I am confused about 15A and 20A current.

Despite the fact that this is an 80+ lb beast with casters on the back (!), the back panel drawing and the owners manual state the power consumption as 800W (6.9A@115VAC). Points off for the Rotel WebSite, since their spec sheet says 1200W. Two out of three, I vote for 800W...

There are way too many unknowns in the post to be able to comment correctly. If the amp comes with a 20A IEC (highly doubtful), and a 20A cord for the US market, you wouldn't be able to plug it into a 15A receptacle, due to NEMA plug/ receptacle configurations. There isn't any information on the age of the house, and what edition of the NEC it was built to, if it was at all.

The owner's manual has the following note:
"The RB-1090 has a built-in surge attentuator to prevent opening the electrical circuit breaker or fuse at turn on." It sure smells like an amp problem, but I'd have the whole panelboard looked at first. As in, replace the whole thing, or at least have all circuit breakers replaced. By a *real electrician, of course...

Your Refrigerator could possibly be on a 20 amp circuit. Try plugging the whole mess into that outlet. If that circuit breaks, then that tells you something.

Refrigerator, plus kitchen counter tops, washing machine, plus typically one in the dining room since at least the 1975 NEC.

Unless someone has removed the amp's fuseholder and wirenut'ed the leads together, the amp fuse will blow *much sooner than the branch circuit C.B. (Time-current curves...)

You cannot just swap out a 15A breaker for a 20A. You must have at least 12/2 romex running from panel through the walls to accommodate the 20A breaker. When you just swap out breakers as above, you will over heat the romex wire, being that the 15A existing circuit is wired with 14/2 romex. If there is room in panel, then add a new 20A dedicated circuit for the hifi, which entails running new 12/2 romex from panel to new receptacle, which by the way must also be 20A. Yes, a bit of work indeed, but safe and solves the issue. Lastly, most prior answers suggest 12/3 romex which is not correct for the application. All you need is 12/2 (black/white/bare copper ground). The 12/3 contains a third conductor, red, and is typically used when installing a three way switch.

17 year old post