Do I really need a dedicated circuit?

Posted by: Armadillo on 05 August 2008

Two sentiments repeated over and over on the forum:

1. With respect to deciding on potential upgrades: listen first. Insist on a home demo if you can.

2. A dedicated circuit is one of the best value for money upgrades you can do.

Of course, you can't really home demo a dedicated circuit, right?

Which brings me to the question of whether it would make sense in my case. Perhaps it's a question of the "definition" of a dedicated circuit. My system is plugged into the power strip provided by my Naim dealer, which is then plugged into the wall.

My question: if nothing else is turned on, on the circuit that my system is plugged into, does that in fact make it a dedicated circuit? (It's pretty easy to do this -- I live in a fairly new detached house, and I can turn everything off in my music room, and adjoining rooms for that matter.) Or, is the test more stringent: if nothing else is connected to the circuit that my system is plugged into, does that make it a dedicated circuit? Or, does just the fact that there may be, for example, unused outlets on the same circuit as my system render my circuit "not dedicated" and argue for the upgrade?

Thanks for your advice.
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by hungryhalibut
quote:
if nothing else is turned on, on the circuit that my system is plugged into, does that in fact make it a dedicated circuit?


Simply, no. You would need a separate wire running direct from the consumer unit to your hifi's socket. Ideally you would have a separate consumer unit just for the hifi. I am one who maintains that it is a great VFM upgrade - mine cost under £200 and makes a great difference.

And welcome to the forum - it's always good to see more animals.

Nigel
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
That's an interesting one! To be honest I'm not sure. One thing though is that if you have a dedicated circuit installed you can specify 30A wiring, which you will not have on your ring main. This is universally accepted as being better. You may well get an improvement by using some kind of Hydra arrangement rather than a power strip. If you are stuck with a power strip, ensure that it does not incorporate any filtering at least.

Regards,

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Armadillo
hungryhalibut,

Thanks.

Does your dedicated circuit end in one outlet into which you plug a power strip? Or, does the circuit end in an outlet for each component of your system?
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Armadillo
pjl,

"Hydra?" What is that?

Thanks.
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
The Grahams Hydra is available here in the UK. It's basically a number of standard Naim power leads (you specify how many you require) wired into a single plug. Most people agree it is a big improvement over other arrangements. A more up-market version is the Powerigel which your Naim dealer should be able to obtain for you, and which he should be able to demo for you.

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by manicatel
A hydra is basically one mains plug, with several mains leads coming out of it. This means that one wall socket/plug can power several pieces of equipment.. I think its supposed to give a slightly better sound due to the earthing arrangement, but thats as much as I know.
I found a dedicated spur to be a very good upgrade, similar in effect to adding a hicap.
Matt.
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Guido Fawkes
How does a Hydra equate with a Power-Line?

Surely you need dedicated outlets for each piece of kit - so perhaps a dedicated ring is better.

I don't know I'm confused - think I'll go and buy a mains conditioner.
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
ROTF,

The hydra is a seperate issue to having a dedicated spur. As for the Powerline, you are right, it and the hydra are basically mutually exclusive as things stand!

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Guido Fawkes
Hi Peter

But surely, so is a dedicated mains spur and a Power-Line unless you introduce some form of mains distribution or you have multiple spurs or a ring.

Or is there something I'm not understanding - quite possibly.

ATB Rotf
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Armadillo
Sounds like Naim should come out with a Powerhydra or Hydaline or some such combo...
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
Hi ROTF,

You would need one single wall socket per Powerline (or the equivalent double sockets). This is perfectly possible with a dedicated spur. You do not need a seperate spur for each socket, which is where I think you are possibly getting confused. The point of a dedicated spur is to provide a power supply for the hi-fi which is seperate from everything else in your home, not to provide a dedicated supply for each individual box. Come to think of it, I suppose that would in fact be the ultimate Hydra!

Regards,

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Armadillo
pjl,

Thanks. I think I'm getting it now -- so a power strip or hyda is a weak link that you might as well bypass (i.e. with multiple sockets) if you are doing the work/expense of the dedicated circuit.

So, hypothetically, what is the max number of sockets you would need, if you lived long enough to piece by piece upgrade to a top-end 3-way active system?
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
Armadillo,

Yes I think you are right!

Regards,

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Armadillo
Munch,

Cool!
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
Armadillo,

Yes and no! Multiple wall outlets on a single spur would be better than most power-strips, but a single wall outlet/Hydra would be better still. This is because of the star wiring of the Hydra and the lessening of the number of fuses/connections in the mains path. As for how many outlets you would need - this simply depends on how many boxes you will be powering!

Regards,

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Luxen
Where my Hifi-kit stands, there are three outlets from the wall (3 sockets in a row).

I just plugged the PowerIgel into one of the three sockets and two remain empty.

Would now a dedicated spur still improve things with the PowerIgel???
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
Luxen,

Yes, since it will provide your hi-fi with it's own dedicated mains supply.

Regards,

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Guido Fawkes
quote:
The point of a dedicated spur is to provide a power supply for the hi-fi which is seperate from everything else in your home,


Hi Peter and munch

I have a dedicated spur in one room and was using a Hydra.

I'm now moving the kit to another room - this room has a dedicated ring that was put in with the house 15 or so years ago. It would have Naim kit and other hi-fi kit plugged in - e.g LP12's Lingo and occasionally a Yamaha CD-recorder.

The ring runs off of the same consumer unit as everything else in the house, but then so did/does the dedicated spur.

So is this dedicated ring OK or should I think about a dedicated spur with multiple outlets for accommodating Power-Lines as and when I can afford to get these.

When I heard a Power-Line demo'd it was in a hotel room using whatever mains supply was coming in to the room Naim was using. The improvement from the Power-Line was obvious.

So what is the ultimate arrangement?

I like the idea of a balance supply - I like the idea of a power regenerator, but ......

ATB Rotf
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by hungryhalibut
quote:
Does your dedicated circuit end in one outlet into which you plug a power strip?


It ends in a double unswitched socket, into which I plug a hydra.

Nigel
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Armadillo
Thanks to all. This was my first post, and everyone's feedback is very helpful.
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by pjl
ROTF,

In my view the ultimate arrangement as things stand at present would be a dedicated spur with enough outlets to power each piece of equipment with it's own Powerline. That's assuming that this would be superior to a Powerigel, which I assume it must be or why would Naim bother with the Powerline? Of course, if Naim ever make a Hydra version of the Powerline, or a dedicated mains block to plug them all into, then this run off a single wall outlet is likely to be the best arrangement. I think how much of a difference these things make in practice depends on the quality of your mains supply. It also has to be said that some forum members, although in a tiny minority, have reported negative effects with Hydra -type arrangements.

Regards,

Peter
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by Stephen Tate
By the way - It's called a dedicated radial circuit, not a spur.

A spur is something that branches off a ring main.

steve
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by 151
smarty pants. Smile
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by stevebrassett
I have a separate mains supply for the hi-fi, but I find it makes no difference at all. Could this be because it leads to a different room, and the Naim stuff is plugged into the ring main?
Posted on: 05 August 2008 by 151
probably.