Keta,

In a perfect world, you might be correct. In the real world, a 15A breaker (especially one that's more than a few years old) is probably going to trip at 80-85% of its rated load. And it only goes downhill from there as the breakers age further.

I'm in the same boat as MeanGene....an older house with older wiring/breakers. I'm just going to have a couple of new 20A circuits pulled with new (and shielded...cuz I'm anal that way) 10/3nstranded cable. It's more expensive to do things that way, but I prefer to over-engineer than try to scrimp and save a few bucks. I can reliably trip my current 15A amp circuit by playing a Bach organ fugue at high volume. I would imagine that very compressed rock music would be even more brutal on the circuit. The old BX in my plaster walls belongs in a museum...when we remodel, I'll probably bite the bullet and have it all replaced along with all new panels.

Cheers,

Sorry about the late response. The $125 for the 1 circuit seems resonable. This is with out knowing how difficult it will be to run the wires. A 15 amp breaker is NOT supposed to be loaded up to 15 amps!!!. The circuits are only supposed to have a current draw of 80% of the rated capacity of the breaker. 12 amps for a 15 amp breaker, 16 amps for a 20 amp breaker. One other thing is you are supposed to "exercise", (turn them off and on), the circuit breakers once a yeaer to help insure they opperate correctly in an overcurrent situation. Jim

The numbers I quoted are from the "real" world. Statements about breakers probably tripping at 80-85% of rated load aren't based on any fact.
I agree that old wiring should be replaced but that is for safety considerations not because your typical audio system is taxing the circuit too much. As MeanGene stated his circuit that was tripping had "a number of problems assosiated with it".
As for running 10/3 for a 20A circuit.....well.....giver hell. :rolleyes: