Question about cable care?

Question

is it okay to roll the excess cables and tie them behind the system instead of letting them hang loose ? i mean the speaker/optical/power cables in home theater system.

Answer 1

Cable management is always an issue and can cause problems and headaches down the road if not properly taken care of.

Ye, roll them or tie them back, just ensure you're not kinking or causing undue stress at the connector. Optical cable you have to be especially careful with . Most are a plastic compound but there are still those that use glass conductor and are brittle.

I always label my cables, both ends (to and from) for future reference.

Stress, where the cables just hang and pull on the connector should be managed also.

Try not to run power cables in parallel or tied down with other cables as they can induce noise.

Answer 2

I prefer to hang the cables loose to prevent any possible cross-induction, but as long as you don't bend any cable's at a sharp angle (which could create an opening in the outer RF shielding) you shouldn't have any problem.

Answer 3

Yes it's fine. Just be sure not to bend any of them because it downgrades the quality.

Answer 4

No.

Do not coil power wires (speaker wires or AC power cords). This creates an inductor which .. well you just don't want it.

You want 3 separate bundles of wires behind your rack and should try to keep them separate:

A - AC Power cords

B - Speaker wires (another type of power cord)

C - Interconnects (RCA cables, HDMI, Optical, etc.)

Start by laying out your rack in a smart fashion. Do this:

- Put the receiver on the LOWEST shelf. This lets the speaker wires flow out and away from everything.

Cut your speaker wires to length - then add a foot or so extra so you can move things.  Distribute the excess wires behind the speakers, not the receiver.

Pull the AC power cords to one side behind your rack.  Tack up the upper-most AC power cord so it hangs down to make a 'tree'. Use velcro ties (or just strips of fabric store velcro) to tack all the  other power cords to the 'tree'. Make one or two loops if you must so they dont drag on the ground.

This keeps all the AC power cords together.

Let the interconnects hang down the back free or loosely bundled with velcro straps.

This makes the back fairly clean and neat, and keeps the cords separate.