New rack cable management

EndersShadow

So apparently somebody told a bunch of people to re-do their racks last night as I know a couple other guys (besides @SCompRacer‌) that re-did their racks last night.

Here is my attempt at tidying things up. I had purchased some flex tubing at Lowes earlier in the week for this purpose. It looks a bit better, but I'm still not super satisfied. Will likely play with routing the HDMI cables cleaner, and adding a bigger flex tube to allow for the addition of a optical cable to my squeezebox thats currently just wrapped around the HDMI flex tube.

I should mention that any intersection of power cables and signal cables is at a 90 degree angle and all powercables are routed as far away as possible from signal cables.

All of the following are ran together in a single flex tube

-3 x Audioquest Cinnamon HDMI 3m cables (Uverse DVR, Xbox 360, WD Live TV) to Integra
-5 x Kimber Kable PBJ 1m from AVR to Amp (on loan from @GlennDog‌, soon to return to him)
-5 x Wall wart power cables (Asus Extender, WD Live TV, Uverse DVR, Seagate 3TB HDD, Netgear Switch)
-1 x USB powered 120mm x 2 fans in top of AVR
-2 x wallwart power cables (Squeezebox Classic, MiniDSP 12v power)
-4 x CAT 5e cables (Asus Network Bridge, WD Live TV, Xbox 360, Squeezebox Classic)

Other cables I will likely leave alone:

Connected to APC H15
- 1.5m AC-14SE to Integra DTR 5.9
- .6m AC-14 to Xbox 360
- Extension cord to a 2 prong to USB power

Connected direct to other outlet:
- 2m AC-9 to B&K
- 1.5m AC-9SE to Dayton sub
- Extension cord to a 2 prong to USB power

Misc:
- 5 speaker cables
- 2 x Sub Interconnects (AVR -> MiniDSP -> Dayton sub amp)

Here are the pictures (I know it looks like a mess, but TBH its a LOT of cables and could look MUCH worse )

Before:









After:

shawn474

One of my friends bought a component rack and decided not to install the backing. Instead he went to home depot and bought a sheet of thin pegboard. He bedlined it with the rattle can bedliner (made it black and the coating is pretty durable). He attached it to the back of the rack with a latch in each corner. Drilled holes at the corresponding components and used a label maker to label each (CD player power cord, AVR HDMI cable, Speaker wire labels, etc). He then used the cable keepers / zip ties to keep everything in place and arranged nicely. Then when he needed access he could just move the rack from the wall and if he needed access to the components would unlatch the pegboard. It actually worked pretty well and was something i have always wanted to mimic but never got around to it. The attached picture is NOT it but you can get the idea.

jflail2

Nice improvement! And what's the general rule for bundling cables? I've always assumed power cables should not be bundled with speaker or hdmi cables, but have no idea what the science is behind that.

EndersShadow

@shawn474‌ thats a decent idea, but doubt my wife would go along with it. Plus I'd end up cutting way to much out of it anyway with the amp, avr and APC sections.

Eventually I want to just convince her to spend the money on a Salamander Triple 30 or something of that type so it will last forever.

EndersShadow

jflail2 wrote: »

Nice improvement! And what's the general rule for bundling cables? I've always assumed power cables should not be bundled with speaker or hdmi cables, but have no idea what the science is behind that.

Thanks man. It for sure looks better, though now more like I've got snakes all behind my rack lol. Going from 6 foot HDMI cables to 3m cables though is a jump so I do need to route those in a better manner, just havent figured out what that is yet. Likely just bring them around the side and top of the ethernet cables to extend that cable length.

As to bundling, not quite sure, I just like bundling things of like types together. Like you I remember reading to separate signal cables from powercables. Think its got to do with adding noise to the signal, but forget the specifics.

For me it is that most of my cables of similar types are routed together so they look neater, so then I just bundle them together by their type (ethernet, power, source, etc).

I will say these Pangea cables man, you better add a extra .5m to EITHER side if you need to make a quick turn lol. I'm likely adding some 90 degree adapters so that I can move the unit farther back against the wall.

SCompRacer

Does that mean I inspired you? lol

I like to keep power away from signal. If they gotta cross at right angles. I may get some spark plug wire separators for the IC's. No hiss or hum now so I am happy.

Next up build some custom cable risers.

EndersShadow

SCompRacer wrote: »

Does that mean I inspired you? lol

Nah, I'd already gotten the supplies earlier in the week . The games and their horrible endings irked me and as weird as it sounds, cable management helps me clear my head.

ZLTFUL

SCompRacer wrote: »

Next up build some custom cable risers.

On my agenda for a weekend in the near future...got some reclaimed Walnut slabs in odd shapes that will work well...I hope.

EndersShadow

ZLTFUL wrote: »

SCompRacer wrote: »

Next up build some custom cable risers.

On my agenda for a weekend in the near future...got some reclaimed Walnut slabs in odd shapes that will work well...I hope.

Gonna do something like this Ryan?



Or maybe like this with bigger grooves?

oldmodman

All your methods look like very nice solutions to the cable mess.

Mine I solved by putting a stuffed plush rat on the pile of cables.

That way if anyone asks I tell them it's just a rats nest.

ZLTFUL

EndersShadow wrote: »

Or maybe like this with bigger grooves?

Those.

The odd part is the piece I am planning on making them out of isn't square so I will be having fun with them.
Not to mention that I have to consider both the SCs and the Dreadnought ICs when running the cables.

SCompRacer

Rats need a home too! lol

I am going to stay along the lines of the acoustic treatment stands I made. I have multiple slots in the back and front of legs. What you can't see is I relieved the backs to clear the wood moldings so they fit snug against the wall. Since I don't want and don't need to treat rear of these speakers two of the three stands are not needed.



The idea is start with wood shelf brackets like these. They are available in various sizes. Invert them so the wide part is the bottom. Relieve the rear to clear moldings. Insert dowel in base as footer to prevent tipping. Cut multiple slots in front and back for speaker cables, power cables (my amp is between speakers) and sub power cables, IC's etc. I like keeping power cables separate and all cables off the floor, easier to clean under them. I need subs cause no speaker I've ever owned, including SDA's, will fill the 8,000 cubic feet main level with low bass.



Harmonic Technology changed hands last year so I can't get matching locking nanners to make my internal bi wire cables bi-wire. (I don't want to put a termination that doesn't match on them). I had a pair of HT Pro 11+ single speaker cables in same length I stuck on the highs to get rid of the inexpensive copper jumper. Same wire in Pro 11's as Pro9+ just not as much....

EndersShadow

Interesting Rich.... Once you get going would love some pics, may copy your or Ryans ideas for my HT stuff so I can run the power lines under the speaker cables, though its fairly decent now.