Receptacle location help
 

Main question, how should I best manage plugging in 5 components with only 4 receptacles (2 at each possible location) and the two subs being 14’ apart? The room layout below is showing 4 potential locations for the 2 receptacles.

I am ready to schedule an electrician to come take a look at adding a dedicated line to my listing room. I have read quite a bit on the process and of course there are many schools of thought on do’s and don’ts, etc. Hoping to consolidate my path from here. Please share any suggestions you may. At this point I plan to add 2 lines using 10g wire and medical grade receptacles. Running from existing panel with no additional grounding. My gut tells me the amp should be alone on one line and the rest on the other. I assume it would be preferable for the 2 subs to be on one receptacle, but that would require long chords. So not sure how to manage all that. My runs should be just below 50’, but that is assuming a straight line diagonally across the bottom of the floor joists. I got a feeling that is not a proper way to run electrical lines, code? So, may be well over 50’.

I only have to available spots at the top left and right positions on the circuit panel and I am hoping that they are on the same phase or I may only have one line available? Given those limitation of having only two lines max to hook up to, how should I position the receptacles to be able to plug everything in? I don’t see how to get power to the left sub unless we piggy back off another receptacle. What about surge protection? Up until now I haven’t used any. I will need to plug in 1 Amp, 1 Preamp, 1 Streamer, and 2 subs. Currently using factory power chords an all.

Thank all

If it were me, I'd have your electrician install a whole-home surge protector and a sub-panel for your audio, so you aren't trying to do something unnatural regarding the number of dedicated lines/outlets.

+1 :thumbsup:

+1
Clean power is the genesis of all things audio. You also may want to consider a Shunyata Denali 6000s V2 while you’re at it. Then you won’t have to think about it again.

That is until you want to add the Typhon QR to the Denali. [emoji41]

I agree, this is one of the lower cost add ins, and is the start of a solid foundation - power is everything and will being the best our if you’re system.

From their you can run your best cable to a good distribution and cable off that to your components or go all out and add circuits for your amps, Digital and Analog - just keep the lengths equal, in phase and consider 10 gauge

It will reward you BIG

Thanks for all the insights. I thought I ‘d share the feedback I received from Richard at Shunyata Research tech support who was very gracious with his time in specking with me. Most or all of his advice dove tails with others on the forum. In summary, use dedicated circuits using 10g wire in the same the phase of the panel or use sub panel if needed. Install a whole house surge protector as an option or consider if the power company offers a surge suppressor installed at the meter base, mine does not. Make all runs as close to the exact same length as much as possible and stair step any excess wire vs coiling any extra wire in the wall or something. I can’t remember if he suggested running the separate lines apart from each other or not or by how much, however I do seem to remember hearing that somewhere. Use quality AC receptacles. Use quality power cords with the best you have on the amp, but all components will benefit from a better power cord. If you have a mixed bag, then dedicate the best to the amp. He indicated that the sound system is a whole unit due to other connections (speaker RCA, XLR, etc.) so which receptacle you choose for each component shouldn’t matter as long as the previous steps are taken. We didn’t speak much on conditioners, etc., as we both agreed one step at a time would be a good plan and those can be considered down the road.
Additionally, he didn’t have much praise for added grounding schemes beyond standard panel grounding. He also reaffirmed the widely accepted advise that it is good practice to keep power cables away from signal cables as much as possible and cross at 90deg when possible not parallel. I also asked about using one dedicated line for 4 plugs / 2 receptacles and he indicated that it would be a minimal compromise if pig tailing is done properly. He said he would send me a picture of a 4-gang done properly.
He didn’t rank the importance of the steps I summarized, but my takeaway would be, receptacles and power cords as top priority and dedicated line a close second. I could be completely wrong on that.

Thanks for sharing - some great advice in here..

Any advice on separating the dedicated lines in the crawl space? is it necessary and by how much? If I only do two lines I may have to run two receptacles off one line which will power the gear, the second would only power one sub. Any advice on pig tailing, I did not get the pic from Richard yet and the electrician is coming soon. Any real gains on sticking with one receptacle and using a distribution strip or something vs pig tailing two (which would be preferable to me)? At this point I would be mostly concerned with the distribution not filtering or conditioning, etc. as cost would be a factor. Thanks

Running power cable is not an issue.

I removed a pigtail and installed a single receptacle at one location and it seemed to make this better - I can’t see how you can improperly wire it wrong so interesting to see the photo Richard sends.

Also, I think like the receptacle it’s good not to pigtail the neutral or ground on the rails in the panel.