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Wire Management Tips Wanted


The History Kid

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I am about to do a total tear down of my system - wires and all and get things aligned better with my LP. Right now, the only part of my setup that I'm truly happy with is the C-Channel covers running to the rear speakers, and the positioning of those speakers. Basically, the rear is fine, but the front is a wire nightmare.

Does anyone have any good recommendations for good wire management practices, besides "only use wire length that you need?

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  • 4 months later...

i guess it depends on what you have available.  i personally have an Oak ET Center, well, it's more of a TV stand.  i attached "latters" to the back of the cabinet and then routed the cables with zip ties.  i have no idea how anyone not in aviation can get such "latters" though.

the basic routing issues...

keep power wires and all signal wires seperate....

if you have to cross power and signal, do it at 90 degrees....

if you have to route them paralle, keep them 2" apart (if possible)...

build custom length harness for entire system! (OUCH! said the wallet!)

audio/video devices, find/build 100% emi cables, those are actually pretty cheap...

power cables, either buy or make some type of shielded/EMI protected cables....

speaker wire, at a minimum have a twisted wire, if EMI is an issue, go with Star....

post-23806-13819445763612_thumb.jpg
post-23806-13819445764892_thumb.jpg
wow, that's an old pic....that's when i thought it would be a "great idea" to bi-wire! lmao!
Edited by InVeNtOr
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rear of ET


rear ET


these are more current.  i believe it stayed like this for quite a while.  i have moved and my HT was nothing but boxes (for several years).  it's since been unpack into the new house and it's back to a 3.1.  the cabling is half way done, just the power.  i'm going to have to re-do some of my custom cables and shorten some lengths.  i haven't bothered with the HDMI's becasue i'm going to wait until that nagging feeling of "I NEED a 65" TV" gets to me.  once it does, i'll wall mount, and route cables through the wall to the ET stand, just like in the pics. i also haven't bought any more/new speaker cables.  the Furutech cables are now too short and i need to buy more.  the Canare 4S11 will work just fine for me. 

the white strips are "latters" in aviation.  they are teflon strips with zip tie slots in them.  i attached them with a counter sink screw and small spacer (on the head) on most, then just a button head on others (zink screw heads).
Edited by InVeNtOr
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Mine is not quite so clean... but I try. One thing about doing layouts like this is, once they are in place, it might be much easier to trace lines, but it takes much more effort to change out something because one line now effects many others in the trace.

20330888218_354728d7a0_b.jpg

Edited by Schu
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ET center B callouts

ET center A callouts

i put some arrows and descriptions.  looking at this now, i still think it's a Rats Nest....i'm hoping my new efforts will look much better. the biggest help will be, No 7.1, No ethernet cables (Uverse changed it's box), No Wii component, switched to HDMI, No sub outlet switch box (X10 device), NO HD-A3 player.  deleting those items alone will cut those cables in half! changing the Wii will only change the White to black and help it blend in. 

 

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I love this stuff for bundling and hanging. All of my extension cords have a piece permanently attached with a small zip tie.

Hooks on one side and loops on the other so it sticks to itself

Fastening Tape 0.75-inch Hook & Loop Fastening Tape 5 yard/roll - Black - Monoprice.com

Nice cross between tape and baling wire.

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I am about to do a total tear down of my system - wires and all and get things aligned better with my LP. Right now, the only part of my setup that I'm truly happy with is the C-Channel covers running to the rear speakers, and the positioning of those speakers. Basically, the rear is fine, but the front is a wire nightmare.

Does anyone have any good recommendations for good wire management practices, besides "only use wire length that you need?

Kinda sounds like you're talking about speaker wires rather than rack stuff. Is this what you're talking about?

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I love this stuff for bundling and hanging. All of my extension cords have a piece permanently attached with a small zip tie.

Hooks on one side and loops on the other so it sticks to itself

Fastening Tape 0.75-inch Hook & Loop Fastening Tape 5 yard/roll - Black - Monoprice.com

Nice cross between tape and baling wire.

 

Nice tip.  Economical, too.

 

I use these, although they are much more expensive than your solution.

58091.jpg

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Haha, I had forgotten about this thread actually. Thanks for the replies, it'll take some time to go through the recommendations and see what works.

Cast iron-frame stand with glass shelving...doesn't bode well for using straps unfortunately.

Kinda sounds like you're talking about speaker wires rather than rack stuff. Is this what you're talking about?

Speaker wire is big, it far dwarves the number of other cables that run into the head unit, but it's everything. Sadly, there is not a lot of space between the stand and the wall due to size constraints of the room, which I think is a part of my problem. Usually there would be some breathing room there for some nice and neat wire routing, but there just isn't here without going into the walls (which isn't really an option).

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I am about to do a total tear down of my system - wires and all and get things aligned better with my LP. Right now, the only part of my setup that I'm truly happy with is the C-Channel covers running to the rear speakers, and the positioning of those speakers. Basically, the rear is fine, but the front is a wire nightmare.

Does anyone have any good recommendations for good wire management practices, besides "only use wire length that you need?

 

Some rookie tips I learned:

 

I use a car key to push the surround wires under the baseboard for my surround channels and that works pretty well to hide them. Always start at the speaker and move to the receiver that way if you have extra slack its easier to manage behind the shelf etc. Also, I label my wires at the receiver with some painting tape so if I have to swap something out I dont have to guess what wire goes to what channel. (I made this mistake when I first swapped out my receiver...)

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did you say glass? i had a glass ET tv stand and i used clear packing tape. i know, i know...blah....blah....blah.....EMI issues.....static electricity....i know....lmao! i used the tape to hide small wires up and down the stand beams and on the edge. some of the other edges i was able to tuck them away and tape over the gap.  if i had any "static" issues, i didn't hear them in my tiny apartement.

i also only had a 3.1, ps3, Wii, and cable box....so the amount of cables was not that bad.

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IbizaFlame, 

InVeNtOr's is the way it should be done...... I supervise and build automated assembly machines for a living that have hundreds of sensors and hundreds of feet of pneumatic air line. Everything he said is essential..... Separation of power cables and other cables is always best practice. You know how well I take care of things. Cable ties cable tie anchors a sharp pair of small diagonal cutters and taking your time is the way to go....... By the way my cable management is good his... Is.... At a whole nother level

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