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Written by Terry Doner, August 4, 2019. Updated January 19 2021.
Technical Power
Technical Power
Warning: Electricity can kill your or your guests. Electrical work should be carried out by a licensed electrician in your jurisdiction.
The foundation of a good low noise audio system is good clean power. In large venues this can be a significant design challenge and you should bring in an expert. In smaller, single panel venues, you and your electrician can get good results.
The use of “permanent” extension cords is strongly discouraged, and also residential grade power bars. On stage you may need flexibility in power distribution, so good quality power bars or distribution boxes are useful.
Your amp rack is likely best served by having a dedicated branch circuit for each amp. Installations of systems like SurgeX will have different considerations.
At FoH, you should plan on more branch circuits than you need based on current capacity alone. Keep every branch circuit at less than 80% load. And put in enough so that you don’t need extension cords. You can use a rack mount power distribution unit (such as a Furman PL-9) for in rack distribution. In this case try to keep to one rack per branch.
For best noise performance, isolated ground design is often recommended. Each branch circuit has a dedicated safety ground all the way back to a common ground point. Work with your electrician to ensure you are compliant with your local electrical code.
Want to know more? Read Philip Giddings’ book on the topic, Audio System Design and Installation.
References
References
Audio Systems Design and Installation – Jun 12 1997 by Philip Giddings (Author)
Power and Grounding for Audio and Audio/Video Systems A White Paper for the Real World - there are two versions:
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