker outside at the meter socket which the whole house draws through. Can't say if things would sound any better without that inline, but of course it's always possible? |
