Electrical lines from fusebox to Amps--Upgrading?


I was about to use some Romex NM-B, 10 guage to make a dedicated run from my home's breaker box to the wall outlets,(PSA power ports) but thought I'd ask here about what to use to achieve an 'ultimate' result. Would using metal conduit add shielding to the system? Better wires out there? (I just heard about THHN wire ? ) And how many lines do I need? One per each amp?

Separate/additional ground? My stereo IS connected to my Video system, which runs off a Monster Cable HTS 5100, so I don't think I should isolate the ground to the stereo system (right?)

My amps are (2) McIntosh MC300's (300 w/ch). Fed by PSA II Lab cables from PSA's 20A ultimate outlets (one for each amp).

Do the front end/low power components need a separate line?

I'd appreciate any suggestions as to get the best results.

Thanks,

John
jbatlanta

Showing 2 responses by fmpnd

John, Jeff and DT, below is a copy of the e-mail I sent John. I researched this issue and followed what I thought to be the best course for me based on the great info from everyone here and on AA including guys like Bob Bundus and Ernie (Subaruguru) who were very helpful. I am not an electician or EE but read a lot and asked a lot of questions.

What I ended up with was what I described in the e-mail and the improvement was shocking. Just remember NOT to hook up the conduit and fourth conductor and that way the conduit is excellent shielding.

I am off to CES as I write this so I will not be on line until Sunday so I leave you in the capable hands of the guys here on Audiogon!!!

John, the twisting helps the inductance and the conduit provides superior shielding. I have Romex (albeit 12 gauge) in my other 2 dedicated lines and I can tell the difference with no problem. Here in Michigan no one carried individual conductor SOLID THHN 10 gauge (everyone had stranded) and so I bought Romex 10/4 (which has FOUR conductors - 3 shielded and one bare wire, all solid) and stripped off the plastic type coating. The beauty of this approach is that in this 10/4 the four conductors are already twisted (unlike in Romex 10/3 in which the conductors are side by side). Other people who have done this same thing have bought three separate conductors and then gone through the super hassle of twisting it in a drill and a vice (a real pain in the as$^%#$#). This way I simply used a fish tape to easily slide the 4 conductors through the flexible conduit. Then you leave the bare wire and the conduit unhooked to anything at one end and then the conduit becomes a great RFO/EMI shield.

You can hear many different things on this topic but I trusted some people who know their stuff and I am VERY happy with this choice. I was shocked at the improvement.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!

Frank