# Managing Wires & Cables of Hometheater



## benbo (Jul 27, 2010)

I have a home theater/A/V cabinet housing my home theater/ stereo system. I have a 60 inch Sony HDTV / Onkyo 809/Direct TV DVR/Sony BluRay and a X-Box all connected to a 5.1 set-up. In the same cabinet I have a Adcom pre amp/ Acurus amp/ Denon CD changer which I run my 2.1 system. Each system has its own speakers, NHT SUPER ONEs with Velodyne sub for Home theater and NHT sub for stereo system. Now my problem, My wife looked behind the cabinet and started yelling and screaming about the number of wires and the fact that they looked like piles of snakes. Admittedly, if does look bad and I tried to explain that it was suppose to look like that.
Well that explanation did not hold water so I am writing for help!

Is there a method for grouping certain wires together, all A/C cords in a group, speaker wiires together, HDMI cords together , Etc. ? Is there a cord management system sold that will help. 

If I had not pulled that cabinet out from the wall I would not have this problem, if I had less stuff I ,,,, you see my problem, HELP!!!


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

benbo said:


> I have a home theater/A/V cabinet housing my home theater/ stereo system. I have a 60 inch Sony HDTV / Onkyo 809/Direct TV DVR/Sony BluRay and a X-Box all connected to a 5.1 set-up. In the same cabinet I have a Adcom pre amp/ Acurus amp/ Denon CD changer which I run my 2.1 system. Each system has its own speakers, NHT SUPER ONEs with Velodyne sub for Home theater and NHT sub for stereo system. Now my problem, My wife looked behind the cabinet and started yelling and screaming about the number of wires and the fact that they looked like piles of snakes. Admittedly, if does look bad and I tried to explain that it was suppose to look like that.
> Well that explanation did not hold water so I am writing for help!
> 
> Is there a method for grouping certain wires together, all A/C cords in a group, speaker wiires together, HDMI cords together , Etc. ? Is there a cord management system sold that will help.
> ...


As I undetstand it, you can bundle all low voltage lines together (network, speaker, etc). You could also put line voltage lines together - just try not to run them in parallel with low voltage lines. If you have to cross them, make sure you do it at a 90 degree angle.

As far as bundling them together, a nice cheap solution is colored zip ties - you can use certain colors for certain wire types to help tell them apart later.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

You have your work cut out for you, benbo! I tried neatly bundling my wiring like ALM suggests, all ty-wrapped nice and neat, but eventually I needed to change out a piece of gear, move it to another shelf, etc. and it was a pain to do that up when you have to “unbundle” everything and then “re-bundle” it all again!

Ultimately, the best way to “de-snake” is to have all your cabling custom made, and cut to length. Naturally, that can be pricey or if you make your own cables, time consuming. 

Regards, 
Wayne


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

I use hook and loop wraps. They let you easily change cables when needed.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=080-916


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Those look perfect Leonard - thanks for linking those. I will have to add that to my favorites folder so I don't forget about them!


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## phycomp (Jun 19, 2012)

As others have perhaps said, a combination of color coded ty-wraps, fabric sock as used by Loewe, or flexible two part conduit are the answers.


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## cr136124 (Apr 23, 2012)

Just one sec.


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## cr136124 (Apr 23, 2012)

** Ok, I have 11 posts now and still not able to post pics. So, I just created an album for this. **

I tried my best to manage all wires at my home made AV Console and here are the results (pics from left to right on the AV Console)

http://s1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj563/cr136124/AV%20Console%20Wire%20Mgmt/

As mentioned by others already, I "tried" to keep separated power cords from the other wires. Really hard in some cases, but I am happy with the results.


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