Setting up living room for decent AV system - any advice?
Discussion
Bit of a long post here I'm afraid but please bear with me as i could do with some advice. I recently moved into a house that has had the double garage converted ino a living room. Badly. So in a few weeks I am having the suspended ceiling ripped down and replaced, the floating floor pulled up and replaced, and as part of this work I want to set the room set up ready for a projector and screen, plus set up the sound system to go with it. I don't want any cables to be visible. The room is approx 4.5m x 4.5m square.
So I am planning on the following:
CAT5:
Somehow route CAT5 cable into this room from my study (where my router is located). Use a hub of some kind to distribute Internet connection via further cat5 cabling to AV receiver, skyHD, PS3, TV.
TV:
Mount existing 50" plasma to the wall above the receiver / ps3 etc and have electric socket installed behind it. Install brush plates (one behind TV and one behind media unit below) to run hdmi cable and cat5 cable to TV. (It's just a plasterboard dot and dab wall - happy to hack away at it if need be to get the cables through).
Sky:
The current cables are situated on the opposite side of the room to where the sky box will be, so I'll need to extend them, then run them above the ceiling/down the wall and out of the brush plates to the sky box.
Projector:
Now I don't yet have the funds for the projector due to all the other crap I have to sort out in this house but I want to be prepared for that day (which I can't wait for)...so I'll be getting the person putting up the new ceiling to ensure that where I want to hang the projector there is plenty of timber above to which I can screw the projector mount. I will run an HDMI cable (approx 7-8m)from the AV receiver, through the brush plate, up the wall and over the ceiling to an HDMI socket situated somewhere around where the projector will be installed. Will do the same with a CAT5 cable in case I need one there in the future. I will also have an electric socket installed in the same place.
Speakers:
I'm going for a full 7.1 setup here via 5x B&W VM1's, a Rel Quake sub, And 2x JBL ceiling speakers. So will be running the required speaker cable up the inside of the walls, over the ceiling, and then have proper speaker wall plates behind each speaker to keep things tidy from a cabling point of view. At a rough guess I'm needing approx 36m of speaker cable.
So I think what I'm after is advice on where best to purchase this stuff (CAT5/HDMI/Speaker/Sky cables, brush plates, speaker wall plates, etc etc) and whether I'm planning this right. I don't have the budget to buy the best stuff, so although I'm not looking for cheap rubbish, I don't want to be going mad. The projector will be a 3D one (currently looking at Optoma HD33) so guess I'll need a decent HDMi cable.
Hope you're still with me on this, and that I've explained it well enough. By the way, I'm in Northampton so if there's anyone local that is knowledgeable about this stuff wants to come round to impart any advice, then feel free :-)
So I am planning on the following:
CAT5:
Somehow route CAT5 cable into this room from my study (where my router is located). Use a hub of some kind to distribute Internet connection via further cat5 cabling to AV receiver, skyHD, PS3, TV.
TV:
Mount existing 50" plasma to the wall above the receiver / ps3 etc and have electric socket installed behind it. Install brush plates (one behind TV and one behind media unit below) to run hdmi cable and cat5 cable to TV. (It's just a plasterboard dot and dab wall - happy to hack away at it if need be to get the cables through).
Sky:
The current cables are situated on the opposite side of the room to where the sky box will be, so I'll need to extend them, then run them above the ceiling/down the wall and out of the brush plates to the sky box.
Projector:
Now I don't yet have the funds for the projector due to all the other crap I have to sort out in this house but I want to be prepared for that day (which I can't wait for)...so I'll be getting the person putting up the new ceiling to ensure that where I want to hang the projector there is plenty of timber above to which I can screw the projector mount. I will run an HDMI cable (approx 7-8m)from the AV receiver, through the brush plate, up the wall and over the ceiling to an HDMI socket situated somewhere around where the projector will be installed. Will do the same with a CAT5 cable in case I need one there in the future. I will also have an electric socket installed in the same place.
Speakers:
I'm going for a full 7.1 setup here via 5x B&W VM1's, a Rel Quake sub, And 2x JBL ceiling speakers. So will be running the required speaker cable up the inside of the walls, over the ceiling, and then have proper speaker wall plates behind each speaker to keep things tidy from a cabling point of view. At a rough guess I'm needing approx 36m of speaker cable.
So I think what I'm after is advice on where best to purchase this stuff (CAT5/HDMI/Speaker/Sky cables, brush plates, speaker wall plates, etc etc) and whether I'm planning this right. I don't have the budget to buy the best stuff, so although I'm not looking for cheap rubbish, I don't want to be going mad. The projector will be a 3D one (currently looking at Optoma HD33) so guess I'll need a decent HDMi cable.
Hope you're still with me on this, and that I've explained it well enough. By the way, I'm in Northampton so if there's anyone local that is knowledgeable about this stuff wants to come round to impart any advice, then feel free :-)
I get most of my cabling accessories from eBay these days, unless I need it straight away, in which case I'll try the local electrical factors (CEF or Senate).
Our local AV dealer has closed, but most of their cheaper stuff was just generic Chinese anyway - same as eBay, but in better packaging for twice the price.
Don't waste money on fancy cabling for digital signals.
For the network cabling, it's a good idea to take stock of your needs for the whole house.
Work out which rooms will need ethernet outlets, and decide on a central point that all these cables can run back to. Fit a 10/100/1000 (gigabit) switch in this location. Run cables from the switch to wall plates in each room/location, and another cable from the switch to the router.
I live in a dormer bungalow. The BT master socket is under the stairs, the switch lives in the loft over the garage.
My media server lives in the garage, and the CCTV server is next to the switch in the garage loft (hidden away from burglars!).
For a neater installation, look at getting a small comms cabinet and patch panel (switch goes in cabinet, patch panel tidies up the fixed cabling). Not strictly necessary, but it's more professional, and can help prevent problems in the future.
Rather than extending the Sky cables, I'd fit new runs right back to the LNB (on the dish). While you are doing that, it's worth fitting a couple of extra cables so you can have Freesat as well as Sky.
If you are not sure what cables you'll need in the ceiling for the projector, just fit something to act as a puller between the 2 points, and make sure that the cable run has no sharp bends that'll snag when you pull the cable through at a later date.
Our local AV dealer has closed, but most of their cheaper stuff was just generic Chinese anyway - same as eBay, but in better packaging for twice the price.
Don't waste money on fancy cabling for digital signals.
For the network cabling, it's a good idea to take stock of your needs for the whole house.
Work out which rooms will need ethernet outlets, and decide on a central point that all these cables can run back to. Fit a 10/100/1000 (gigabit) switch in this location. Run cables from the switch to wall plates in each room/location, and another cable from the switch to the router.
I live in a dormer bungalow. The BT master socket is under the stairs, the switch lives in the loft over the garage.
My media server lives in the garage, and the CCTV server is next to the switch in the garage loft (hidden away from burglars!).
For a neater installation, look at getting a small comms cabinet and patch panel (switch goes in cabinet, patch panel tidies up the fixed cabling). Not strictly necessary, but it's more professional, and can help prevent problems in the future.
Rather than extending the Sky cables, I'd fit new runs right back to the LNB (on the dish). While you are doing that, it's worth fitting a couple of extra cables so you can have Freesat as well as Sky.
If you are not sure what cables you'll need in the ceiling for the projector, just fit something to act as a puller between the 2 points, and make sure that the cable run has no sharp bends that'll snag when you pull the cable through at a later date.
clockworks said:
Don't waste money on fancy cabling for digital signals.
As for the networking side of it, unfortunately I don't think I can quite stretch to getting the whole house wired up (although would love to) - Having said that, am planning on replacing all the floorboards upstairs when funds allow (and the missus agrees to the mess), so when I'm doing that I may then route a load of cable around the place.
There are some badly-made cables around - poor screening or connectors that fall off. Avoid the really cheap stuff, but don't pay for brand names or fancy packaging.
Look on eBay, and check the seller's feedback closely.
Makes sense to add cat5 when you are redecorating each room. The important thing is to select the location for the switch to make the cable runs straightforward. Running the cables isn't difficult, neither is terminating the ends (RJ45 crimp tool for plugs or punchdown tool for sockets/patch panels). Redecorating afterwards is the hard bit.
Most of the bits are very cheap, especially the cable. Buy a 305 metre drum for about £45 from your local electrical wholesaler.
Look on eBay, and check the seller's feedback closely.
Makes sense to add cat5 when you are redecorating each room. The important thing is to select the location for the switch to make the cable runs straightforward. Running the cables isn't difficult, neither is terminating the ends (RJ45 crimp tool for plugs or punchdown tool for sockets/patch panels). Redecorating afterwards is the hard bit.
Most of the bits are very cheap, especially the cable. Buy a 305 metre drum for about £45 from your local electrical wholesaler.
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