Room Electrical Wiring Question

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Rod_S

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Room Electrical Wiring Question
« on: 26 Sep 2024, 02:57 pm »
Hello,

I have a question regarding wiring up the room. For the 1st time ever I'm going to have the opportunity to properly wire up a new room. Having lived in an apartment never allowed for this. So the room currently has 4 outlets, all 15amp and probably all on the same breaker, if not all then possibly split somehow. I have requested an electrician come and upgrade all 4 outlets to be 20amp and each on their own 20amp dedicated breaker. The electrician asked if I wanted a 120 or 240 setup. Knowing that none of my gear actually requires 240 I said 120.

What would 240 provide if anything?

I have:

Bryston 28B-SST2 x 2
Bryston 7B-SST2 x 2
Bryston 4B-SST
Bryston BDP-2
Bryston BIT-20
Furman IT-Reference
Anthem AVM90
Oppo BDP-205
Pioneer Elite PRO-150FD 60" plasma (will be replaced at some point by either a 77" or 83" OLED)
Paradigm Reference Servo 15a sub x 2
Paradigm Signature Sub 25
various game consoles, a PVR, network switch

As this will be the 1st time I'm able to run an Atmos setup I'm currently looking at potentially adding one of Bryston's new Class D amps, I may get either the BD-225 or BD-325 configured for 6 channels for heights. If my bed layer expands to 7 or 9 channels I would probably look to possibly get another BD amp or possibly a used 3B-SST2 as needed for each pair.

Rusty Jefferson

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #1 on: 27 Sep 2024, 06:07 pm »
Since you have the opportunity, I'd leave the existing outlets/circuits alone and add 2 dedicated 20 amp circuits behind the rack. If you have space in your panel, have him add a 50 amp breaker (240 volts), and add an isolation transformer. Attached is a picture of a friend's system who recently did this. The 50 amp line is coming down on the right side, entering the isolation transformer sitting on the floor, the transformer output is wired for two 120 volt lines (20 amp each) which are seen coming out of the sub panel on the left heading up to the audio room. Shocking improvement, dead silent system.  The transformer does hum enough you don't want it in the listening room. He purchased his used for a few hundred dollars.


ctviggen

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #2 on: 28 Sep 2024, 01:32 pm »
Always wanted an isolation transformer.  Seems like a great idea.

brucek

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #3 on: 28 Sep 2024, 08:20 pm »
Since you have the opportunity, I'd leave the existing outlets/circuits alone and add 2 dedicated 20 amp circuits behind the rack.

This - full stop.

brucek

FullRangeMan

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #4 on: 28 Sep 2024, 11:13 pm »
What would 240 provide if anything?
In my experience with audio since I was young it will made a positive difference for power amps only what is great, mainly in the bass or tutti orchestral. I use 220V and also nice. The worse scenario are 100V(Japan) or 115V and Class A or tube amps, what could made your electric meter fly.

Speedskater

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #5 on: 29 Sep 2024, 01:04 pm »
240 Volt for a home system, No.
   The exception would be a large isolation transform wired as a Separately Derived System with a 240 Volt input and 120 Volt output.

For a auditorium, theater or club, maybe.

Rod_S

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #6 on: 1 Oct 2024, 01:15 am »
Thanks for the responses.

Yeah, regarding 240, it would be 240 to the panel and 120 out to the outlets.

Blueshound

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #7 on: 1 Oct 2024, 02:52 pm »
I've been the lead consultant on quite a few fully custom private residential theaters. Along with knowing the equipment, which you've provided, the equipment locations are important in planning the electrical layout.

The general starting requirements are that all AC power circuits are on the same phase and leg, and therefore have the same ground potential. Other items in the room that require power, for example lighting, convenience outlets for device charging, vacuum etc., should never share circuits (breakers) with the A/V gear. Your electrician will understand what this means at the panel side.

Is ALL the head-end equipment in one location?

If not, where is the secondary location for principal system components? (Example: in my room, the head-end gear is at the rear of the room, but all amplifiers and the BAX1 crossover are at the screen / speaker end of the room.)

What are the secondary equipment locations, if any? I'm thinking of items such as powered subwoofers that are tied to the head end by signal connections, but are in locations other than where the head-end equipment rack is located.

For the above items, the electrician will need to know what's required and where, that will comprise the entire equipment power needs. He / she will also need to know the maximum power draws for those outlets, and he / she can then determine the best use of panel breaker space, including 20amp vs. 15amp breakers. 240V is generally not useful for North American installations, but the question of 20 amp or not is.

Using my room as an example, the electrician ran a 20 amp feed to the screen / speakers / amps end of the room, separate from the equipment power to the rear. This allowed separate 120V outlets on either side (I have the amps sitting in the left rear and right rear corners, respectively, so that speaker cables can be short).

Hope this helps.

Brian

Matrix Audio
Featuring the Bryston T10 Active System



egeeks

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #8 on: 1 Oct 2024, 03:24 pm »
Should I have a dedicated wire run for my amps? I'm currently going into a power/surge protector from the outlet.

Speedskater

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #9 on: 2 Oct 2024, 12:01 pm »
Retired Audio Engineering Society, EMI/RFI expert thinks that all the audio equipment should be on one circuit.
Even if it means turning big power amps one at a time.
Of course, this was more true with RCA interconnects and incorrectly designed XLR circuits.

FullRangeMan

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #10 on: 2 Oct 2024, 12:26 pm »
Should I have a dedicated wire run for my amps? I'm currently going into a power/surge protector from the outlet.
Yes a wire run and a dedicated circuit breaker for your audio system.

Rod_S

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #11 on: 12 Oct 2024, 01:40 am »
I love the idea of an isolation transformer and reached out to Torus but WOW, the cost, OMG, the base price of their wall units is like $13k CAD. Far more than I'm willing to spend at this point.

The electrician came out and I definitely won't be getting a dedicated 100amp panel as the main panel to the house is only 100amp and apparently to have that upgraded requires the utility company to come and do the upgrade and inspect and apparently possibly install additional outlets throughout the house, the electrician said code requires an outlet to be every so many feet with 200amp hookups and 240V. This costs thousands of dollars as well so this is a no go at the moment.

There is an existing pony panel with unused breakers which currently has a 40amp line running to it from the main panel. Looks like we'll be upgrading that 40amp feed to the pony panel to a 60amp feed and then add 5 20a lines to that panel. Not what I wanted but I didn't realize how expensive some of this wiring stuff can be.

Regarding setup, most items will be up front, so that's the tv, 2 Bryston 28B SST2 amps, the Bryston 4B-SST, the Oppo, Bryston BDP-2, Anthem AVM90, 2 Servo 15's, a few gaming consoles and probably a DVR. So my plan was/is for 2 separate 20amp outlets up front to split the load. Then at the back each side of the room will have a Bryston 7B-SST2 and one side will have the Paradigm Sub 25 so my plan is to have 2 more 20a outlets, one on each side. In order to get an Atmos setup which I want I'll need to add an additional amp, that will likely be a 4 or 6 channel Bryston BD-225 or BD-325. That would be placed up front as well.
« Last Edit: 12 Oct 2024, 02:58 pm by Rod_S »

Speedskater

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #12 on: 12 Oct 2024, 11:56 am »
a 40 or 60 Amp Sub panel (Pony) is more than enough for even your multi-purpose system. Then those five 20 Amp circuits, each to a different room area.
I don't think that you could trip a 40 Amp breaker even with everything going full blast.

Doublej

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #13 on: 12 Oct 2024, 01:10 pm »
You might find this helpful in your planning:

https://www.kingrexelectric.com/

James Tanner

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #14 on: 12 Oct 2024, 01:10 pm »
Rod - where are you located?

james

Rod_S

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Re: Room Electrical Wiring Question
« Reply #15 on: 12 Oct 2024, 02:56 pm »
Rod - where are you located?

james

Here in Canada, over in Nova Scotia