# My step 1 to a new home theater: Dedicated Panel



## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

I posted this in another forum but I think it should of been posted here...

Just finished up wiring up my dedicated AV panel.

10 circuits total. 9-20a and 1-15a. Every equipment will have a seperate dedicated circuit and I can add as necessary. My panel to outlet box which will house the outlets is 62' total in length. I ran some big cable and you can see the breakdown here:

#1- 20a - Krell amp - Fed with #4 awg feeder (1600w load at max... max voltage drop is 0.4% or 0.5V)
#2- 20a - Sub #1 - Fed with #6 awg feeder (~same load as amp possibly or less. Expecting less than 0.7V voltage drop)
#3- 20a - Sub #2 - Fed with #6 awg feeder (~same load as amp possibly or less. Expecting less than 0.7V voltage drop)
#4- 20a - Preamp/Processor - Fed with #6 awg (only around 400w load virtually tenths of a volt drop)
#5- 20a - Blue Ray Player - Fed with #10 awg
#6- 20a - Satellite box - Fed with #10 awg
#7- 20a - Spare
#8/9 - 20a - Projector - Fed with #12 (this will be setup for 220v to keep losses to a minimum)
#10 - 15a - Network Hub - Fed with #14 awg (just to tie in all the cat5 stuff as I only ran one cable back to my main switch)


If you notice the buss bar at the bottom I have all the grounding isolated and there is a #2 awg that ties down into it's own set of 3 ground rods driven 10' apart in a triangular format. I have bonded that triad ground to the house ground rod underneath with a #2 also. All the equipment will have isolated grounding.

I also used T&B Kopr-Shield on all connections which is a copper compound based anti oxidant for electrical joints.

Figured I'd share. I wanted the voltage to be as stable as possible. My next step will be to redo the feed to this sub panel and route the feed through an isolation transformer.

Read more: http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...ter-step-1-dedicated-panel.html#ixzz3NUyd0kNs


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## Serenity Now (Mar 28, 2014)

Your system is hilariously overkill. I like it! :T 

Why not just feed a UPS from your main and have it feed a sub panel right beside it? You can have regulated voltage/frequency to <1%. An ISO wont even do that for you. If you are concerned with your ground being isolated I get it, a seperate supply trans gets you around multiple electrodes rules. Broadcast style.

How far are your runs from the sub panel? 

Without going to the table, I would think that #10 would be more than enough to get you there. The sags would be less than 1% and likely last seconds.

I see where your going. Cool setup. 

Subscribed.


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## Serenity Now (Mar 28, 2014)

why are you using a 220v sub panel? Shouldn't all loads be at the same potential if you are going to all this trouble? Curious.


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

Serenity Now said:


> Your system is hilariously overkill. I like it! :T
> 
> Why not just feed a UPS from your main and have it feed a sub panel right beside it? You can have regulated voltage/frequency to <1%. An ISO wont even do that for you. If you are concerned with your ground being isolated I get it, a seperate supply trans gets you around multiple electrodes rules. Broadcast style.
> 
> ...


First off. Total cost thus far has been $72. I literally had the panel, breakers and all the wiring left over from previous work. Other than the orange wire you see in the panel which is standard #10 romex the other cables are an XLPE Tray cable. XLPE is a cross linked polyethylene insulation. PE is a better dielectric than PVC. The outles I'm using are from Leviton #1374: http://semperlite.com/products/misc...CR_CFZithj7qtvVRsUlk5BHe7wSUUwm0y4aAj2x8P8HAQ

The main reason for using the larger cable is to keep the voltage as stable as possible with no swings. Unfortunately a UPS feeds alot of dirty noise into audio equipment. A balanced ISO will eliminate any common noise issues and filter the DC out of the main line. I'll have each circuit on it's own dedicated ISO before too long so that each equipment doesn't contaminate noise to the other.

Oh my panel to outlet box is only 62' away. Nothing big at all. I'll be able to swap the amp feed from a #12 feed to a 10 to a 6 to a 4 and see if it makes any difference at all. Since I already had the cable it was no big deal.



Serenity Now said:


> why are you using a 220v sub panel? Shouldn't all loads be at the same potential if you are going to all this trouble? Curious.


220 is fed to the sub to help balance the main panel out. Too much AV just on one leg from the main panel will throw off the balance too much IMHO. Since everything will be fed from individual BALANCED Isolation transformers there will be no issues with balance from the ISO to the equipment.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

> Haha... So what do you call my setup I just posted in a separate thread lol. Would love your input


Well you asked for it.....
Overkill is the understatement of the year! I guess given you spent no money on this its your system so have fun but seriously you gain nothing by using larger awg wire like that. Unless you have run new wire right out to the transformer on the pol out back your going to get small voltage swings no matter what you do. 
Like I said in the other post my readings indicate with everything running in my system ( listed in my signature) I never go above 6.5 amps on the one circuit and 5 amps on the other. And the voltage stays between 121v and 119v depending on the time of year it is.


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> Well you asked for it.....
> Overkill is the understatement of the year! I guess given you spent no money on this its your system so have fun but seriously you gain nothing by using larger awg wire like that. Unless you have run new wire right out to the transformer on the pol out back your going to get small voltage swings no matter what you do.
> Like I said in the other post my readings indicate with everything running in my system ( listed in my signature) I never go above 6.5 amps on the one circuit and 5 amps on the other. And the voltage stays between 121v and 119v depending on the time of year it is.


My service is fed from the transformer (underground grid where I'm at) and I've ran 2/0 Copper from the transformer to my meter can. My main is 150amp. Code says that 2/0 copper is designated for 200amp service. The wire itself is a tray cable XHHW with an XLPE outer jacket. PE makes for a good dielectric so I'm hoping the sonics will be better than anything romex style with standard PVC insulation. My cable 2/0 direct burial is actually rated for 260 amps of capacity. The run is 110' from my panel. Considering I'm gas heat/cooking/laundry/water heater the rest of my load is my home/pool... general loads etc. I typically average 15-35a on each leg and have tried to push it and only saw 56amp on each leg. Netted me a 1.2% drop. So service/branch combined I suspect I'll never see more than a volt worth of drop.... less on my AV system.

I've also ran XHHW wiring for my dedicated feeders and want to test the differences in the dielectric. Will be installing all of my outlets (leviton 1374 in a PVC 12x12 box located behind the AV rack.

I'll be covering the entire front wall/rear wall with fractal diffusers and the ceiling will be all 2d diffusion (long term goal). Will also have some 2D's layed on the floor as well at the primary reflection points. Ultimately I'll move to a Golden ear speaker setup which will have powered subs in each speaker at all 5 channels. I'll end up mounting an AT screen off the wall to have the speakers behind the screen and also so the diffusion will work well. 

Alot of theory stuff right now but I figured start at the source and work my way back. Right now with my Krell amp and NHT speakers I won't be seeing much load. However my krell amp at IDLE consumes 315 watts like a V8 at the drag strip high revving waiting to pump year ears full of goodness 

Lots of other things I wanna do will be all mapleshade platforms/rack under all the gear. I'm a avid semi-pro photographer also so the screen colors/calibration means alot to me as far as accuracy. I won't have expensive projector starting off but as the years progress I'll upgrade on a consistent basis.

Also don't think that ISO trannyies will work great for all gear. I mentioned having a separate one for each gear but some don't act well with it so thats another thing I'll be able to test.


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

OH... I'll end up gutting this panel guts out and installing copper buss bar and using copper blade fuses ridgid mounted and the wires lugged and direct bolted to the fuses. This will eliminate any tin plating in the system and keep the system copper only. Copper sonics are the best to the ear next to silver while tin sounds dirty...

again another "theory" I'm wanting to test out. Again... all of this is costing me next to nothing and I literally ran all my wiring/hookup the panel, drove the ground rods and completed all panel stuff in a 6hr period. Not bad at all.

This is me holding the copper buss that will be replacing the circuit breakers and will have fuses mounted to the buss and wire direct to fuses. (note: I'll be cutting this into the lengths I need).

...yes........ I'm crazy :wave:


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## Serenity Now (Mar 28, 2014)

Lol. Unsubscribed.


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

Serenity Now said:


> Lol. Unsubscribed.


uh gee thanks? I guess.


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