I am confused about 15A and 20A current.

I never stopped to think about the possibility of an older home (etc) with old or small gauge wiring. One needs to be certain that the wire is at least 12-3. The posts above this post are correct and bring up some excellent points that I failed to mention. Another reason that I really like Audiogon :-)

DO NOT REPLACE A 15 AMP BREAKER WITH A 20 AMP BREAKER!!! Alexanderj is right! Remember the old "penny in a fuse box" trick, in the days before breakers? Unless you can confirm that your circuit will adequately handle 20 amps, you run the risk of an electrical fire that can consume your entire house...like the fuse box situation that I just described (saw that happen one time, although the house wasn't lost, there was electrical damage done, before the main 50 amp buss fuse blew!) Funny, I just had a conversation about circuit breakers the other day. They can oxidize over the years, and should be replaced every few years (for your audio circuit). Your Rotel's 380 watts should not trip a breaker when you power up. Assuming a doubling peak at start up (760 watts), and even with a low power supply to your circuit (110 volts), you will only draw about 7 amps at power up. Are there other high amperage appliances on your stereo circuit? This could be your problem, but I would bet on an old cruddy breaker. Or there might be a problem with your amp, but usually, the internal fuse(s), will blow, NOT the circuit breaker.

All:

Thank you a lot for all of your comments; they are great suggestions and are helpful information.

I will have to return the Rotel and leave the circuit breaker the way it is, then try another amplifier. I heard the Rotel is a very good amp, but it takes so much effort to make it working.

Thanks again.

-TT

Now, now don't take the Rotel back. This amp can't be drawing that much juice. What all else do you have plugged into this circuit? Or what all else shuts off then the circuit breaker pops? You might be able to simply rearrange things in your home and place them on different circuits.

Marty

Midfi,

Don't return anything just yet. Maybe I'm off base here, but it sounds to me like you are tripping the breaker with inrush current. When you first power on that amp, all the caps inside must charge and do so very quickly. This can cause a perfectly functioning circuit to trip as the initial momentary current exceeds the breaker's rating. However, those same caps discharge slowly unless drained.

I would suggest you try this: Power on the amp (with your pre off). If the breaker trips, turn the amp off then reset the breaker, then turn the amp back on. My guess is that after the breaker trips once (maybe twice), it doesn't trip again...until you turn the amp off for awhile and turn it back on. Instead of turning the amp off, leave it on all the time...it's better for the longevity of your electronics, anyway. Hope that helps and let us all know if that works...