Home Theater Cabling

[jsfinn]

I'm curious if anyone else is as nit-picky as I am when it comes to cabling.<br /><br />I recently added a couple of newer components to my home theater and the amount of cabling this thing uses is ridiculous. <br /><br />How do you keep your cables neat and clean?<br /><br />I've done everything I can think of - everything is run inside split loom and cable tied but it still looks messy to me.. <br /><br />All the cables are as short as I can buy them so that the still fit but there is always an extra foot or two that needs to be looped up somewhere. I thought about cutting them to the proper size and soldering new ends on, but some of the cables can't be custom sized because they are fiber optic. <br /><br />Any suggestions?

 

[divo]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

How about something like this?<br /><br /> http://cableorganizer.com/wire-duct/narrow-slot.html <br /><br /> You can get single ones at radio shack and paint them if you have to. I just screwed them to the back of the shelves. You can fold the excess wire inside them. Makes a really neat job.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

Actually it has gotten better.<br />With all the audiophiles out there and the kids in their cars there are alot of colored coded wire looms and covers available. Use the plastic tubes and zip ties. It tends to tidy up things nicely.<br /><br />Hit up a high end car audio shop and see what is available.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

Shorter cables go a long way to cleaning things up. Don’t bundle ac power cables or switching cables with any interconnect cabling. Expanding PET sleeves are cheap, can be used to bundle interconnect, looks clean, also available with a slit and Velcro to close. Or you can put your components in an a/v cabinet with a cable track built in. Such cabinets and stands are now common. Lastly, wireless interconnect is just around the corner. It’s here for audio, not enough bandwidth for video, yet.<br /><br />What to do and how to do it really depends on what equipment you have, how you have it laid out, and how you have it connected. I make all of my own cabling. It’s just too easy to make a superior cable, and way less expensive than buying an inferior cable. And it looks nicer, too. I ended up just throwing my equipment into a Middle Atlantic rack. Mid Atlantic makes rack mount shelves for just about any component that does not have rack mounting ears, i.e sat receivers, dvd players, video games consoles, etc.<br /><br />One of the better forums for your query is avforums.com. It is a forum out of England, so there can be a bit of a time lag in getting a response. And they kind of talk funny sometimes. I think it is one of the better a/v forums, kind of like iboats for audio/video, lots of friendly, knowledgeable folks.<br /> <br /><br />Note: AVforumS.com (the one you want) is not the same as AVSforum.com.

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

Divo beat me to the punch. Finger duct in the appropriate size works very well, and is available in several colors. White, gray, and black should be readily available at either an electrical distributor, or a datacomm distributor. You can mount it on the backside of your media center, or inside if the depth allows it. I've also seen people use horizontal cable managers for a data rack, simply screwed to the media center. Be aware, the stuff can be pricey, but worth it if you are picky on your install.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

The finger duct is good if you want a rigid track. For something flexible, here’s a link for some flexible PET. Flexo PET is popular for a/v applications, including use as a jacket for speaker cables. Btw, I use the stuff a lot on the boat, too.<br /> <br /><br /> http://www.techflex.com/revised_site/pages/prodpages/prod_PT.html

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

Hadn't seen that stuff before, 18rabbit. Cool. Thanks!

 

[Realgun]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

Buy more equipment and hide the wires behind them. Stop looking behind the components shhesh. <br /><br />Wire ties are what I use. Also I buy black cables and use a black velvet cloth behind they cannot be seen easily.

 

[Pony]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

I use that techflex stuff......<br /><br />Part of my job is setting up the Audio/Video displays at Best Buy. Thats when I first had seen the stuff. In one set up I had prolly 10 things (DVD player, XBOX, Direct TV, CD Player, etc) plus a Monster Surge. I zip tied everyting into a nice bundle then wrapped techflex around it to finish it nice and clean.<br /><br />As rabbit said, power cables and things should be looped, but rather gently looped and not left hanging or in tension.

 

[jsfinn]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

Thanks guys. I have it all split loomed and wire tied up right now and every time I walk past I think it looks like I've got a bunch of vacuum hoses back there. <br /><br />I think I'm going to try that techflex stuff - that looks like it'll clean it up a lot! <br /><br />Thanks for the advice.

 

[dhud64]

Re: Home Theater Cabling

Originally posted by 18rabbit:<br /> The finger duct is good if you want a rigid track. For something flexible, here’s a link for some flexible PET. Flexo PET is popular for a/v applications, including use as a jacket for speaker cables. Btw, I use the stuff a lot on the boat, too.<br /> <br /><br /> http://www.techflex.com/revised_site/pages/prodpages/prod_PT.html

Now that stuff looks neat!