Does your house wiring supply enough power for your audio system?

[earlevel]

Just a simple tip: If you have to avoid ground loop issues, especially from having different components plugged into different outlets, you probably have inadequate wiring. This is most easily noticed on longer runs from the panel, and it won't matter that the breaker is rated for adequate current.

BTW, I got a free Ting (voltage monitor and app) and three years service from my home insurance company, a little bit interesting to see the voltage history, but nothing surprising.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Jesus, at what volume do you listen to music or movies??? In most Western European living rooms it should be about 1-5 Watts simply to avoid your neighbors breaking your front door ;o)

Maybe he just likes his music full range. And a bit louder than most at the same time.

 

[anotherhobby]

Jesus, at what volume do you listen to music or movies??? In most Western European living rooms it should be about 1-5 Watts simply to avoid your neighbors breaking your front door ;o)

'murica ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't think I'm that different than many others here. On a Denon, 0dB is calibrated as "Reference" which Denon says is 80 dB absolute and is designed for movies. Music typically runs 10-15 dB hotter. My own max listening levels (depending on content):

• TV: -12 to -25 dB
• Movies: -8 to 0 dB
• Music: -10 to -20 dB

The JL subs play flat to 20 Hz up to 105 dB, above which they reach max output and start to compress under about 35 Hz.

Max listening levels aren't much different in my office, but it's a mniDSP and the calibration is totally different, so the dB below reference values don't correlate well.

 

[Rick Sykora]

I added two 30A services for my home theater. Prior, attempts to brew coffee at the bar would occasionally trip the breaker and power down the theater rack.

While agree a home theater may have greater power requirements (than a stereo setup), suspect your coffee maker is the real power pig.

 

[thecheapseats]

While agree a home theater may have greater power requirements, suspect your coffee maker is the real power pig.

typically, coffee can be far more important than music... priorities...

 

[Rick Sykora]

I use 220V for my amps and 110V for the rest, so it's fine here. Double the voltage = half the current = wiring happy.

If you really need the power, running the higher voltage wiring seems like a great idea (notably if your equipment will accept either voltage). Which style of 220V plugs/outlets did you use?

 

[mhardy6647]

Sort of "yes", by definition.

 

[Matias]

If you really need the power, running the higher voltage wiring seems like a great idea (notably if your equipment will accept either voltage). Which style of 220V plugs/outlets did you use?

An outlet based on US NEMA standard, they are specced up to 250V.

 

[sam_adams]

I've never really had a problem with power . . .

 

[thecheapseats]

I've never really had a problem with power . . .

View attachment 280571

lovely...

 

[JSmith]

I've never really had a problem with power . . .

View attachment 280571

I may have a solution for you...

JSmith

 

[Descartes]

I have two independent 20amp lines feeding the walls in my family room for my home theater system can draw from!

 

[mhardy6647]

I may have a solution for you...

JSmith

Fire?

 

[JSmith]

Fire?

Yeah... it's a meme/joke, not a real product.

It is based on this actual product though, but to the extreme.

https://www.amazon.com/SUPERDANNY-Protector-Outlets-Charging-Extension/dp/B08Z2ZKVXX?th=1

Noting this major difference too;

1875W/15A

JSmith

 

[sam_adams]

Yeah... it's a meme/joke, not a real product.

Created by Dana Sibera.

 

[EJ3]

Jesus, at what volume do you listen to music or movies??? In most Western European living rooms it should be about 1-5 Watts simply to avoid your neighbors breaking your front door ;o)

This alone is why to own a single house on a piece of land, so that you can (as the advertising for Klipsch says) play your speaker system loud and proud

 

[mhardy6647]

Created by Dana Sibera.

Thanks!
How did I reach my seventh decade on this little blue ball without knowing of this person?

 

[Rick Sykora]

About a decade ago, we updated our breaker box after an attic fire. At that time I ran a some dedicated 20A lines. One for our home theater and another for my lab bench. Since it was easy and fairly inexpensive for me to do, I never really measured whether I really needed the extra power. I realize now that it is unlikely I needed. Adam has a much more robust HT system than I and his measurements show this.

Part of the reason for replacing the breaker box was that it was a Federal Pacific one. Although the breakers were NOT the recalled ones, we had an attic fire due to overheating of a gable vent fan and felt it best to remove any hurdle that an inspector might flag when we sell our home. Here is the interesting part about the fire aspect: no major root cause analysis was done. The fan had its own thermostat and was thermally protected but it did not trip and the breaker did not trip. When I asked our insurer about it, they said not to worry and were still covered. The only explanation I got was that unmaintained bathroom fans were known to cause fires and so this is factored into insurance coverage.

The fire happened in the afternoon and our neighbor spotted the flames and notified us. So, in the end, there was only property damage. If the fire had happened over night, the outcome may have been less fortunate. The fire happened right over the main bedroom. We often talk about normal power situations but the exception cases are worth considering too!

 

[EJ3]

Jesus, at what volume do you listen to music or movies??? In most Western European living rooms it should be about 1-5 Watts simply to avoid your neighbors breaking your front door ;o)

I have 6 of these, 4 running bridged mode (4 OHMs) into 4 Dahlquist M-905's, 2 running stereo mode (2 OHMs) powering 4 semi custom (dual 4 OHM [custom wiring makes them 2 OHM]) voice coil 12" Pioneer Automotive Competition SUBS.
This is the results of the one that Amirm tested (all have been resto-modded (upgraded without changing the circuit design) by Peter at QuirkAudio:
So, The answer is: if I am in my yard, or in my house, whatever volume that I want:

EDIT: adding Lab Input Measurements
Lab Input Measurements
I was surprised that the frequency response was not flat but was relieved to see later in the thread that this is due to insertion of low and high pass filters. So here is the frequency response with Lab input that doesn't have such a filter:

Response now (in green) as it should be, ruler flat to below 10 Hz, and well extending past the 40 kHz limit of this measurement.

I figured the filters may be adding some noise/distortion so re-ran the dashboard again:

Distortion doesn't change but if you look at the noise floor at 20 Hz, it is down by some 10 dB. That improves SINAD a couple of dBs, making the amplifier stand out even more!

Zoomed:

And signal to noise ratio:

Conclusions
Nice to see innovation like this from equipment that is over 30 years old! Shame on manufacturers that produce amplifiers for much less power, more distortion and higher prices these days. No, you don't get a fancy case here and sheet metal is strictly budget category. But you are not going to sit on the amp. The guts are where it matters and NAD 2200 delivers.

NOTE: the output relay on stock 2200 gets corroded and fails over time. There are videos and DIY threads on how to upgrade the relay there to fix the problem. The unit tested here has that fix. Other than that, there are not reports of many other reliability issues even though NAD products are often said to be less reliable than other brands.

Overall, I am happy to recommend the NAD 2200. I almost gave it the highest honors but given the upgraded nature of the test unit, and the fact that used amps may have issues, I avoided that. But you could have easily pushed me to give it the golfing panther.

 

[RayDunzl]

I may have a solution for you...

JSmith

I have one of these behind the rack: