Dedicated circuit

[4krow]

  Alll I'm building today is shelving

   I have a strong belief that the AC is the base of any good system allowing maximum results from that system. Strange for me to say, but we are just manipulating the AC in such a way as to produce sound from our speakers.

  To go full bore may not be necc. As said before, balanced power conditioners seem to do as much good as any over the top attempt with dedicated line, i.e. running a dedicated line for the analog, and yet another dedicated line(in a separate jacket) for the digital.

[Jim R.]

Greg,

You hit the nail on the head.  Your system is only as good as the sources you have, and the AC power should be considered as another source -- no more and no less important than any other source.

I didn't have the equitech box at the old house with the dedicated line, though equitech does recommend a dedicated line if it is possible, so I can't say how much more that would do -- my guess is that with a low power consumption system, not a whole lot, but if you're running big SS mega-amps, it is probably a good thing.

The ultimate of course would to have a whole house equitech system, then the ground will be kept clean and power factor corrected and you might even see lower electric bills -- industrial customers certainly do, but theiir electricity is based on an entirely different kind of calculation based on peak current demand and other factors.  Next house - hah, if there is a next house.

-- Jim

[azrockitman]

I paid an electrician to run a dedicated circuit when I bought my current house and had my entertainment area remodeled to accommodate my equipment. 
Little did I know several years later, I was having some electrical work done and the electrician (unbeknownst to me) took it upon himself to rewire the box to accommodate the changes!!!!  I didn't even know he'd done it until a year or so later and had no idea how to contact him.

Lesson here:  Make sure to make clear notation in your electrical box that the circuit is not to be touched by human or alien hands.
 
I suppose I could hire someone to come back out and change it back...if he messed it up at the box, I'm sure it could be redone at the box.  Maybe I'll do that now....

[Jim R.]

I'm lucky in that I've had the same electrician for almost 10 years now and he definitely knows about my audio power needs.  As most electricians do, he thought it was a load of BS when I first hired him, but I've swapped poewr cords and did other before and after stuff when he's installed special outlets, etc. and now he doesn't question it at all -- he's heard it with his own two ears, knows nothing about high end audio, the relative prices of cables, etc.

-- Jim

[Grainger49]

In your breaker panel every other breaker is on a different phase.  So if you have two breakers, one above the other you have them fed from opposite phases of your incoming power.  You will feed a duplex outlet or dual duplex outlets from each breaker.

Your electrician will know this and might show you how the panel is set up.

[4krow]

  Jim, It's funny how things happen by some well meaning person, only to undo the effort put forth to begin with. About the Eqitech, I owned one a long time ago, and still would recommend one to anyone looking for a good balanced power unit.
  Grainger, I did what you are referring with my system at first, but then realized that the two dedicated lines ran under the same jacket. Seemed that I compromised the benefit that way. And yes, every other breaker is on a different phase. Usually a split phase running from the secondary of the transformer on the pole. I had this discussion on another forum and was told that I needed to read up on how power is made, distributed and that it was ALL one phase unless it was 3 phase. That really pissed me off. After the hundreds of poles that I had climbed, and the different power situations that I had dealt with in the last 35 years, it's that kind of ignorant arrogance pushes the button and keeps it pushed for awhile. Ok, I'm done with with my rant, thanks for listening.

[Grainger49]

Greg,

No, I didn't think of your system.  I had mine run together till 3 feet from the outlets.  So under the same cover won't make much difference.  The two "phases" are in phase with each other, otherwise they would add to zero.  They add to 220V AC.  They are independent voltage sources.  But there is a transformer's impedance between them.  That gives isolation of digital noise.

[4krow]

  G, That is correct. I'm a little punchy from work today, so I'm making less sense than usual. Anyway, I remember you saying that you own a PS300. Keep it forever! Out of the 2 PS units that I've owned, the 300 is the best by far in my opinion. The Premier edition gave me some fits.

[rockdrummer]

Confirmed the circuit, ordered my inwall speaker cable from blue jeans cable and I'm on my way.  Got the Belden 12awg.

Thanks for all the help everybody.

Ben

[4krow]

  Ben, This thinking forward that you are doing now will pay off again and again. I like to see the right thing being done from the start.

[RPMac]

Grainger and Greg, it is my understanding that the transformer on the power pole is configed as 120-0-120 with the center grounded...with the panel box being the terminals of this transformer. Connecting the two "hots" gives 240 volts. Connecting either of the two "hots" to the center tape (ground) gives 120 volts. The two "hots" use different "sides" of the transformer.

To isolate digital, you would have to go through the electrical circuits of the house to make sure that all digital equipment is on the same "hot". I don't think that is doable. A dedicated circuit does move the digital noise farther away.

With a Walkman radio on an AM station, I find all kinds of digital noise...computers, tvs, washing machine, dishwasher, lights. I'm hearing the RF noise, but I'm sure noise is going back into the electrical circuit.

I had a Heathkit AM tuner in my system. When I plugged my squeezebox wart in the same power strip, the radio was unlistenable. I isolated it with a computer battery backup. I have my tube equipment on a balance power transformer.

[Grainger49]

Robert,

Yes, you have it nailed! 

I only listen to my system when all other digital "appliances" are off.  So my digital items are on one phase, from a dedicated outlet and the analog are on the other phase through my P300 Regenerator.

[4krow]

  Robert you beat me to the punch. Yes the transformer is as you said. I only recently learned about different 'kinds' of 220 as used in say, the Philippines. I noticed that they use single ended 220. I always thought that 220 had to be balanced. And then in other countries, such as ours, it is. I read a short article somewhere that was interesting to me. It talked about the beginning of electrical service here, and the problems/changes to service. Don't know why it fascinates me so, but I will ever be so about it. THEN, you look at what a PS300 can do, and it gets even MORE interesting. If the 300 has the multiwave function, there are numerous ways to 'shape' your power waveform. Cra-azy.