Mains cabling for top end hi-fi systems

[sparc]

I got a request from a customer for a dedicated circuit to supply his hi-fi system. All very top end stuff but, as far as I can tell, nothing special in terms of power requirement. I'd calculated 20A would be plenty, and so could be cabled in 2.5mm2 as a radial. At the end of the circuit will be a single double socket.

However customer is asking for double 4.0mm2 cabling to this socket. It's supposed to provide a cleaner supply, but I can't see how this is possible unless there a filter were installed at the CU. It would seem logical to me that mains cabling would be standard, and any cleaning up of the supply would be done at the equipment itself.

Does anyone know any real advantages is over-specifying the cable for hi-fi or AV applications, or is it a fad?

 

[amlu]

its all marketing crap, hi fi amp is max 2kW load, will be perfectly happy on a 2.5mm 20a radial.
have a look in some shops for them, gold cables, rca interconnects costing hundreds, list goes on.
bigger cables are required for big PA in venues, when there may be 10kW or more load.

anyway, if customer is paying properly stick 6mm in there he will be happy

 

[diditrain]

Yeah just give him what he wants and charge accordingly.
I remember a similar thread about something similar but that was a long time ago

 

[plugsandsparks]

Its probably to do with him wanting a very low impedance earth rather than load.

 

[JulianC]

The world of hi-fi is second only to cattle farming in terms of the amount of bull **** generated. Just wait till he starts blu-tacking 2p coins to strategic points around the room to improve sound quality. Just do as he asks and take his money. He's guarateed to have more of it than sense. And don't get me started on directional speaker cables...

 

[Silly Sausage]

What your man needs here is a completely separate supply from the intake, wired in fat, very fine stranded Oxygen free copper to the Gold plated socket outlet.
A completely separate earth from the house, preferably a 70mm2 similar spec cable as above, back to the supply transformer.

 

[Marvo]

Lol, on a slightly more serious note I'd just quote for what he's requested. I'd also upsell him high integrity earthing and ClassI ClassII rated surge arrestors as well. The earthing is critical on high end hi-fi and the surge arrestors will possibly be required under the warranty conditions of the equipment and even if they're not they're still a good idea.

 

[Engineer54]

Lol, on a slightly more serious note I'd just quote for what he's requested. I'd also upsell him high integrity earthing and ClassI ClassII rated surge arrestors as well. The earthing is critical on high end hi-fi and the surge arrestors will possibly be required under the warranty conditions of the equipment and even if they're not they're still a good idea.

He'll probably already have a top end, all singing all dancing 3 gang extension lead with all the filtering, surge protection and capacitors etc he'll ever need. A snip at £285 to you sir!! lol!!

 

[Silly Sausage]

My B&W 602 speakers survived a house fire about 8 years ago.
The grills got vapourised, but they still work like a dream.
Heavy metal isn't that fussy about sound systems.

 

[Rockingit]

Does he want me to wire up some of these for him?

as they can take a bit of 3ph if you really want.

If not, then if he's got money to burn and you're happy to relieve him of it, then fit a full separation isolation transformer and put a very big earth rod in the ground, solely for the toys.

 

[sparc]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread. I took on all the advice offered, and thought I'd let you know how it panned out.

So, the customer thought that TWO lots of 4.0mm2 T+E would be required to supply each double socket - effectively two rings of 4.0mm2, each with only one double socket on it. I priced this fairly reasonable, but it was too much, so customer instead went for 6.0mm2 cables to each socket.

As suggested here, I did as the customer asked, supplying each from a 32A breaker in consumer unit. The customer is very pleased with improvements in sound. Frankly, my 10 year old Denon sounds okay to me, so I can't comment on any improvement! I did think the unswitched double socket - at £30 each - were a bit over the top - didn't look that great to me.

 

[JulianC]

I might start advertising my services in Audiophile magazine. Money for old, directional, oxygen-free rope.

 

[Engineer54]

The fact is, anyone over 40, and in many cases over 30, wouldn't have the frequency range in their hearing, to hear any difference in ultra high end audio equipment and accessories and a good audio equipment system!! But they will never admit it, not after paying out thousands of pounds listening to all the marketing hype of the audio manufactures!! lol!!