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What to tell my electrician

I am building out a dedicated listening room in a house we just purchased. There is a dedicated 200 amp breaker box for a hot tub we are getting rid of. So, I will have this breaker box deducted for a listening room. Assume i have a rig with mono blocks (ss), multichannel amp (ss) ,pre/pro, universal disc, dac, large led tv, cable box, distributed audio/video controller (control 4). The room is in the basement not very far from the breaker box (running lines would not be a problem). Also, the walls will be opened for the renovation so adding outlets and running wire not an issue.

I have read many of the threads on the subject here and am often confused by conflicting info and partial advice

So, what I would like is for any friends out here to put yourself in my shoes and imagine you are telling the electrician (who from what I have read will typically be amused and a bit confused by the Audiophile focus and perhaps not the best source of advice) what to do. So, would be great if the post is you imagining you are speaking to the electrician and saying. "ok, here is what I want you to do ......"

Assume I want to do it right and legally (so no non code separate grounds).
dangelod

Showing 3 responses by tvad

tvad
9,467 posts
 
I suggest the dedicated 20A circuits have an isolated ground from the rest of your household AC.

Also, if you have room, consider installing an isolation transformer at or near the service panel for the dedicated audio circuits. I have not done this due to several factors that make it prohibitive, but if the location of our service panel lent itself to installing a large isolation transformer, I'd likely do it.

Lots of opinion on this topic, but on a basic level almost everyone agrees on dedicated 20A circuits and isolated ground.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
A caveat to the isolated ground suggestion...

Since isolated ground requires isolated ground receptacles in addition to the isolated ground wire, you will be precluded from installing the fancy, shmancy aftermarket audiophile outlets since none are the isolated ground type (as far as my search has revealed).

In my system, the isolated ground circuit with the accompanying service grade Pass and Seymour isolated ground receptacles has resulted in a quieter system than when I had the non-isolated ground circuits with cryo'd Hubbell hospital grade receptacles.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
I'm biased against small isolation transformers plugged into outlets because I've yet to find one that didn't have mechanical hum coming from the transformer (OneAC, TrippLite, PowerVar).
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