[LAU] Shielded electrical wiring for studio (or not)

[David Christensen]

On 06/03/2015 01:45 PM, Glen MacArthur wrote:
> I wanted to make an objective decision with all the facts from both sides
> so I appreciated that paper had some sound logic (pardon the pun) from one
> side of the issue, I'm not taking it as the final word at all don't worry.
> I'm fortunate enough to be able to do this project but only if I do the
> majority of the construction myself so there ain't no Richie Rich spendin'
> going on here at all... :)
> I think in the end I'm leaning toward going with Romex (which does comply
> with code here). The fact that this space is larger with a higher ceiling
> to route the wiring through than what I had before will enable greater
> distances from the single coil instruments generally.. As I said in my
> original post the single coil noise was only a minor annoyance but I
> thought it prudent to at least ask for some input before starting from
> scratch. My gut feeling was that it was not worth shielding it but I
> appreciate what everyone has shared and that they have taken time to
> reply.

If you told us some more about what you're trying to do, people might be 
able to offer low-budget/ good value suggestions for your studio 
electrical system.  For example, separating power and signal conductors 
as widely as possible, using larger gauge wire for your feeder and/or 
branch circuits, and implementing a star-grounding/ isolated grounding 
scheme (wood framing, plastic boxes, and Romex should give you this for 
free).  (Of course, all of your audio equipment and cabling needs to be 
properly designed and constructed so as to avoid ground fault, EMC, pin 
1, balanced/ unbalanced, etc., and other electrical/RFI issues.)


If this is a home studio fed from the same panelboard that feeds your 
house, you might find that all the other loads in your house (and/or 
your neighbors' houses) are causing electrical noise problems for your 
audio systems.  You might want to think about a feeder to a dedicated 
audio sub-panel now, and possible isolation transformer or other 
conditioning later as needed:

http://www2.schneider-electric.com/resources/sites/SCHNEIDER_ELECTRIC/content/live/FAQS/123000/FA123947/en_US/Isolation.pdf


David