How best to arrange cables in this room...
Hi all,
I may be moving my system to a new room in the near future, but the only drawback is the best placement for the speakers is on either side of the fireplace, which would mean my rack would need to go off to the side (image below - hopefully it loads).
In this arrangement, I'm not sure how best to run the speaker cables. Getting equal length cables would leave a ton of extra cable by the speaker closest to the rack. Also, I can't run the cable through the wall with the fireplace (which would be more ideal) so a solution to keep it somewhat hidden going to the far right speaker would be great since I don't love having cables all over the place.
I figure this is a fairly common 'problem' so wanted to get some ideas on how to go about it.
Worst comes to worst, I can put my rack in front of the fireplace, but id prefer to avoid that if possible.
@ghdprentice While I don't disagree with what you say, I worry about loops of cable are the basic inductor shown in any electrical physics book. It is a small inductor, but it is an inductor. No wrong answer here but I've been going with unequal length cable over coiled cable. Now if you can hide the extra cable without loops, then you have avoided both potential pitfalls. Jerry |
@carlsbad2 The floor is wood, unfortunately. I did think about getting one of those quarter-round wire hiding trim things to secure the wire in front of the fireplace at least, but I'm not sure I'll be able to find any big enough for the thicker cables. There might be some sort of little white bracket/clip thing i can install to hold it up off the ground along the top of the trim though maybe. Worst comes to worst it just runs on the floor, but I worry about it being a trip hazard, etc. Yeah, there's some debate about varying lengths vs not, but really the only way to hide that much excess since it would be 6+ feet longer for the speaker further away would be to coil it and maybe zip tie underneath the rack. I think I would probably agree with you on varying lengths vs coiled. @larsman I wish I had that option! The fireplace is used occasionally or else I'd just put the rack in the middle there in front of it. On the floor in front isn't really an option either since I have pets and the tubes would be a problem. 😅 @newbee Turntable will be against a wall on a rack, but not in the corner of the room. The furthest speaker away from the rack will be near a room corner, but not up against it - will be pulled out a few feet. I also plan on getting some treatment for behind the speakers as well. It's a bit of an odd layout with the fireplace off-center which makes this particularly annoying. |
@designsfx Unfortunately, don't have a photo at the moment since I don't live there quite yet (moving, so planning ahead). The fireplace is gas and built into the wall, so there is no hearth and I can't just put the amp in the fireplace. In a perfect world I'd just have the fireplace removed, but that would be a pretty crazy expense vs just making the space work. While I'd love to buy a home based on ideal positioning of my audio equipment, my hands are a bit tied since it isn't just me making the calls 😛 The alternative to this room is a spare bedroom that is 10' x 11.5' approx, which is significantly less space, especially since my new speakers will be on the larger side. In some years down the line (probably 5-6) I can move it to the loft space thatll be freed up then, which is roughly 13 x 15, which is more manageable, but will need to make this work for now. |
