Romex to your amp?


One of my good friends, a non-aphile, asked me an interesting question...
I was discussing with him why my new pc made a nice improvement in my SQ.
So he asked me this question:
Why not take the Romex all the way from the wall and connect it to the amp...instead of
using an after market pc? His logic was that the in-wall cable is Romex and therefore a straight run to the power amp would be better ( or at least as good) as a break at the wall plug and an after market pc to the amp. Does he have a point??
128x128daveyf
An observaction, 2 of the 3 amp's in my system require each a 20 amp breaker. This was very evident with the light show when eather was turned on.Lucky thing, service panel is 15 feet away so we opened the wall. Installed two 12-2 wires each with its own 20 amp breaker leading to a split high grade 20 amp outlet close to the yamaha Pc4002m,Pc5002m amps. Still using the like new factory cords from outlet to amps and all eq. grounded, end of start up light show !! 
Now our observation, before dedicated wire feed my sound at idle was dead quiet and to all involved with flac type recording...life like sound !
Happy to report post wiring  "0" differance in sound... still life like !  
With an electronic engineer in the family, and a little factual science, I don't waste money and time in the endless snake oil market. 



The "light show" is the huge current draw charging up the capacitor bank of the power amps, which is not necessarily indicative of a significant continuous power draw. Those peak currents can easily be 50+ amps.

Are you running a common neutral for the two outlets or completely separate live/neutrals?  Are you using a tandem breaker with a common throw? .... if not, you should put a sticker on the outlet warning of dual supplies.
Along with the light show there was the occasional blip from any other  light or appliance down stream that I wanted to clean up.That said the current draw is an expected non-issue.
Two separate 12-2 wires to outlet box "splitter" style, using separate non-tandem breakers. Well posted in the panel, and at the very commercial looking outlet behind equipment. Code, over kill, and successful.

Cheers   
And, It IS federal law. 

NO. The NEC is NOT Federal Law.   If it was a Federal law it would be a CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) and it's not.   Local building codes are also not laws.  Local building codes generally reference national codes like the NEC and NFPA 101 as the basis of the local code.  Local codes may add additional requirements to the NEC, but rarely delete a requirement.

The NEC is also NFPA 70 (National Fire Protection Association) code.   There is no police agency that is going to enforce the NEC/NFPA 70.  Police agencies enforce laws, not building codes.  There is no direct punishment if you decide to not adhere to the NEC.  There are certainly liabilities and that may result in consequences of not following the NEC, but those are not direct punishments for not adhering to the NEC.

The NEC forms the basis for local electrical codes as part of local building codes enforced by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).  In most areas in the United States that is generally a local government agency with a title like "Planning & Development Services Department," or "The City of XXX Planning and Zoning Department," etc.  This is not a police agency with the authority to arrest and detain people.

Codes are enforced by the AHJ through construction inspections. If the inspection shows that the installation does not meet the local building code - nobody is arrested, and no one is going to jail.  If your installation does not meet code, you cannot proceed with additional work until the work is corrected and inspected for conformance to the building code - that's it.

Most electricians will not do work that violates the code because they can lose their license, and be held liable for any damages associated with the non-conforming work.  If the damages can be proven to be the result of performing work that does not conform to local building codes and the NEC, then their liability insurance will not cover the settlement - meaning they have a lot to lose professionally and personally if they do non-conforming work.  


@buckhorn_cortez. Not quite right...the zoning departments do have the ability to enforce zoning compliance. This means that if one were to build a structure without the necessary permits --and thereby also not meeting building codes, said department can enforce the removal of the non-permitted construction, if remedy is not made. The option of removal is typically given to the non-permitted building owner...or can be accomplished by the department, if the building owner fails/refuses to comply.