A few years ago I moved house and decided to go the whole hog and have a dedicated consumer unit to power my active olive 3 series. I have long been interested in the effects of mains quality on audio and have experimented with various approaches and believe what I have now to be the best way to go.
After doing a lot of mugging up I decided on a Hagar consumer unit and 32 amp circuit breakers NOT RCD'S ( im not sure of the exact science but RCD's do something to the mains signal that degrades sound quality making it lifeless and eroding dynamics). I had arguments with several NIC EIC electricians over this as many of them say it is counter to current electrical regs, however after contacting different electricians I found that it boils down to a matter of interpretation as regulations state something about all ground floor sockets that may be used to power outdoor equipment must be protected by RCD. Obviously that doesn't apply to a dedicated HiFi supply but you need to find a sparky who is sympathetic, some will do it others wont.
The incoming mains supply is split to feed the house consumer unit and the HiFi one thus ensuring that the HiFi supply is properly independent. This is important as separation from the noisy house supply is the first goal.
From the 32amp breakers I have four 6mm radial spurs with 4mm earth conductors (better than the earth conductor in a twin and earth cable - lower resistance)
These four radials are terminated in double gang unswitched MK brand sockets and I use MK plugs on the equipment ( Crabtree also very good but harder to find).
having separate radial circuits allows for separation of source, pre and power amps etc which are thus connected direct to the consumer board reducing potential mains interference pollution from other components in the HiFi chain, as well as the whole system being removed from the domestic supply.
This installation cost £750 (8 years ago) and stands as the best value for money upgrade I have ever made. Most noticeable is the removal of clicks, pops, hum noise etc on the mains from polluting domestic appliances. less variation in sound quality at different times of day, massive increase in system headroom/dynamics.
