# Lots of cat cable



## GalaxyDrifter (Jul 26, 2010)

Hello everyone,
This is not a specific hookup or connection problem but more of a what am I seeing question.
I have been researching Home Theater how to web sites and HT images for months now in advance of tackling my own project. 

I have worked with home PC networking for years and have set up a few decent home audio systems.
So I have good basics.

However I am seeing lots of images of nice HT set ups and rack systems with CAT-5 or 6 cables going in many directions with 10-20 or even more cables in bundles.
My question is exactly what is it they are hard wiring all of this cat cable out to in a HT system?

I can imagine the obvious, to your server, BD player and some of the newer AV receivers such as that.

Are they using it for speaker wire? Do you need it for But Kickers? For the Projector? Is some of it future proofing?
Thanks for any help. Dave.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

I'd say it's most likely not cat5/6, but rather, speaker wire with an outer sleeve designed to be run in wall. If it is cat5, I'd say that many people keep their central networking hubs in the same closet as their media hubs. Can you post a picture of one of the setups in question?


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Many distributed audio systems use Cat5/6 for keypad connections. Cat5/6 can also be used for Serial or IR transmission. Cat cable is also cheaper to run in many cases to future proof with the use of baluns. Of course some of it could be for networking as well.


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## GalaxyDrifter (Jul 26, 2010)

Hello there,
Hey thanks for the reply Mr. Marshall and Mr. nholmes1.

Actually I do not have an image to post but I did manage 
to search back and find a few examples of what I saw.

I have two links to the images however for some reason the 
forum system does not allow me to give links until I have done more posts.

That's ok I will just leave this thread hang until I am able to follow up.

Thank you.
Dave.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

I believe 5 posts is the cutoff for including pictures. Try another post or editing your previous post.


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## GalaxyDrifter (Jul 26, 2010)

Actually I do not have an image to post but I did manage 
to search back and find a few examples of what I saw.

The first one goes directly to the image the second link 
lands on a page and the image is near the bottom.

Just a side note, these are not my web sites and not my images 
and I did not ask permission to link to them.

This is just for a quick educational view of what I am talking about.

Link one:
http://lightingcontrolpros.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Design-Best-Media-Room-Equipment-Back.jpg

Link two:
http://www.homeauvi.com/tag/home-theater-design/

Not certain if the orange and green wires are networking or not. 

Thank you.
Dave.


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

The first picture is a mixture of cat, speaker wire, RCA and control wires. They just chose to use all white cable, it looks good but a service nightmare.


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