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Romex and breaker switches

I did a search and have read previous posts, but I still have some questions. I had an electrician install dedicated lines in my listening room when we built our house 20 years ago. I bought simple hospital grade outlets from a big box store and did not specify the gauge of the romex or anything else. I need to clear out my dedicated listening room soon for new hardwood to be installed and figured now would be a good time to revisit and improve my dedicated lines. I have already bought a pair of Oyaide R1 duplexes and intend to have them installed side by side behind my equipment rack. My question is-is there a particular variation of 10 gauge romex that would be best? I have looked and there are quite a few variations including 10-2 and 10-3 and I have no idea what to buy or for that matter, if some other wire that would do the job and not be prohibitively expensive presents a better option. I will need a 20 foot run for each duplex. Also, can someone help me as to whether the breaker switch on my panel matters much and whether I should opt for 20A, 30A, or other? I now know that all runs from my duplexes to the panel should be to the same leg. I will make sure that happens. Any other recommendations or advice about romex/wire to use and breaker switches given my decision to go with Oyaide R1's would be most appreciated. 
128x128fsonicsmith
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cleeds
6,009 posts
 
yogiboy0
You don’t want to put a 30A breaker on a 20A circuit.
Agreed! If you are using a 20A receptacle, you want a 20A breaker.

For a 20 amp circuit 12-2 romex would be the correct gauge to use. If you use 10 gauge it will be difficult to terminate on the outlet ... 10 gauge ( 30 amp ) is used for something like a clothes dryer!
There can be advantages to using 10 gauge wire on a 20A circuit, including reducing voltage drop. It is difficult to work with, and using a pigtail into the outlet does make it easier to terminate.
greg22lz
182 posts
 
@wolf_garcia LOL Love the sense if humor!

jwolchak
4 posts
 
It's not all optional really. You can't use a 30 amp ckt without using a specially configured receptacle. It's no longer a "t" shaped neutral prong with a straight prong hot plus ground. It's shaped differently and your equipment would be unable to connect to it. And you can use a 10 awg wire on a 20 amp ckt but you couldn't use a 12 gauge wire on a 30 amp ckt. There's no limitation to how large your wires can be no matter the ampacity of a ckt. If it were me, without a doubt I'd install a 10awg 12-2 plus isolated ground bx cable. Hell, I'd definitely install an isolation transformer in the picture too if I were running a dedicated line. That would be a bigger gain than choosing 10 vs 12 awg. Pig-tailing a 12 gauge solid to a 10awg gauge solid wire is definitely not difficult. 
jnovak's avatar
jnovak
433 posts
 
Make sure when you say "dedicated"' that it means all three legs are running directly back to the box. Many electricians will share the neutral, which is legal but undesired for audio purposes. Joe
jphilopena
9 posts
 
Go for the 10-3.  20 amps is more than enough.  15 amps is as well. 2 15 amp circuits is 30 X 120 =  3,600 Watts.  With a 20 foot run, the costly, cryo-treated, blah blah blah cable is simply bragging rights.  It's your money.  But get good quality breakers.  ABB is the preferred brand.  The Oxide outlets are very good.  If you want the pretty carbon fiber, super duper covers - again, your money.  Metal, brass or stainless steel works as good if not better.  Carbon fiber is resistive and won't shunt any applied energy (interference) as well.
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