Should Subwoofer Be Plugged Into Same Circuit?


I am running electrical lines for my theater myself. Should I make the outlet for the sub on the same circuit as the rest of the AV equipment, or put it on a separate circuit?

i could have sworn I read something that said it needs to be on the same circuit to help prevent ground loops.
craigert
... why is a 20 amp circuit recommended over a 15 amp out of curiosity?
My understanding is that 15 amp circuits are often wired with 14 gauge conductors, although they can be wired with 12 gauge, while 20 amp circuits must be wired with 12 gauge or larger. For a given amount of current 12 gauge will of course produce less voltage drop in the conductors than 14 gauge, resulting in a slightly higher voltage being supplied to the components. (Although if the line voltage that is supplied to the particular location is near the high end of its +/- tolerance less voltage drop in the conductors could conceivably not be preferable, depending on the design of the specific components). Also, of course, with a 20 amp circuit and breaker there is less chance of overloading the circuit and causing the breaker to trip, for instance if the power amp and/or the sub draw large amounts of current for significant amounts of time, during high volume musical passages.

@lowrider57
... correct me if I’m wrong, one of the receptacles needs to be grounded to the service panel, not self grounded. If there are two separate runs of Romex, then both need to be grounded to the panel to help prevent a ground-loop. This may also lower the noise floor.

I think your words "not self grounded" are referring to the fact that it is preferable for the safety ground wire to not be connected to metal conduit at the outlet, and that is correct per my understanding. Regarding that also see page 191 of the reference I linked to earlier, which discusses "isolated ground" receptacles. Note that using Romex to connect to a non-isolated ground receptacle accomplishes that by its nature, since there is no conduit.

And of course neutral and safety ground for all runs must be connected together at the main service panel, and they should be and hopefully will be connected from there to a nearby earth ground.

Best regards,
-- Al

If your equipment supports it then a balanced connection between the amp and sub would mean you wouldn't need to worry about ground loops at all and can plug in the sub wherever you want.
I’m covered for all of that conversation. Lol
Also, it’s a powered sub.

I do wonder if AFCI/GFCI outlets hurt an AV system.
I do wonder if AFCI/GFCI outlets hurt an AV system.
I was wondering about that, too.
bob
To avoid ground loops, power connections of all devices should be in a star connection and as short as possible, without obviously exceeding the power capacity of your socket.  So, to get as close to this configuration as possible, it is better to connect all your devices to ONE power socket.

If however, your sub is wireless, this does not matter.  I have mine at home wireless and therefore can plug it to any socket I want without any hum issues.