Dedicated Power Lines

You won't get a ground loop by running lines on opposite circuits from the panel. The ground is the same. Most, if not all qualified electricians will calculate the load of the circuits and split them at the panel to keep the house loads approximately equal so as to not overload one side. Based on your equipment listing, I would recommend three separate indepent circuits. I have mentioned this many times. 1) for all of your low level electronics, DAC, CD Transport, music server, pre-amp, phono stage, TT, tuner plugged into the same power conditioner and into one circuit. 2) stereo amp into it's own circuit, if you want eventually two mono amps, then run another circuit for good measure. 3) separate circuit for all of your home theater equipment also plugged into a separate power condition or outlet box. So, if you may have two mono amps, then one circuit for each amp, one circuit for all the low level audio electronics and one circuit for all your home theater electronics, each to an independent circuit back to the panel. Split the loads equally at the panel. Do not! put all of the load on one side of the panel circuit. this is a basic violation or electrical rules and will not prevent ground loops. Ground loops are caused by something all together different. if you have a raised foundation, it is relatively easy to run new circuits. If you have an attic, it is also relatively easy. However, a good qualified electrician can do wonders. Also, it is really not expensive to run indendent circuits. Plan carefully where your equipment will be situated before installing the outlets.

enjoy

I've been at this for quite some time and have experienced absolutely no problems splitting the load at the panel. First, I am a qualified electrician also and this is a basic element. Second, a dedicated line is just that. It can be run from either side of the panel, with the neutral and ground coming from the the neutral and ground points in the panel. Like I mentioned earlier, ground loops are not caused by this. They are caused by faulty design/contructed electronics with bad internal grounding systems, bad cables, etc. After I ran my dedicated lines, the noise floor dropped dramatically. No ground loops and absolute quiet. I also adhere to my philosophy of tying all low level electronics to the same power conditioner via a dedicated line and my two amps have their own dedicate line to the panel. and Yes! the amps are on different sides of the panel load. Dead quiet! and no ground loops and no cheater plugs. No way leakage can seep in the electronics. Each dedicated line has its own ground line and neutral back to the panel where they all terminate in a star like configuration. They all terminate at the same neutral and ground point at the panel. I can't explain it any better or clearer. But, it is not a point worth arguing. Each run of Romex has (three conductors in it. Hot, neutral and ground). So, each dedicated line has it's own three conductor Romex run from the panel to the outlet. This is how there is no leakage or sharing of neutral or ground. I think that is where the confusion arose. Some electricians will run lines and share neutrals. I don't.

This is really interesting reading all the posts and suggestions. 1) show me evidence where connecting electronics on the panel as balanced loads split evenly between phases actually causes ground loops and noise. I would bet money that this is an assumption made by people that have no idea what was actually causing their noise and ground loops. 2) Every qualified electrician will ask an important question before installing the new panel box and wiring the "dedicated" lines. That question will be "what will the specific loads be on each phase? And a qualified electrician that is concerned with not violating basic safety and code will pull out a calculator and split the loads equally. I'm not going to argue with anyone here regarding this issue. it is what it is. When I wrote separate lines, I actually meant "dedicated Lines" specifically lines that have three conductors per line. A hot wire, neutral and ground that are not shared with any other circuit and are dedicated lines all the way back to the panel. That is what I meant. I don't care if you use separate conductors or three conductor "Romex" type conductors. It is up to you and your electrician as long as it meets or exceeds code and serves your purpose. Sharing neutrals will absolutely contribute to ground loops and noise. And yes, you have to be very clear to the electrician in the instructions. Tell the electrician that you want "dedicate" lines with a hot, neutral and ground per dedicated line and to not share ground and neutrals. If your system doesn't draw massive current per phase, then it really won't make a difference if you connect it on one phase. However, if you have stupidly massive equipment that is on all the time and draws continuous current, this may overload one phase and is a basic violation of electrical code. Period! I read posts all the time where some well meaning person suggest to someone to do something to "fix" a problem and that "fix" is a violation of some code or safety standard. Such as the continuous use of "cheater Plug" or some other non-sense. But, they wont' be around when someone gets hurt will they? also, if you wire your panel incorrectly and a fire occurs and your insurance company finds out that it was purposely wired incorrectly, this may void your insurance coverage. I'm just saying... Do it correct the first time.

Bifwynne; In response to your question, the answer is no, the signals will not be out of phase if connected to different phases of the electrical panel. I suggest to the OP to be very clear in the instructions to the electrician. If you want 10 gauge conductor and are willing to pay for it, then so instruct the electrician. If you want 20 amp service per dedicated line, then also so instruct the electrician. Same for separate conductors as opposed to "Romex" style conductors. You can't go wrong with 10 gauge, 20 amp service per dedicated line. Each dedicated line having its own ground, hot and neutral back to the panel and will not be shared. If you want to place all your electronics on one phase at the panel. Go for it. If the load is too high and unbalanced, a good electrician will not do it. However, some will. Also, you will not have ground loops or noise if you split the load to each phase on the panel. Not if the ground and neutral are dedicated and not shared. They all terminate (and I mean all of them) back at the same ground and neutral point in the panel anyway. But, go for it anyway you want. just don't violate code and risk issues as I mentioned previously. Be on the safe side, and follow proper electrial standards. Again 99% of ground loops are caused by improperly designed and constructed equipment with bad internal grounding schemes and poor interconnect cables. You will appreciate dedicated lines.

There are many ways that noise can be added to the power lines. Large industrial motors, generators on the system, etc. However, when in your home, it can come from florescent lighting, refrigerator motors, microwaves, etc. You can actually scope the power line and see noise on it. A very good piece of equipment will have inherent internal power supply filtering that will remove the vast majority of this noise when converting to DC. Some have large coils in the power supply circuitry also that help with this. Your friendly neighborhood power company will acutally test your home system (if you complain and ask) and see if noise is present, or low voltage, or flickering (yes voltage flickering). Here is how you fix this. 1) remove all bad lighting,2) get a decent power conditioner for your low level electrics to plug into as I mentioned previously. I wouldn't swap around circuitry in the home. This is really a non-issue to me. If one is careful, run dedicated lines (with separate and unshared neutrals and ground conductors), proper interconnect cabling helps. I'm the first house off the power transformer for my area, so I have great voltage. Four dedicated lines for my system (which includes separate ground and neutrals for each dedicated line), CD, TT, Tuner, Pre-amp, Phono stage, DAC, electronic crossover all plugged into a very nice power conditioner and that is plugged into a dedicated circuit. Two stereo amps each plugged into its own dedicated circuit. Result, dead quiet.No ground loop, no refrigerator noise, no microwave noise, no lighting noise, no flickering, no voltage sagging, just music. However, I do believe it is important to not share neutrals or grounds on lines for the music system.