Dressing Cables

hearingimpared

I'm getting ready to dress the cables on my 2 ch rig. I was curious as to whether there was a new philosophy on doing so.

What I planned on doing was taking the power cords and in straight runs ty wrap them together straight down behind a piller. If there is any excess I was going to spread the excess out under the rack without coiling them up.

With the IC's I was planning on taking each pair and ty wrap them together and run them vertically down a rack piller on the opposite side of the power cord piller. If the ICs have to cross the power cords I am going to make them perpendicular i.e. 90 degrees to the power cords.

Any thoughts or feedback on this would be greatly appreiciated.

steveinaz

Sounds good, just don't bundle them overly tight. Keep AC away from everything else. and keep digital isolated from IC's (unless it's fiber optic, of course).

If the IC's/or speaker cables have to cross AC, place a piece of 2" thick styrofoam between the junction, or other material to maintain some airspace.

Hit Rat Shack and buy a bag full of ty-wraps and some ty-wrap strap downs, they're great for hundreds of projects.

hearingimpared

steveinaz wrote:

and keep digital isolated from IC's (unless it's fiber optic, of course).

If the IC's/or speaker cables have to cross AC, place a piece of 2" thick styrofoam between the junction, or other material to maintain some airspace.

Thanks for the info Steve.


Wow I didn't think digital signals could have any effect on analog IC's, what is the theory behind that?


Also wouldn't placing styrofoam between the power cable/IC juction cause an inordinate amount of capacitance or stray capacitance?

It used to be the theory that a 90 degree cross would have no effect whatever on the crossong analog wire . . . I guess more has been revealed over the years.

steveinaz

I'm no techno-wizard, trust me, but I've read that it's a good idea to keep digital IC's away from analog IC's--so I always have.

TN_Polk_Lover

Everything that I have read says that the "90 degree" rule is very valid and should be observed. However, even at 90 degrees, if the cables are very close, some AC hum can be introduced. I have read that it is a good idea to leave at least 1 inch between power cables and other signal level cables. I really couldn't speak to the capacitance issue, though.

BTW, you can also get cable ties at Home Depot in a larger quantity bag than what is usually available at Radio Shack. The cost per tie is lower in the larger quantities if you don't mind keeping extra's around the house. But me, I use them all the time for all sorts of things, so I usually get a bunch of them at a time in different sizes.

Your plan sounds good to me! I've followed a similar plan on my equipment. I wish that all manufacturers would all have the AC cord coming out from the same side on everything, but inevitably, there will always be some things where the AC cord is on the right, some on the left.

ben62670

steveinaz wrote:

Sounds good, just don't bundle them overly tight. Keep AC away from everything else. and keep digital isolated from IC's (unless it's fiber optic, of course).

If the IC's/or speaker cables have to cross AC, place a piece of 2" thick styrofoam between the junction, or other material to maintain some airspace.

Hit Rat Shack and buy a bag full of ty-wraps and some ty-wrap strap downs, they're great for hundreds of projects.

Ditto

Speakers are also AC so I would keep them seperate from the IC's too.

Polkersince85

I like the tech-flex tubing myself from PE. Do a search for "flex" at their site to bring up all of them.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=082-348

IanD

To keep cables off the carpet, I made up some small wood blocks to keep excess cable lengths off the floor. I concaved the end that the cables were resting on. Looks nice and tidy. They work great if the cables are stiff enough. I got the idea from a high end audio web site that was selling the same thing made from some exotic wood for 10 bucks each.
I happened to have a piece of walnut hanging around the shop and made up a bunch of them in half an hour.
I read somewhere that cables should never coil around themselves but lay in a zig zag or S shape.
As well I found that the 3M brand of stick on hooks help in keeping cable against the wall behind the TV stand. They say a picture is wrth a thousand words. i'll take a couple of images and post them this weekend.

hearingimpared

Polkersince85 wrote:

I like the tech-flex tubing myself from PE. Do a search for "flex" at their site to bring up all of them.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=082-348

Well there goes another $50 out the door!

hearingimpared

IanD wrote:

To keep cables off the carpet, I made up some small wood blocks to keep excess cable lengths off the floor. I concaved the end that the cables were resting on. Looks nice and tidy. They work great if the cables are stiff enough. I got the idea from a high end audio web site that was selling the same thing made from some exotic wood for 10 bucks each.
I happened to have a piece of walnut hanging around the shop and made up a bunch of them in half an hour.
I read somewhere that cables should never coil around themselves but lay in a zig zag or S shape.
As well I found that the 3M brand of stick on hooks help in keeping cable against the wall behind the TV stand. They say a picture is wrth a thousand words. i'll take a couple of images and post them this weekend.

Please do, I've been checking out cable risers and the prices are a little rediculous. The only place I've found affordable risers was a site Antny turned me onto Signal Cable, they have risers 8 for 40 bucks. Still $5 apiece seems a little steep for up-side-down clear plastic cups with concave cutouts on the top.

IanD

My weekend project of re-routing the rats nest is going to have to wait another week. Since I have the good cable risers hidden behind all the equipment, here is a shot of the first cable risers I made.
3" tall with a 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 base. A real fast and simple DIY.
You will notice the circumference vibration inhibitor module. Critical to apply if you cannot drill a round hole.
WARNING!
Cats, dogs and rug rats seem to be drawn to these like flies to doo-doo.
Make a lot of them cause they will disappear.



These are made of birch. Any hard wood will do. Depends upon what you have hanging around.

hearingimpared

IanD wrote:

My weekend project of re-routing the rats nest is going to have to wait another week. Since I have the good cable risers hidden behind all the equipment, here is a shot of the first cable risers I made.
3" tall with a 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 base. A real fast and simple DIY.
You will notice the circumference vibration inhibitor module. Critical to apply if you cannot drill a round hole.
WARNING!
Cats, dogs and rug rats seem to be drawn to these like flies to doo-doo.
Make a lot of them cause they will disappear.



These are made of birch. Any hard wood will do. Depends upon what you have hanging around.

Thanks for the info:)

steveinaz

You know, I was dressing my cables this morning...and I forgot...are the socks suppose to match the shirt?


LOL

IanD

steveinaz wrote:

You know, I was dressing my cables this morning...and I forgot...are the socks suppose to match the shirt?


LOL

Only if you are dressing them in cable pants.

hearingimpared

IanD wrote:

Only if you are dressing them in cable pants.

I have lots of them.

IanD

hearingimpared wrote:

I have lots of them.

and I'm looking for some.....:)

dorokusai

I wind all my cables around an iron spool that is plugged into an 120v outlet.

hearingimpared

dorokusai wrote:

I wind all my cables around an iron spool that is plugged into an 120v outlet.

How well does that electro magnet work?:p