Outlets and Wire Gauge? - Please help!


I finally contracted an electrician to run two dedicated lines - a week from today! I have been reading thread after thread and the consensus appears to be going with 10awg wire for the 20amp run. My problem is two-fold:

  1. I'm stuck selecting an outlet because the electrician says that no 20amp outlet can take 10awg, that "10awg is for 30amp outlets".
  2. I'm stuck selecting an outlet because of what it might do to my sound. 

I simply want to install something good that's going to feed a Puritan Audio PSM156. I am now running ADG Gran Vivace monos. I prefer a rich midrange.

Additionally, I asked for both a 15 and 20 amp run. People suggested I do this so my sources can be run off the 15A with amps / subs off of the 20A, but someone here mentioned ground loops? I am not well-versed in things electrical. Ideally I would like to know if I should stick with the two runs, and what would be a few good choices for each outlet if I do. @jea48 @erik_squires ... I have seen solid advice from you on the topic of outlets, but they lack things specific to awg and outlet type.

Thank you in advance!

PS I estimate the length of the run to be approximately 50', max.

128x128izjjzi

Showing 6 responses by raysmtb1

If you really wanna know if it’s money well spent. You should record a video of your smart phone screen while using an app for your phone that measures LUF’s. LUF,s are what sound engineers measure instead of measuring RMS. From what I’ve read it’s the superior way to measure music. I found this app for my iPhone called.”youlean LM”. The app is very easy to read, and will also keep a record of the sound that your equipment is producing. You could measure some music or some test tones from the same location in your room before and after you change the wiring. It would be really cool to find out if it makes a difference at all. I’m putting my money on that it will not make a difference. But, if I’m wrong, then I will be calling my local electrician and having mine changed as well. 

@izjjzi you were making so much sense until you got to the last sentence of your last post. There is no way that a human or a machine for that fact could tell a difference in an electrical signal within the first 48 hours of it being plugged in.

and I’m not sure what the guy who is writing the post above me is talking about either. From what I can tell, he’s gonna say it makes a difference if it goes through the attic. Versus another space and did they run the wire on the face of the joist or bore holes in the joist. Nothing I’ve written in this paragraph will make any difference and sound.

He wants to use a plug a decent size load into these new wires for 48 hours. What are you supposed to do plug in a couple microwave ovens and let them run for 48 hours? I’m really sorry but none of this makes any sense. White possibly could the amount of spaces that are empty in the panel have anything to do with anything?

@izjjzi sorry if I was being a little rough last night. I think I blew a gasket after reading so much bad information on the this forum. The only way that I know that an outlet can change over time is if a vermin chews through the wire feeding the outlet. Many of these threads end up leaning towards the science deniers because the people arguing for science tend to get their comments deleted. I think it’s probably because they can’t believe what they’re reading and lose their mind and maybe should’ve not used a derogatory word or two…either that or, the science crowd doesn’t have a way of putting money in the forum owners coffers, like all of the manufactures of this junk do. Please accept my apology.

As long as you follow the rules as written by the national electric code all of this other stuff doesn’t make a difference. The engineers that designed the product that you purchased at the store have thought through all of this. Of course you know AC stands for alternating current. For some unknown reason, people fall into the trap of thinking of electricity as if it were water. Some of the metaphors between AC current and water do make sense but many others don’t. Before you hear anything musical, it’s all converted into DC inside the component. Every component does this, that’s the point where everything changes and the engineers have designed the cleanup of the power. If I was an engineer, and I’m not, but if I was, I would want this step in the process to be as effective as possible as to not make my product susceptible to interference. Thus making my design sound less than what it could. You’ve got this process in every component in your system. It’s been cleaned up right before it hits the DC circuitry , that makes the component work. The engineers have left no time for it to get contaminated. If you’re going to think of this as cleaning up the power that’s the place to do it. Right before you drink it and that’s what they’ve done in every product that you have in your system . 
 

I think that these changes that you speak of that happen daily can be attributed to you and not the device. Think about all of the things that change inside of us as living organisms. Depending on how much moisture is in the air affects your sinuses, which are part of your ear, nose, and throat. What about the amount of earwax and location of the earwax that changes from day to day? how about just your general mood? I’m sure if I thought about it I could come up with more. I really believe that there’s more things that alter what we hear because of being human than things that change inside of a wall outlet.

@erik_squires what do you do for a living? You are the man with this electrical code knowledge. Excellent thanks for taking the time to explain the complications of electricity. I wish I had your knowledge. I think it would take a lifetime to completely understand the electrical book