I'll post this on the Outlaw To Outlaw forum as well hoping more people come across this...

I checked out my box in the basement and noticed I have a 20 amp thats not being used. Im going get some 10 or 12 gauge wire and run it to the theatre in hopes of using it for the 770 when I get it.

Does the 770 draw massive amounts, enough so that I should only put the 770 on that line? Or can I add a few more smaller components to it, like the 950 or my TV? Any advice/opinions will be appreciated. Oh, and I'll have 770 running from the "High Current" plug on the Panamax 5300.

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Play it LoUd!!

I'm glad you asked this question because it's going to spur me to do something I've been meaning to do for some time now. I have exactly the setup you are proposing. It's working fine and I have no worry that I'm overloading the circuit, but I've always been curious what my amp draw was on the circuit supplying the HT stuff.

I have the Panamax 5300 with a 770, 950, cd player, dvd player and a 36" direct view TV all running through it and I've haven't had a bit of trouble with this setup. Even though the 770 is rated for 1800 watts maximum power consumption, I doubt it gets to more than about 1200 in my system even at reference levels, which I've only done once.

What I'm going to do is take an amp meter home with me today and just see what the draw on that circuit actually is and get back to you. I'll play something a reference level with all channels driven. (That's if the wife will let me. I know, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas". That might work!)

I'll let you know what I find out.


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Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill in Texas (edited December 23, 2002).]

Excellent..thanks Bill! I would like to have all you use on the line, minus the TV. The TV is on the line with my Subwoofer and Xbox. I tried to do some seperating.

Sounds like you have a plan indeed! Can't wait to hear the results If the wife gets upset, blame it on me, LOL.

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Play it LoUd!!

If the total load is too much, you'll know soon enough: the circuit breaker will trip

In theory, the amp should be alone on the circuit, since at full output it will draw near the maximum current rated for your circuit. In practice, I think you are good to put more than just the amp on it. I would avoid other heavy current draws like TVs, projectors etc. on the same circuit however.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited December 23, 2002).]

I'd have to agree with soundhound and if I had my drothers the TV would be on the circuit with my sub and protected with my Tripp Isobar, but unfortunitely that's on a sidewall and I have no other outlets to use at this time.

I've decided rather than using Bing, I'll use Roy Orbison "Black & White Night". It is a DTS soundtrack that makes full use of all the speakers in the system. And just for grins, I'll try all speakers set to small and then large as well. See what that does.

I'll play "Oh, Pretty Woman" for the wife and see if that won't get me by.


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Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill in Texas (edited December 23, 2002).]

Yeah..The next biggest draw is my TV, thats why I will have it on a different circuit with the sub. With the amp, I'd like to add the 950 atleast. I don't think I'll be drawing to much with the dvd and cd players regardless of where they go. Their consumption is minimal. Thanks soundhound, you have set my mind at ease..for now, LOL.

And Bill...your plan is getting more articulate by the minute Keep me posted!

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Play it LoUd!!

Putting the 770 on it's own circuit couldn't hurt. For a point of reference, I melted an APC Pro8TV surge protector with my 750 while watching the pod race at very high levels. Neither the 15 amp breaker on the APC nor the 20 amp breaker on the circuit kicked before the receptacle (in the surge protector) failed.

P.S.

Not to hijack the thread, but I am thinking about adding a pair of 200's to finish out my 6.1 system. If I add another circuit, is it best to add it to the same side of the load center, or on the opposite side to balance the load?

SpOoNmAn,
Here is a quote from the 770 Owners Manual regards volt/amp requirements:

I had 2 dedicated 20 amp circuits installed for the "media center". I did not want anything non-related (like lights, etc.) on the the same circuit(s) and therefore hoped to avoid any problems that might come up, like noise or overloading, using a "non-dedicated" circuit. So far, no problems- I'm glad I did it this way- one less thing to worry about.

That's strange. A surge protector uses a metal oxide varistor, and it's function is to protect for over-voltage from such things as lightling strikes, and other spikes. A varistor works by shorting out when the input voltage goes higher than a set amount, usually 200 volts or so. When it does this, it trips the circuit breaker in the surge protector box, or the breaker on your AC service feed. How you managed to melt it with a current overload is unusual. Are you sure it wasn't some other component in your surge protector box?