More questions about dedicated lines


We are moving to a new house built in 2007  and I am fortunate enough to be able to move a wall to create a room with golden ratios. I will need to run some new electric and it gives me the opportunity to run dedicated lines.  I have spent countless hours rummaging through the 7k discussions on this topic and have a decent idea of what is needed.  My plans are to have four runs of Romex 10/2, one each for each monoblock VAC signature 200's, my digital, and my Audiokinesis swarm which has not be set up yet.  I estimate the runs to be conservatively 45 feet including up and down distances. All runs will be of equal length ending in SR  outlets. They will be separate from each other and all other lines and no metal staples will be used.  When I told him I my goal was to have the best sound he offered a suggestion that I hadn't come across in my electrical education here on the gon.  He suggested placing what sounded like a commercial power regenerator with a large battery bank as the first step out of the breaker box and running lines from this.  The other options were to run from a preexisting sub panel that has the pool pump and a few lights on it, but nothing else.  Third is straight out the breaker box.  He wanted to put the runs closest to the utility line in, stating that there will be less noise upstream than downstream, but this puts these lines next to a big double breaker (cant' remember what it is but is sure to be noisey).  He understands that I want all lines on the same phase, or line,leg.  My questions are: Of the three options, which would be best?  Is there anything else needed to minimize the risk of ground loop hum if I use separate hot, return, and gound for each line and not share ground neutrals and keep all lines separated from themselves and other lines.  If going through a subpanel with little on it, how do I manage to keep all runs on the same phase without unbalancing the breaker? A third tangential question-Is it best to use metal or plastic housing boxes for the receptacle? The question of durability of the plastic fatiguing and breaking following repeated plugging and unplugging has been mentioned but I didn't see an answer.  Finally, a huge thank you to jea and almarg for their voluminous responses in all the prior electrical discussions-I got an education.  Sadly, I still don't speak electricalese.
orthomead
@jea48 ,
Hours have past without issue.
Perhaps the 'better angels of our nature' have' come to bear.


And, Merry Christmas and happy holidays, to one and all.
B
OK, not to promote issues on Christmas Eve, and understanding that millercarbon's comment(s) could and should be a bit more polite, he did raise a point that I have wondered about.

The suggestion was to have a battery bank, which agreed with what the electrician first suggested.

So in terms of absolute electrical quality, without regards to cost considerations, wouldn't a person be better off going off-grid with the battery bank and high quality inverter?  I thought that was how the high quality power conditioners worked, using a battery bank to remove the poor quality of power received from the grid.  

I've always wondered because the electrical requirements of the equipment are actually minimal.  You wouldn't need a 100kw battery bank to go "off-grid" with a few outlets.  You wouldn't have power fluctuations from when the A/C or pool pump starts or your neighbor decides to do some welding.

I suppose the cost considerations and even space considerations make it a difficult choice.  But the other choices seem fairly complicated and expensive too.

I jumped from the main panel to an Equi+Tech wall unit. From there to dedicated lines, but bought the panel used from Oak Ridge. Sounds pretty good. 
Many companies are taking this approach with phono amps like Channel D. The Battery pack drives the electronics directly connecting up to the A/C  line only when it is time to recharge. Al the equipment is available to do this on a grander scale with lead acid batteries and an inverter if you have the room for this. Would it make your system sound better? Probably not. The money would be better spent on better speakers and bigger amps. 
Thanks, Mike (Mijostyn).

@the_treble_with_tribbles, before a battery bank/inverter approach would be chosen I would want to see considerable additional technical detail on the specific make and model the electrician recommends.  The concern, IMO, being the possibility that the inverter circuitry in whatever unit it is, which may or may not have been designed with audiophile applications in mind, might generate RFI that could couple into the audio system.  Or for that matter, given my limited knowledge of such devices, could conceivably even generate a stepped approximation of a sine wave, rather than a true sine wave having good distortion characteristics.

Regards,
-- Al
 
Happy new year all! 

Dentdog-Which Equi-Tech wall unit did you use and how many lines did you run from it?  Pretty good sounds like that commercial "it's ok".
Leon

Hi tech-talk,
Exciting times building a sound room. Congrats! I read with interest a good part of the responses, but didn't see much about outlets.  I live close to a large FM tower.  The power company came and tested our power then installed a new transformer at the house.  Our Master Electrician, who works on nuclear submarine panels, sorted out our main electrical panel, best isolating 2 dedicated lines to the sound studio.  Recently, I upgraded to high grade Furutech outlet and cover plate.  I love the way the blades make contact and release, given their spring pressure design.  Verastar cables have further lowered the sound floor and RFI is non-existent, to my ear.  Trust I have no affiliation with either company, only sharing my recent positive experiences.  Happy tunes in the 2020's!  More Peace, Pinthrift
Hey Pinthrift.  I have purchased, but not yet installed SR Blue outlets.  I'm not decided yet on cover plates, but likely will choose a plastic cover plate and paste the inside with PPT total contact.Thanks for sharing your experience!!
Ok.  Drum roll please.  I met with the electricians yesterday and found them very receptive to the needs of an audiophile.  I reviewed the options discussed in this forum in detail.  All agreed that the best option was to run heavy gauge solid strand copper wire (4 awg) from the breaker box with the least amount of appliances running off it.  There was no concern about balancing the breaker box to keep all items on the same phase, or leg,line.  The line will terminate in a sub panel 45 ft from the breaker box.  This sub panel will have copper contacts.  From there I will run 4 identical length dedicated lines of 10/2 Romex (8 ft or less, all lines equal length) to plastic gang boxes with plastic face plates. I will use SR Blue receptacles.  Both primary breaker boxes will have SPD's (surge protection devices) placed immediately after the mains connect.  The 4 awg wire will be the next breaker line.  I am a PPT fan and will use "The Gate" at the sub panel and will paste all connections with total contact.  My electricians are fine with this.  When I asked them if they had a better idea, they responded that in their opinion this was the best approach. I had discussed the benefits an isolation transformer with whart who has extensive experience with that particular set up as well.  I think the baseline power in my area wouldn't benefit from the extra cost.  I can always add an isolation transformer to the current set up which would need to be in place anyhow.  Thanks to all who contributed to this forum, but especially to jea48 who has gone way out of his way to help me.  Also thanks to Audiozenology for putting the idea forward in the first place-winner, winner chicken dinner.  From what I can gather, the ideas put forward in this thread are the distillate of the best options currently available.  Hopefully this will serve as a reference point for others.  Benzman,are you still following?