2. misc-audio
  3. 188114-185452

Power questions

Hello all.

New enthusiast here.  My question is about source power for my equipment. Im redoing the wall that my equipment is on. I use it for 2 channel and movies. Purpose is to increase distance between my left and right speakers and to get a larger tv. As an electrician, when i origionally roughed the wall I knew enough to pull a dedicated cct for the "entertainment system".  I never envisioned getting sucked down this worm hole. So...being that the wall is open i can easily pull another dedicated circuit. Perhaps #10 awg. So i would have 2 dedicated 20 amp ccts on the wall and a 15amp general purpose cct.  My equipment is as follows: Anthem mrx740 avr, Anthem 325mkII amp, Paradigm Founders 120H left and rights which have active woofers , a node streamer, and a Rell wireless module.  Behind the wall is the router for the house(stair case wall).  The amp powers my lcr speakers. The avr powers my surrounds. Questions are:

1. Would another cct make sense?

2.  How would equipment be best devided between the ccts? (I know this should probably be obvious but amuse me please)

3. Would pulling a dedicated neutral be better than sharing  a neutral as far as noise reduction?

4. Isolated Ground outlets?

Thanks for any input 

 

 

 

sandrodg73

Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,912 posts
 

OP:

The issue with a hospital vs. audio is not the plug, it’s the grounds. AFAIK, hospital gear doesn’t connect to other hospital gear in a daisy chain.

The signal grounds in audio however may go from device to device. So, sure, use an isolated ground outlet if you want, but having your processor be several feet from your amps in terms of ground wiring distance can cause issues. Best to use a star grounding system, where they all meet in 1 place near the equipment than 20’ away.

Of course, you can always use non-metallic outlet boxes, making the whole question of an isolated ground moot.

erik_squires
15,912 posts
 

The biggest issue I foresee is having different grounds for your processor vs. your amp and sub amps.

So,  very unpopular opinion, I'd run 12-3 or 10-3 to run a multi-wire branch circuit (i.e. split neutral).

I'm also not a huge fan of running 10 gauge wiring, mostly because a little inductance and resistance between you and the panel reduces noise from elsewhere, but if you have a very long run and anticipate high currents it can be better.

Another possible alternative you should consider is using 6 gauge Romex to a sub panel in the room. 

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