Cable dress, or: Taming all those cables!

[Vintage Pete]

In reading through all the various threads recently on system arrangements, shelving, wall units, open-air arrangements, accessibility, and the like..I thought it might be fun to start a thread on how we manage, dress, or conceal our system's wiring. There was a thread not too long ago (I think it was here but may have actually been on AK-time flies you know) on what we used to dress wiring. I think it was a poll-do we use cable ties, etc. Then Dan (jdandy) gave us a peek behind his setup, and that got me thinking some more.

As a system becomes more complicated, and depending on how the system is set up, keeping the wiring neat, possibly concealed, and (hopefully) accessible can be an increasing challenge. It's been mentioned here that one of the many amazing attributes of Ivan's system is how invisible all (or very nearly all) of the wiring is....especially given its complexity. This is something that I try to achieve with my system(s) as well...that when everything is in place, very little wiring should show. (unless you are REALLY looking for it). Okay, it's nearly impossible to hide every single wire-there is always one air space you can see through and that one cable we can't seem to hide!

I'm sure we have many creative solutions here....let's see them! I'll start out with a few overall and "exterior" shots of my system. Then, in the following posts, I show what's really going on "behind the scenes"...how much wiring is REALLY there.

Okay, here goes...these first photos are intended to show how much wiring we DON'T see.


Pete

[Vintage Pete]

Now here's a few shots showing the wirings behind the main system arrangement and TV.

[Vintage Pete]

Now here's a few shots beneath the center of the main system, with the Subwoofer pulled out.

[Waboman]

Pete, I love looking at pics of your system! Most impressive.

I'm very envious of how clean and tidy your cables are. Very meticulous. How long did it take you to get them so neat and organized?

Since all my gear is in a different room (that's the excuse I'm using) from where I sit, my cable management is a complete disaster. In fact, I recently found this guy living quite nicely back there.

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by Waboman

Pete, I love looking at pics of your system! Most impressive.

I'm very envious of how clean and tidy your cables are. Very meticulous. How long did it take you to get them so neat and organized?

Since all my gear is in a different room (that's the excuse I'm using) from where I sit, my cable management is a complete disaster. In fact, I recently found this guy living quite nicely back there.

Thanks...It's taken a while; it's also kind of an ongoing thing....I'll see a way that perhaps would be a bit tidier, etc. Of course, anytime a major change is made then it really takes a while to get things truly neat again. For example, when my 501 upgrade went in, that was a pretty major upheavel-another amplifier in, one stack of components moved up, etc. Sometimes it's a trade off where we need a longer cable in the interest of neatness.

The most difficult and hardest to access area of the system is behind the line conditioner, where many power cables converge. For the most part, however, with its pretty much "open-air" setup arrangement, the system is surprisingly easy to access and work on.

Pete

['cisco]

Wow Pete......Very impressive that looks way neater than mines

I have some 1/2" velcro straps that I plan to use in a couple of weeks

[1KW]

Pete,

The pictures of your listening room harken back to my bachelor days listening room. It really looks great ! My wife comes in my listening room to hear a song and she can only talk about how she wants to move this or that..... You have a very nice room, way to go. I especially like the wood stereo console/rack

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by 2uberoller

Pete,

The pictures of your listening room harken back to my bachelor days listening room. It really looks great ! My wife comes in my listening room to hear a song and she can only talk about how she wants to move this or that..... You have a very nice room, way to go. I especially like the wood stereo console/rack

Thanks David...

I designed and build the wood system centers (both for the main system and where the TV and Reel to Reel reside). I've build variations on the same design for my other three systems in the master bedroom, office, and Florida room.

While the living room arrangement doesn't lend itself well to a full blown surround system, it does have one benefit: No wife or significant other can come in (even if I had a significant other) and say "let's move this over here...etc. The room, and especially the system, really cannot be arranged any other way.

Pete

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by 'cisco

Wow Pete......Very impressive that looks way neater than mines

I have some 1/2" velcro straps that I plan to use in a couple of weeks

'cisco...thanks! I do have one issue in that some of my cable tie pads tend to lift after a time; especially the ones that hold large bundles. Some of them I've screwed down, but I need to do that with a few more of them. The self-stick adhesive really isn't strong enough in some cases.

Pete

[-E-]

Very nice, Pete.

I used to zip-tie and manage nicely. Then I started changing equipment. Then more equipment. And more... Undoing and redoing the zip ties = tedious.

I don't zip tie anymore. Perhaps in the future