Electrical Power - Dedicated Runs

Audire

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We are considering purchasing some MTRX2 monos. They each need a 30A dedicated circuit. MSB states the following:

MSB’s recommended wiring

? 1 to 40 feet: 10 gauge wire
? 40 to 60 feet: 8 gauge wire
? Over 60 feet: 6 gauge wire

The 8 gauge (or 6 gauge) requires a jump-down back to 10 gauge using a junction box, somewhere just before the outlet because the largest wire that will fit in an outlet is 10 gauge. Install one dedicated line for all front end equipment, and one for each amplifier. If you must feed old branch circuits off one of these outlets, it is not absolutely necessary that your audio lines are dedicated lines as long as the wire path at the outlet you are using goes directly back to the breaker panel using 10 gauge or heavier wire. The circuit can branch to other outlets from your audio outlet if necessary. (some people won’t agree with this).

Has anyone else here run 6 gauge wire stepped down to 10 gauge wire? If so, how is it’s performance?

Vince Galbo’s article: How to Wire your House for Good Power?
 

Pacha

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I'll be really interested in the answers you get. I ran a dedicated line for my system but, only needed 20 amp circuits and ran 10 gauge wire approximately 35 feet.
 

MarkusBarkus

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...I have dedicated home-run lines in 12ga. Romex and 10ga THHN in flex metallic conduit. "Currently" everything is on the 10ga. with a TT7.

In the next few days I will run a #6 cable for the gear. This cable and the outlet was purchased from Jim at Sound Application (TT7).

The run is about 35'. The impedance differences among the cable sizes is significant. My goal is always: speed. Good Luck!
 

Audire

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Thanks MarkusBuckus.please let us know how that works out. I’ll check Jim at Sound Application website. Thanks.

I should have stated that I already have dedicated circuits in 10 gauge run. But to my understanding that is the minimum for 30A. They are also on the same phase.
 
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Audire

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I'll be really interested in the answers you get. I ran a dedicated line for my system but, only needed 20 amp circuits and ran 10 gauge wire approximately 35 feet.

From my understanding and reading Vince’s article I think you are good to go as long as everything is on the phave. But I’m not an electrician, so hopefully one will give some advice for both of us.
 
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microstrip

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Unfortunately the Vince Galbo article is just his recommendation, without any quantitative recommendation that could endorse his arguments.

In doubt I would blindly follow the amplifier designer advice. He knows his amplifiers power supply requirements better than any of us.
 
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Alrainbow

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We are considering purchasing some MTRX2 monos. They each need a 30A dedicated circuit. MSB states the following:



Has anyone else here run 6 gauge wire stepped down to 10 gauge wire? If so, how is it’s performance?

Vince Galbo’s article: How to Wire your House for Good Power?
what voltage ? is the power cord factory installed so non removable ? my ml no 33 qmps are rated at 27 amps 120 volts at 1200 watts . i use 6 gauge wire tailed to 12 gauge to single hospital grade 20 amp outlets . the size of the conductors is important but so is the ground wire size and how its implamented . lastly while its safe to say its his view its more safe to say listen to him . years back he wrote an article on power and grounding all he said not only makes sense but is in part whats needed . i am a lisc PE electrical eng and lisc elctrical contractor vince is a good man to follow .
 

Audire

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what voltage ? is the power cord factory installed so non removable ? my ml no 33 qmps are rated at 27 amps 120 volts at 1200 watts . i use 6 gauge wire tailed to 12 gauge to single hospital grade 20 amp outlets . the size of the conductors is important but so is the ground wire size and how its implamented . lastly while its safe to say its his view its more safe to say listen to him . years back he wrote an article on power and grounding all he said not only makes sense but is in part whats needed . i am a lisc PE electrical eng and lisc elctrical contractor vince is a good man to follow .

Thanks. The EMM MTRXs that I’m considering come with a Kimber power cord. It’s a very nice one and it’s performing well. But I like Shunyata better - if they make such a cable.

The amps are 1000 watts into 4 ohms. It has a 30A 250V 3-pin, IP44, IEC60309 type power inlet. The manual does say, “For maximum power each MTRX2 should be configured and installed on its own dedicated 230-240VAC circuit.” I’m not sure how difficult that would be to put into the panel. That’s all I know.

Thanks again. Your post is very helpful. It confirms as another post did that I can combine the 6 gauge and the 10 gauge (which is already run).

Here‘s their manual if it helps: EMM manual
 
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gds7368

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We are considering purchasing some MTRX2 monos. They each need a 30A dedicated circuit. MSB states the following:



Has anyone else here run 6 gauge wire stepped down to 10 gauge wire? If so, how is it’s performance?

Vince Galbo’s article: How to Wire your House for Good Power?
No … but I ran three 10-gauge dedicated wire runs (about 75 feet) to my dedicated audio outlets for about 6 months … then reran it with twisted 8-gauge and I immediately heard the difference. Fuller, clearer, better everything …

I had very noisy power FWIW … quite the project
 
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Avidlistener

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Can you tell us more about the 8 gauge ? We’re you using a sub panel, or was it stepped down?
 

gds7368

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Direct from the house main power … dedicated electrical sub-panel … into two power transformers in series … separate dedicated ground rods … out to the audio outlets.

Now the audio circuit is split off from the noise of the house electric … followed Vince’s white paper.

My electrician was ready to shoot me by the end but it was well worth all his hard effort. We listened to Fleetwood Mac when it was all done and even he immediately appreciated the difference!
 

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eagle33331

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Can anyone in UK tell me what is the circled box in this picture? It's my mains set-up: FB - main fuse board; ME - meter; 100F - 100A fuse; M - incoming mains cable; H - Henley blocks to split mains tails into hifi consumer unit; HIFI - dedicated board with 2 radials out to double sockets. Thx.
 

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audioquest4life

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Can anyone in UK tell me what is the circled box in this picture? It's my mains set-up: FB - main fuse board; ME - meter; 100F - 100A fuse; M - incoming mains cable; H - Henley blocks to split mains tails into hifi consumer unit; HIFI - dedicated board with 2 radials out to double sockets. Thx.
Looks like a secondary mains breaker going to what looks like a sub panel. Red, or sometimes black switches seem to be universal in terms of main power kill switches. You can see that this switch is in front of other things. What is connected to that end of the electrical circuit. It reminds me of a sub panel.
 

eagle33331

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Looks like a secondary mains breaker going to what looks like a sub panel. Red, or sometimes black switches seem to be universal in terms of main power kill switches. You can see that this switch is in front of other things. What is connected to that end of the electrical circuit. It reminds me of a sub panel.
The main fuse box connects to it and the dedicated consumer unit. It just seems like an unnecessary secondary switching unit given there's also a 100amp fuse box. I guess it's to comply with UK regs.
 

Sharok

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I need a sub panel (outdoor) for 8 dedicated circuits (20 amps each).

Any suggestions for the panel (nothing fancy)?

I'd like it to be copper and about 100 amps more or less.

Thanks
 
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Adco

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I went a different route. I had a small custom power cord builder here in Canada NRG Cables build me two 50’ long versions of his 5 gauge power cords

the power comes off the 20 amp breakers as standard # 8 cable for 1 metre then into boxes where each cord is plugged into a Furutech NFC single outlet. The breakers are on the same phase of the panel with the ground bonded as it should be in the panel. I also additionally bonded the receptacle and the box to the main earth grounds heading out to the grounding plates outside.

I am lucky in that these cable do not need to be buried in the wall they run through an adjacent storage room that is unfinished.

these power cables have been the best “reasonable” upgrade for my 200 watt class A Clayton amplifiers I could imagine . A76930EB-C002-4389-9C8E-E49B0A9C2DA0.jpeg
 

Adco

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We are considering purchasing some MTRX2 monos. They each need a 30A dedicated circuit. MSB states the following:



Has anyone else here run 6 gauge wire stepped down to 10 gauge wire? If so, how is it’s performance?

Vince Galbo’s article: How to Wire your House for Good Power?
The Furutech NFC outlets are designed to take an #8 gauge stranded wire… likely some of the other “audiophile” receptacles do as well.
Just a thought , 8 gauge is easily good for 20 amps 50’ or better
 

Audire

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The Furutech NFC outlets are designed to take an #8 gauge stranded wire… likely some of the other “audiophile” receptacles do as well.
Just a thought , 8 gauge is easily good for 20 amps 50’ or better
Thanks. We’ve since purchased Vitus SM-103 monos. So the EMM MTRX2s are out of the equation now.
 

Alrainbow

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Do the amps come 220 volt ? If yes it’s your best option for a few reasons
Less dc offset and less line noise
less amps on the breaker and wires
less amps on the psu transformers as well.
 

Hilroy48

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I am an electrician by trade, so I wire as per the electrical code for my area. I ran a 20A CCT with #12 NMD-90. A 30 foot run, with no voltage drop. I am feeding my entire system as well as both of my Sugden MPA-4 mono blocks. I run from the wall outlet which has 120V coming out into my Saturn 103C power conditioner. Coming out of the Saturn PC I have a solid 124V.

The Calculation for the wire I used for voltage drop was 3% if the run was 245 feet long. In my opinion, you want to have less connection points in the run. I have 2 points of connection, the breaker and the Cardas wall plug. Each time you have a connection, you risk having a high resistance. There is nothing wrong with a dedicated line per Amp, and a third circuit for the rest of your gear. If you are running 150 feet or less, I would not worry about voltage drop, considering it will be point to point connections.

#10 is sufficient for 30A load. Do your amps draw an actual 30A of continuous load? Or is that the max they would draw cranked up.
 
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