To put things into perspective, your amp alone can EASILY pull 20+ amps by itself if you are throttling the volume control. You have to remember that this amp is FIVE x 200 wpc @ 8 ohms or FIVE x 400 wpc @ 4 ohms.
A review i have of the standard ( non-Signature version ) of the 2 channel Sunfire ( 300 wpc x 2 @ 8 ohms ) had them easily tripping 15 amp circuits when trying to measure this amp on the bench. Now consider that this amp is "only" 600 watts @ 8 ohms( both channels combined ) and your amp is rated at 1000 watts @ 8 ohms ( all channels combined ) and you might begin to get the picture. I'm not saying that you'll ever push your system to drawing that much power or have all of the channels "pumping" at once, but this might give you a better idea of what you'll need in terms of the amount of current that a "filter" or "surge suppressor" would need to pass without restriction.
Personally, I found out about this the hard way. I was running my Sunfire Signature that powers the mains in my HT system ( 3 - 4 ohm 86 dB speakers ) and sent the amp into thermal shutdown on two different occasions. Bare in mind that this amp is rated at 1200 wpc @ 4 ohms and actually maxes out ( goes into clipping ) at about 1450 - 1480 wpc at that impedance. That is, IF you can feed it enough voltage and current from the wall to maintain that level. While i sent the amp back into Sunfire for a check-up and some upgrade modifications, i came to find out that the amp WAS being choked with a 20 amp circuit feeding it. Needless to say, i was kind of shocked but not in disbelief. Obviously, it takes BIG power if you want to make BIG power.
Since you have a dedicated breaker box, your best bet might be to check into surge suppression at the box itself rather than limit what the amp can draw. This would protect EVERYTHING in your system at the same time and it would do this without introducing momentary voltage sag into the rest of the system. You have to remember that as the amp tries to pull current for momentary surges, it would be doing so at the expense of all of the other components that were connected to the PLC. Take that a step further and realize that ALL of your components in the system are now fed by the ONE power cord that feeds the PLC and you can see where a power restriction could easily take place.
To put things into perspective real quick, an amp of this size should have its' own power feed and NOT be tied into a common PLC that feeds the rest of the system. Sean
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