After much research, I am planning to buy a P12 for the dedicated listening room. But before I do, I have a few questions.
I live in Asia, specially the Philippines. Mains voltage here is 220V and most receptacles are two-prong. To get 110V, electricians simply wire one prong to one mains leg, and the other prong to the home ground rod with THWN cable alongside the mains cable.
The 220V version of the P12 is available here, and I hope you don’t mind if I have some country-specific questions.
Given the mains configuration here, how effective will the P12 be?
Changing the receptacles from 2-prong to 3-prong will be an easy job for the electrician because the home ground rod happens to be just outside the listening room. All he has to do, aside from installing the new 3-prong receptacles, will be to run a proper THWN wire from the home ground rod to the third prong alongside the mains cables. Once in place, that’s where I’ll plug in the P12. Will this benefit the P12?
The main circuit breaker panel in my home is under 40 feet away from the listening room. In it is a spare, unused 20A breaker. Instead of the P12 getting power from an outlet, the electrician can simple run new THWN cables from the unused breaker and terminate it with a new female IEC plug. That will directly feed the P12. Will doing this benefit the P12?
If there are benefits to doing no. 3 above, should I still ask the electrician to run an additional THWN cable from the home ground rod, alongside the current-carrying cables, to the ground prong of the female IEC plug that will feed the P12?
And one question that isn’t specific to the mains configuration in my country…
All my source components and preamp are on a rack against the left wall of my listening room. The speakers are around 10 feet away from the listening chair and only thing near them is the power amp on a low stand. I arranged my gear this way because I prefer to have nothing near the speakers that can affect how it sounds. Both the preamp and the power amp are balanced differential, so I use long XLR cables connect them. I have confirmed that the power needs of all my gear are well within the capability of the P12. Where will be the best location for the P12 in my room?
Didn’t read the whole thing, it’s not wise to run a branch circuit ground directly to a ground rod. Needs to run back with the current carrying conductors. I’m sure your electrician wouldn’t do that.
Yes, agreed. If we need the third prong in a receptacle to be grounded, then new THWN wire from the home ground rod will run alongside the current carrying conductors from the main breaker panel. It will not be in a separate run. Thanks for the info.
Hi @Paul, I’d appreciate it if you could please weigh in on my questions above.
Don’t over-complicate something that is straight forward.
Have a 220V electrical outlet installed in your listening room which is compliant with the local code. Plug your P12 into it. Plug everything else into the P12. Done.
There are many existing 220V outlets in the listening room which all comply with local code. But local codes do not require 3-prong receptacles and I have an inexpensive opportunity to feed the P12 directly from it’s own circuit breaker. I’m curious, shouldn’t I do so?
That is correct because AC power in my country isn’t configured as “Line, Neutral and Ground,” with “Line” measuring 220V with respect to ground. I called the local electric company to confirm.
They said their power distribution system has always been configured as “Triple-Wire.” This means there are two phase wires and one neutral/ground wire, with the phases at 110V with respect to ground. If measured phase to phase, we get 220V. That’s what goes into a typical 2-prong home receptacle.
Its just the way it has always been around here, since the 50’s, and is why I’m curious to hear @Paul’s comments.
Yes, I will definitely earth my P12. There is a nearby 3-prong convenience outlet that is properly earthed.
The main home breaker is next to my listening room. There is an unused breaker inside. Would it help the P12 if I fed it from that instead of simply plugging it into an earthed convenience outlet?
The P12 should be quite effective and the mains condition you refer to, is pretty much the same as it is here in the States. We use two legs of the utility power to get 220 volts and half that for 110.
The new receptacles will help because of the added ground.
The 3d question is the way to go, it’s called a dedicated outlet though if I understand correctly your house wiring might already include this? What you want to feed the P12 is a single 10 gauge wire going back to the breaker with nothing else tied into it. How this happens doesn’t matter a lot.
I would probably place the P12 nearest the source gear simply because you can then have all your source power cables running short lengths.
Thanks, @Paul. Your explanation as well as my next steps are now very clear. I will do that now in preparation for the P12, which the local dealer (AVDI) will be delivering soon.
There are enough outlets behind the P12 for all my gear, including those amplifiers. Right now, they plug into earthed wall outlets right behind them with DIY unshielded 12-gauge 3-conductor power cords. I also have a PS Audio Dectet. This leads me to my last question.
Should I make two long power cords, one to connect each amp to the P12? Or should I make just one long power cord from the P12 to Dectet, and then plug the two amps there?
As a first step I’d plug the amps directly into the wall, reduce the load on the P12, and leave the Dectet out of it. Then reassess the amps via P12. Don’t automatically accept that the amps will sound better plugged in to the P12.
