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On 9 Jun 2004 10:41:45 -0700, (jjpsych) wrote:

Hi,
I am in the early stages of having a house built, and I have some
questions about wiring for the audio stuff. I will not have a
dedicated audio room, rather this will be in the great room (about 19'
x 22' with 12' ceilings). I will be using a Yamaha RX-V1 receiver set
up for 6.1, klipsch RF-3II mains and Klipsch surrounds, and center
channels (both front and rear). I am planning on running 14/2 CL-3
speaker cables in the walls, (in addition, I am running a cable to
allow for 7.1 in the future). As is stands now, I plan on running
the speaker wire my-self after the power wires have been completed.
(taking the usual precautions not to share holes in the studs, using
seperate conduit, etc)
My main question is should I have the electical sub-contractor run a
dedicated 20 amp circut from the box to the outlet where the
components will be pluged in? Should that circut be grounded
seperatly?
Is there anything else I should consider? If I am thinking about
Hi-def TV, what pre-wiring will I need to do, or can the Hi-def signal
come through the coax cable?
Thanks in advance,
Jay

Jay.. I dont know if you are watching your thread , since you posted
almost 3 weeks ago, but I just noticed it and thought of a couple of
suggestions that might help.
1) about a dedicated 20 amp circuit: it definattly could help, I ran
one to my main rack mount in my entertainment room and installed quad
(four recepticals instead of the std. two) you can never have to many
recepticals. also be sure your electrician uses high quality 120 or
125 volt recepticals, (I use hospital quality) they are pricy but
worth it.
your electrician might not be willing to run a seperate ground as this
could violate local codes, Not to mention the NEC.
however what I am in the process of doing myself is putting together a
truly isolated circuit by using a small 3KVA transformer to isolate
and power the circuit. I am using a Sq D 220/120 Pri. by 220/120 Sec.
general service transformer with a grounded core that I bought new off
of EBay for $80.00
I will power it from a 220 two pole breaker (15 amp if I can find
one) and run the secondary to its own small sub panel.
The secondary is rated at 25 amps @ 120 volts and I will size the
breaker at a conservative 20 amps.
I also have the ability to ground the core which should help clean up
the secondary power.
a big advantage of this setup is isolation from the rest of the house
when their are various inductive spikes (air condition, refrigerator,
freezer motors etc.) it also gives some protection from major power
spikes from the outside (lightning strikes, power surges,etc).
2)pre- wireing: one of the neatest tricks I have heard of was in home
video magazine a couple of years ago, a installer would go into homes
during construction and before drywall and determine any and all
places that stereo, audio might go now and in the future and he ran
PVC tubing through the walls to those points, and interconnected it
all. the benifit was that he could wire his audio/video system now but
in a few years you might want to add on something new or install
somewhere you hadnt allready, and if you have ever wanted to run new
cabling after the house is finished you know it can be a tremendous
headache. with the PVC (of a reasonable size) already run it is pretty
easy to fish what ever new cable you need through the walls when
needed.
3) invest in good quality wall plug ins. I have all of my speakers and
my remote room interconnects terminated at wall plate plug ins.
including a patch panel at the main rack, its super clean and very
easy to make connections (New and Old) everything becomes quick
disconnect and looks professional
4) do not skimp on a power conditioner surge protector!! if you have
any investment , or might in the future then forget the radio shack
specials. Monster makes some "OK" cheap conditioner/protectors
and they should be considered a minimum. You can spend thousands on
these things but thats up to you, I have about $15000 invested in my
system (very in exspensive) including Television, and I am using a
Monster protector that costs about 150.00. I would like a better one
but am reasonably satisfied with this one as long as I have my
isolated power.

Hope you find this and that it helps, good luck and remember you can
never have to good a home entertainment system, protection looks real
cheap after a lighting strike blows the power line transformer off the
pole outside your house.

Duane

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