Internal Power Surges and Dedicated Circuits

Kenny - What type of internal "Power Surges" are you thinking of?

There may be DC voltage variations (generally, a momentary drop in voltage) which occur under certain conditions due to the inadequacy of the power supply . but there should be no internal "power spikes" (i.e. increases in the DC voltage)  if the circuit is designed correctly.

Separate circuits alone will not protect against this, but separate circuits with some form of power isolation/filtration or their own power supplies are generally very effective and often used, especially when there is a digital circuit in a component along with analogue components.

Regards...

Thanks willewonka.
For example, air conditioners or clothes dryers on different breakers than my audio, that is on its own and separate dedicated circuit. I plan to add an all house surge protector and I'm wondering if that's enough.
So, can a surge from the air conditioner affect my audio gear?
Kenny

Now I understand :-)

OK - first off there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this one, since it really depends on the power supply to your house, the power company and the supporting local infrastructure.

Power surges (increases in voltage) experienced in a home environment generally come from some external source and transferred via the power lines - the house-wide surge protector will protect against "most" of them from damaging electronics. 

However, lightening strikes in the ground directly outside the house, it can elevate the potential of the  ground and neutral and probably fry most electronics inside, but if it hits the house, the electronics will probably survive with the house wide suppressor

Now,  power fluctuations (i.e. a drop in voltage) can occur when high current devices, like air conditioners, furnaces etc,  power up.

Modern housing generally have enough power capacity to make this a rare occurrence and modern appliances are quite energy efficient, but older properties with old appliances can suffer this type of issue.

Noise from older "noisy" appliances will probably not be fixed by a house-wide suppression unit - you may require a separate unit that the device plugs directly into.

Separate power circuits help and if the breaker is as far from the breaker of the noisy appliance that will help also

A separate distribution panel goes a long way to remedying noise in house appliances - other than replacing them.

Having said that, its always a good idea to have an electrician take a look, since they would be able to provide the right solution based on their observations of your power supply and house wiring.

Regards...