AC Power Suggestions


I am looking for strategies to power the home theater system listed below. The TV and speakers are in a family room with a media closet/rack directly behind the TV wall (basically a storage area). I started down this path because there are no usable outlets in the media closet (except a 220 volt Sump Pump outlet) so I figured I should call an electrician and have one put in. This opened up a huge can of worms about what type of AC receptacles I should use, should I have a dedicated circuit/line(s) run to the closet, should I use a power conditioner/surge protector/UPS, if so which ones, should the audio be on a different circuit than the video, should the amp go directly in the wall. This is a house built in 1999 with underground wiring in Rochester, MN. In the 30 plus years I have lived in Rochester I have never had or heard of any complaints about the power (brownouts, etc.) I have never had any appliance die from a lightning strike. The only thing I might add to this setup is a beefy high current amp to power the MMG-Fronts, at some point. As you can see, this is not a top-of-the-line system, but not bad for a system that leans heavily toward home theater. However, I do listen to music on this system and would like to get the most I can out of the Maggies for that purpose. I have a limited budget, and therefore am looking for the best “bang-for-buck” way to power the system. Would a Porter Port AC receptacle be a good match for this system? Are dedicated lines necessary and how many? Is surge protection necessary in my situation? Will power conditioning/voltage regulating /UPS produce any noticeable results? Should everything be on the same outlet/circuit or should audio be separated from video or form sources, etc? I have done a lot of forum reading and I just can’t make out what is going to be the best mix for me. Any suggestions?

TV: Pioneer Kuro Non-Elite PDP-5020fd 50” Plasma
Pre: Onkyo TX-SR805 (for DTS-HD MA, TrueDolby decoding)
Amp: Outlaw 7125 (190 watts/4ohms)
Speakers: Magnepan MMG (fronts), MMG-C (center), MMG-W (surrounds)
Sub: Outlaw LFM-1 Plus
Sources: Tivo Series 3
Pioneer BDP-51fd (Blu-ray)
Apple Airport Express (streaming lossless audio)
HTPC (SageTV DVR)
Motorola Converter Box
Accessories: Western Digital My DVR 500GB Expander
Monoprice HDMI Splitter (Split A/V from Blu-ray to TV and Pre-amp)
Linksys 5-port switch (LAN to Tivo, PC, Airport)
2x Computer Case Fans (cooling for Onkyo)
Idealume Paneleight (attached to back of Plasma)
HDE IR Remote Turn-On Plug (for Idealume)
2x APC NET9RM SurgeArrest 9-receptacle Rack Mount Network Power Strips
Cables-to-Go 4030 Remote Control Repeater Kit
cpalcott

Showing 1 response by sc2

I will tell you upfront, I am not a expert in this audiophile stuff. When I started trying to setup an area I had to run my own power. I would recommend you running the lines from the electrical box to your location yourself, save some money, ( let the electrician hook them up if you don’t know how) I would run 12Ga AWG (2+ ground) minimum, and use medical grade receptacles in the wall. Depending on your amp draw, 20 amp breakers minimum in the breaker box.. If your amps ( or future amps) are going to draw a lot of power, then figure one receptacle per amp and MAYBE one other item can plug into it like a processor/ music server ( your amp doesn’t appear to be drawing very much). I would recommend running 4 separate lines (4 separate breakers) 2 lines with one receptacle each and the others with 2, this would give you some room for expansion, speaking of expansion, open your breaker box door and see if there are any un-used breakers (or slots that don’t have breakers) if not, it’s going to get more costlier for you to expand that box. I personally would want to keep my audio & video separate. Manufactures usually design there products with a little give as far as surges go, but chances are if you take a lightning strike it will fry your equipment even with a protector. I have read from others that the EMP pulse from a lightning strike hitting on there neighbor house has fried all their electrical appliances, cell phones and sound system.
One other thought of surge protection is it may color your sound…

Hope it helps…