There is a handy little device that Rat Shack sells under part number 22-101 and is called a "circuit tester". It looks like a standard three prong male power plug but has a little chart on top of it and three LED's sticking out of the back end. You simply plug it into the outlet and it will give you a readout via the LED's. Compare the color code of the LED's to the various combinations presented in the chart and that will tell you if your outlets are wired "normally". While it can also tell you whether or not you have a ground, it will not differentiate between a "good" or "poor" ground. Just that it is or isn't connected. Even though both outlets that i had mono-blocks plugged into checked out fine, they were on different breakers and it resulted in a very noticeable 60 Hz hum. In other words, this device is not a "cure all", it's simply a "quick & dirty" check to see if everything is BASICALLY okay. Sean
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I would like to thank all of you for your informative information. I did check all of the room outlets and they are all on one dedicated line, I think I will be ok, thanks again, John |
As Sean notes above there are potential problems to adding additional supply lines to your system, and is why I always advocate simulating a proposed additional line(s) setup for those who need/or want to try. There's even more potential problems with AGG's setup.
For starters it violates the National Electric Code which requires seperate a neutral (white) wire to the neutral side and seperate ground (usually bare or green) to the ground connection of a 115 volt outlet. The reason for this is to avoid the dangerous potential of a floating ground.
AGG, if your lines breaker is a double wide unit with a common lever, the two lines are most likely out of phase with each other. That's the normal way to get 230 volts in a common residential system. Don't even think of putting one of these lines on a different breaker (to create a common phase supply). You risk creating an extremely dangerous situation where 40 amps can travel thru a very undersized wire.
Like other posters to power related postings on this site: If you are not clear of the code requirements for a safe installation. Hire a licensed electrician for his knowledge. |
I tend to agree with Sean that - apart from separating digital from analogue - you are best to use a single outlet for all your components. This gives you a star earth with least resistance, provided you have a good earth from wall socket to ground. But the other posts above bring up points that are relevant too. |
HI Sean. Can you help with what instrament/and the "how to" to check phase? I am doing maybe the unthinkable. I take a 3 wire 220 air conditioner circuit( 2 20 amp breakers joined in the box) black and white are both hot/the bare copper,being the neutral. A black and the bare copper being one outlet. The white and the same copper being another outlet.I have been doing this for 7/8years.-----But,how to tell;are they phase? |
You have to be careful when it comes to breaking your system up onto different outlets. Unless all of the outlets are on the same circuit breaker or fuse, you can easily run into ground loops, higher noise floors, etc... I found this out the hard way when i went to some mono-blocks in my computer room system last year. Due to their location, i had to use two different outlets. While i could never put my finger on it, the system just never sounded right after that. As it turns out, I had a low level buzz coming throughout the whole system that was hardly noticeable due to all of the ambient noise in the room ( air cleaner, ionizer, etc..) Once i got the plug situation straightened out, it sounded far superior and i had to wonder how i had been listening to it like that for so long. Besides having to worry about ground loops, make sure that the outlets are wired in phase with each other. I've had outlets that were wired backwards from one another and that made a big difference, especially on the phono stage. TONS more noise due to the high gain. Sean
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The Rogue will sound better with new AC cords.The stock ones like all stock ac cords are average. |
Radioman; It looks to me that (based on Alex's 1725 watts) you, at the very least, have adequate watt capacity with the outlets you have safety wise. I've done some research on Proac speakers, and the 2.5/3.8s I believe have easy to drive impedence (about 8 Ohm)-- nice speakers BTW. Also, the Rogue monos should not be a difficult load electrically, ie as impedence drops, tube amps do not increase their power demands like a good SS amp does. As Alex notes, I've also read that it's desirable sonically to have the monos on different circuits, but probably all the existing outlets in your room are on the same circuit anyway. BTW, last summer I had an electrician put in 4 Hubbell duplex dedicated outlets and dedicated ground, and it dropped the music's noise floor dramatically, but then required good quality power cords to get rid of brightness (from the stock cheap power cords). Total cost was about $850.-- mostly labor. Good Luck. Craig |
A 15 amp circuit at a nominal 115 volts has 1725 watts of available power. Compare that against the maximum operating power required by the 2 amplifiers. If your operating power requirements of all connected equipment is nearing 1500 watts you want to seriously consider adding another circuit to prevent voltage drop problems.
With monoblocks there are some who favor putting them on two circuits. Each one on opposite sides of the mains breaker. Supposedly this setup aids in canceling common noise. There are ways to simulate this setup if you want to see whether it's benefical in your situation. My method requires you know how to use a voltmeter however. |
Thanks Craig, my amps are going to be Rogue Audio M120's with the magnum uprade. Their rated at 120w per channel, my speakers are Proac Response 2.5's 86db spl. My room size is 11 x 18. I have two outlets I can use, both having two sockets each to plug into. So that means I have four sockets, one for my PSAUDIO power plant, two for my mono blocks. |
Hi Radiomanjh; A typical "home" outlet is rated for 15 amperes (current), so it depends on how much current your amps draw, which in turn depends on the load the speakers place on the amps, which in turn depends on how big your room is and how loud you listen. So the answer is "it depends". I'm not trying to be a wise guy here, in fact I'm going to be facing the same question soon. 15 amps is quite a bit of current for say, 200 wpc monos in a medium sized room at moderate volume. And speakers of moderate impedance (4-6 Ohms), and medium sensitivity (about 87-89 SPL at 1 meter). Maybe I'm only adding confusion, or maybe giving you some things to consider. I forget how to convert amps (current) to watts. Maybe someone else can help us here. More info. on your amps and speakers would help answer your question. Good Luck. Craig |
