Dedicated power circuits


I’m having some electrical work done including a whole house

generator, surge suppressor, and a new panel box. I am also going to have two dedicated power lines run for my stereo. I’ve read a lot on here about how this is a really nice upgrade and would greatly appreciate any advice to help me along on my project. Right now the plan is two 20 amp circuits with 10 gauge wire. One for my amp and one for my preamp and sources. My equipment is a McIntosh MC 452, a C47 right now but a C22 in the future, Rega P8, Rose hifi 150b,  McIntosh MR 74 tuner and Aerial 7t speakers. I’m also replacing my panel box with a new one. It’s a brand from a company that’s out of business and the quality and safety is suspect plus there are no new breakers available.

 

So starting with the breakers, then the wire and finally the receptacles what should I be looking for? The electrician that just left here is planning on the new panel being a Cutler Hammer brand. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

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Showing 8 responses by gphill

Thanks for all the responses. The Torus all in one looks interesting but at 18k it ain’t happening. Because of local code I’m going to have to use tamper resistant outlets which I will replace after the job is finished. Any special wire from the breaker box to the outlets? Any special breakers?

Thanks again for everyone’s help and advice. Joem2 what you did is what I’m planning. Did you you use any kind of special wire? I’m assuming you just used normal 20 amp breakers.

I really appreciate all the helpful suggestions. What I’ve decided to do is 3 dedicated 20 amp circuits using the 10 gauge aluminum mc cable and eventually some nice Hubbell outlets although for inspection purposes the outlets will have to be cheap tamper resistant ones. Thanks again for all the help.

So the electricians are here today putting in my 3 dedicated power lines. I had a new square D QO 200 amp panel box installed with all new breakers. They also installed a 26kw standby Generac generator along with a whole house surge protector. For my new lines I’m using 10 gauge aluminum clad mc wire and eventually Hubbell 5362 outlets. I realize I could have done more, and in the end I may go with some kind of power conditioner for my front end, but for now this is going to be it. Looking forward to a better and cleaner sound.

All the electrical work has been done and I have 3 new dedicated 20 amp circuits wired with mc 10 gauge wire and Hubbell 5362 outlets. The wire goes from the new outlets in my den, which is where I listen to music, directly to my new square d panel box with 20 amp arc breakers. I tried it out today and everything is working as it should. Today was just casual listening to my local NPR radio station, but I can report there were no hums or ground loops just very nice sound from my Mac MR 74 tuner. 

This week I should have some chances to listen a little more critically and will report how the sound of my stereo has changed. 
 

 

I had a chance to do a fair amount of listening yesterday and truly believe this was a worthwhile upgrade. I have my amp on one line my preamp on one line and my sources on the other line. The sound seems cleaner with blacker backgrounds. My system has never sounded better. By the way all three lines are on the same leg. I’m not going to write a flowery review describing how much my sound has changed but it is significant. Thanks for all the help guiding me through this process, it’s greatly appreciated.