Currently planning to build the AV kit and the CD player into the
fireplace opening.

I could put loads of 13 amp sockets in, or just one or two doubles then
use socket strips to expand (as most people do with PC installations).

Any reason not to go with strips?

Six to eight power outlets, probably.

Also possibly mounted in wooden floor under the racks.

Cheers

Dave R

On Saturday, March 22, 2014 1:20:07 PM UTC, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Currently planning to build the AV kit and the CD player into the
fireplace opening.
I could put loads of 13 amp sockets in, or just one or two doubles then
use socket strips to expand (as most people do with PC installations).
Any reason not to go with strips?
Six to eight power outlets, probably.
Also possibly mounted in wooden floor under the racks.
Cheers
Dave R

The [significant] difference is cosmetic.


NT

On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 06:32:10 -0700, meow2222 wrote:

On Saturday, March 22, 2014 1:20:07 PM UTC, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
Currently planning to build the AV kit and the CD player into the
fireplace opening.
I could put loads of 13 amp sockets in, or just one or two doubles then
use socket strips to expand (as most people do with PC installations).
Any reason not to go with strips?
Six to eight power outlets, probably.
Also possibly mounted in wooden floor under the racks.
Cheers Dave R

The [significant] difference is cosmetic.


NT

Hung behind the kit a strip could reduce the number of cords hanging down.

At floor level everything should be behind a blanking panel.

Just checking there are no electrical reasons.

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in message
...
Currently planning to build the AV kit and the CD player into the
fireplace opening.

I could put loads of 13 amp sockets in, or just one or two doubles then
use socket strips to expand (as most people do with PC installations).

Any reason not to go with strips?

Six to eight power outlets, probably.

Also possibly mounted in wooden floor under the racks.

Cheers

Dave R


I use a long strip up behind the equipment stack, and have done for several
years without a problem. The other thing I did was to run all the cables to
the surround speakers, sub etc so that they were concealed, and then bring
them to a small plastic box at floor level behind the stack. In that box, I
fitted 3.5mm jack sockets, and terminated the wires to them. I then made up
short 'patch' leads from the AV amp's output connectors, to 3.5mm jack
plugs, which then plug into my termination box. I 'bundled' the wires using
black spiral wrap. It is now easy to move the equipment stack without having
to disconnect all the wires from the back of the amp. Dead easy to just
unplug from my termination box.

My TV's headphone socket does not mute the speakers, so I was also able to
run another patch cable in the bundle from a plug permanently into the
headphone socket. I ran another cable from a further socket on my box, round
to where I usually sit, and terminated that at another small plastic box at
floor level, with a 1/4" jack socket to suit my headphones plug. When the
missus wants to watch something on her computer or iPad, I just hit "Mute"
on the TV remote, which cuts the speakers only off, and pick up my
headphones, which permanently hang on the radiator behind me ... :-)

Arfa

On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:10:59 +0000, Arfa Daily wrote:

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in message
...
Currently planning to build the AV kit and the CD player into the
fireplace opening.

I could put loads of 13 amp sockets in, or just one or two doubles then
use socket strips to expand (as most people do with PC installations).

Any reason not to go with strips?

Six to eight power outlets, probably.

Also possibly mounted in wooden floor under the racks.

Cheers

Dave R


I use a long strip up behind the equipment stack, and have done for
several years without a problem. The other thing I did was to run all
the cables to the surround speakers, sub etc so that they were
concealed, and then bring them to a small plastic box at floor level
behind the stack. In that box, I fitted 3.5mm jack sockets, and
terminated the wires to them. I then made up short 'patch' leads from
the AV amp's output connectors, to 3.5mm jack plugs, which then plug
into my termination box. I 'bundled' the wires using black spiral wrap.
It is now easy to move the equipment stack without having to disconnect
all the wires from the back of the amp. Dead easy to just unplug from my
termination box.

My TV's headphone socket does not mute the speakers, so I was also able
to run another patch cable in the bundle from a plug permanently into
the headphone socket. I ran another cable from a further socket on my
box, round to where I usually sit, and terminated that at another small
plastic box at floor level, with a 1/4" jack socket to suit my
headphones plug. When the missus wants to watch something on her
computer or iPad, I just hit "Mute" on the TV remote, which cuts the
speakers only off, and pick up my headphones, which permanently hang on
the radiator behind me ... :-)

Arfa

Thanks - loads of good ideas.

I plan to run the wires to the rear speakers under the floor to jack plugs.

I may do that for the front speakers as well - at the moment they are bi-
wired with heavy 4 strand flat cable but I could replicate that under the
floor fairly easily.

I assume there will be some losses -

[AMP]jack_cable_jack[socket]cable[socket]jack_cable_jack[SPEAKER]

however it would be neat and easy to move speakers etc.

No sub - Mission speaker set didn't require one - and the centre will be
on the fireplace just under the TV.

I am now wondering if I should install a cabling area below floor level
under the stack to accommodate all this stuff.

Satellite(s), TV aerial, Virgin cable, Ethernet, speaker jack plugs.
Possibly an Ethernet switch.

Should be nice when it is done, though :-)

Cheers

Dave R

I'm not a lover of 1/4" jacks for speakers. Best connector by far for that
is Speakon.

--
*Few women admit their age; fewer men act it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
I'm not a lover of 1/4" jacks for speakers. Best connector by far for that
is Speakon.

--
*Few women admit their age; fewer men act it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I really don't know why ?? Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa, Trace Idiot,
Carlsbro and many many more trust 1/4" jacks up to a couple of hundred
watts, and have done for ever. In fact about the only amplification
equipment that I commonly come across that *does* use Speakons, is that
intended for serious PA work. I'm talking 500 watt to 2kW slave amps here.
And in fact, I doubt that there is actually much difference in contact area
between a decent quarter jack plug / socket combination, and a Speakon, as
many of even these very powerful amps, only use the two pole version.

Arfa

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
I'm not a lover of 1/4" jacks for speakers. Best connector by far for that
is Speakon.

--
*Few women admit their age; fewer men act it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I really don't know why ?? Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa, Trace Idiot,
Carlsbro and many many more trust 1/4" jacks up to a couple of hundred
watts, and have done for ever.

Those are guitar amps with no claim to fidelity. I can't think of one
'proper' amp that uses jacks for speakers.

In fact about the only amplification equipment that I commonly come
across that *does* use Speakons, is that intended for serious PA work.
I'm talking 500 watt to 2kW slave amps here. And in fact, I doubt that
there is actually much difference in contact area between a decent
quarter jack plug / socket combination, and a Speakon, as many of even
these very powerful amps, only use the two pole version.

Speakons are relatively recent in the scheme of things. The area and
contact pressure between the contacts is in a different league from jacks.


--
*Work is for people who don't know how to fish.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article , Arfa Daily
scribeth thus


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
I'm not a lover of 1/4" jacks for speakers. Best connector by far for that
is Speakon.

--
*Few women admit their age; fewer men act it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I really don't know why ?? Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa, Trace Idiot,
Carlsbro and many many more trust 1/4" jacks up to a couple of hundred
watts, and have done for ever. In fact about the only amplification
equipment that I commonly come across that *does* use Speakons, is that
intended for serious PA work. I'm talking 500 watt to 2kW slave amps here.
And in fact, I doubt that there is actually much difference in contact area
between a decent quarter jack plug / socket combination, and a Speakon, as
many of even these very powerful amps, only use the two pole version.

Arfa


I reckon its evolved to that style as everyone else has done it that way
over time..

As Dave says the Speakon is a much better connector, more contact area
for a start compared with the very little that a Jack plug has.

As well as a better locking system..


Pity those olde LS5/8A's didn't have them.
--
Tony Sayer

On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 16:27:59 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'm not a lover of 1/4" jacks for speakers.

Nasty tendancy to short out when plugged in/out. Bit better than 3.5
mm jacks though, wouldn't want to pump 100W RMS through a 3.5 mm
jack...

Best connector by far for that is Speakon.

Agreed, and multipole so the bi-wiring isn't a issue.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 16:27:59 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'm not a lover of 1/4" jacks for speakers.

Nasty tendancy to short out when plugged in/out.


Short what out ? A speaker connected to a 1/4" mono jack plug, most
certainly doesn't short the output socket when it is either inserted or
withdrawn, and if the ground leaf of the socket momentarily shorts the plug
tip to the body as it goes past, what is the consequence of that when the
plug is wired to a speaker ?


Bit better than 3.5
mm jacks though, wouldn't want to pump 100W RMS through a 3.5 mm
jack...


Of course you wouldn't. It would be a stupid and futile exercise, as such
connectors are not rated to handle that sort of power ...



Best connector by far for that is Speakon.


Why ? As I said before, there are many manufacturers of professional
amplifiers that would disagree with you up to a couple of hundred watts.
Once you get over 250 watts, then yes, there is a case for using something
better, but even at these powers, I see equipment virtually every day that
still has 1/4" jacks for the speaker connections, and they work just fine.
Speakons are also expensive and bulky compared to jacks. And in any case,
it's not unusual to see Speakons that have a standard 1/4" jack connector
designed into the centre of them, anyway ...


Agreed, and multipole so the bi-wiring isn't a issue.

Very few amps that use Speakons actually employ the 4 pole version, although
if the amp is specifically designed for bi-wiring, obviously a 4 pole
connector would have to be the choice over a two pole jack

Arfa

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article o.uk, Dave
Liquorice scribeth thus
On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 16:27:59 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'm not a lover of 1/4" jacks for speakers.

Nasty tendancy to short out when plugged in/out. Bit better than 3.5
mm jacks though, wouldn't want to pump 100W RMS through a 3.5 mm
jack...

Indeed and that enormous elephant in the room the DC wall-wart power
connector;!(((...

Best connector by far for that is Speakon.

Agreed, and multipole so the bi-wiring isn't a issue.


--
Tony Sayer

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:10:59 +0000, Arfa Daily wrote:

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in message
...
Currently planning to build the AV kit and the CD player into the
fireplace opening.

I could put loads of 13 amp sockets in, or just one or two doubles then
use socket strips to expand (as most people do with PC installations).

Any reason not to go with strips?

Six to eight power outlets, probably.

Also possibly mounted in wooden floor under the racks.

Cheers

Dave R


I use a long strip up behind the equipment stack, and have done for
several years without a problem. The other thing I did was to run all
the cables to the surround speakers, sub etc so that they were
concealed, and then bring them to a small plastic box at floor level
behind the stack. In that box, I fitted 3.5mm jack sockets, and
terminated the wires to them. I then made up short 'patch' leads from
the AV amp's output connectors, to 3.5mm jack plugs, which then plug
into my termination box. I 'bundled' the wires using black spiral wrap.
It is now easy to move the equipment stack without having to disconnect
all the wires from the back of the amp. Dead easy to just unplug from my
termination box.

My TV's headphone socket does not mute the speakers, so I was also able
to run another patch cable in the bundle from a plug permanently into
the headphone socket. I ran another cable from a further socket on my
box, round to where I usually sit, and terminated that at another small
plastic box at floor level, with a 1/4" jack socket to suit my
headphones plug. When the missus wants to watch something on her
computer or iPad, I just hit "Mute" on the TV remote, which cuts the
speakers only off, and pick up my headphones, which permanently hang on
the radiator behind me ... :-)

Arfa

Thanks - loads of good ideas.

I plan to run the wires to the rear speakers under the floor to jack
plugs.

I may do that for the front speakers as well - at the moment they are bi-
wired with heavy 4 strand flat cable but I could replicate that under the
floor fairly easily.

I assume there will be some losses -

[AMP]jack_cable_jack[socket]cable[socket]jack_cable_jack[SPEAKER]

however it would be neat and easy to move speakers etc.

No sub - Mission speaker set didn't require one - and the centre will be
on the fireplace just under the TV.

I am now wondering if I should install a cabling area below floor level
under the stack to accommodate all this stuff.

Satellite(s), TV aerial, Virgin cable, Ethernet, speaker jack plugs.
Possibly an Ethernet switch.

Should be nice when it is done, though :-)

Cheers

Dave R


I did actually go a stage further than that to reduce the visual impact of
all the coax cables from the sat dish, the TV antenna, the feed to the cable
box, the feed back up into the distribution system etc, by terminating all
of those cables inside another plastic box. I then used the professional
ultra thin microwave coax - RG178 is it ?? - with SMA connectors and
adaptors to make short patch leads up to the equipment. I think this coax is
officially 50 ohm rather than 75, but over a metre or so, I'm not going to
get too concerned. By using this very thin stuff, I was able to bundle all
of my coaxes together into one compact unit of no greater size than a single
one of my traditional coaxes. I have suspended floors, and my coaxes run
underneath, and come straight up out of the floor into my box, which serves
only to protect the transitional connectors from 'normal' size down to the
ultra small coax.

Arfa

Just make sure that no muck can get into the cd player at all. also make
sure access is easy, and that there is adaquate cooling.


As for what to use, whell it might be an idea to also include some kind of
filtered supply there, as things like mobiles etc, next door can be picked
up by mains cables as I know to my cost.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in message
...
Currently planning to build the AV kit and the CD player into the
fireplace opening.

I could put loads of 13 amp sockets in, or just one or two doubles then
use socket strips to expand (as most people do with PC installations).

Any reason not to go with strips?

Six to eight power outlets, probably.

Also possibly mounted in wooden floor under the racks.

Cheers

Dave R

You might want to consider the '4 into 1' multi way mains connector that
Micromark sell (or used to sell - you can still get them via ebay etc). They look
like a white wall-wart and plug into a single socket; but you can wire four
individual mains cables into it.

They would obviously be a pain for equipment which you might want to plug/unplug
individually. But for something like an A/V system they can be used to minimise
the number of sockets you need.

The Micromark part no. is MM5367; they are sometimes branded differently.

HTH
J^n

"jkn" wrote in message
...
You might want to consider the '4 into 1' multi way mains connector that
Micromark sell (or used to sell - you can still get them via ebay etc).
They look
like a white wall-wart and plug into a single socket; but you can wire
four
individual mains cables into it.

They would obviously be a pain for equipment which you might want to
plug/unplug
individually. But for something like an A/V system they can be used to
minimise
the number of sockets you need.

The Micromark part no. is MM5367; they are sometimes branded differently.

HTH
J^n


Those are very good. I keep one in the workshop, as I often have equipment
come in for repair that is fitted with the plugs. The plugs are a bit fiddly
to fit, but it only has to be done once of course, and then you have a very
compact connection system. You might have to use two of them to accommodate
all of the gear in a modern home TV system of course. I have the TV, a cable
box, a Freeview recorder, the Sony DVD / AV amp, an Apple TV and a wall-wart
that powers an active optical audio switch box, so I use a 'standard' 6 way
13 A strip.

Arfa

On Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:45:10 -0700, jkn wrote:

You might want to consider the '4 into 1' multi way mains connector that
Micromark sell (or used to sell - you can still get them via ebay etc).
They look like a white wall-wart and plug into a single socket; but you
can wire four individual mains cables into it.

They would obviously be a pain for equipment which you might want to
plug/unplug individually. But for something like an A/V system they can
be used to minimise the number of sockets you need.

The Micromark part no. is MM5367; they are sometimes branded
differently.

HTH J^n

Have a version on my Atari STe from {cough} years back.

Haven't used one since as the hassle of attaching replacement plugs to an
ever changing mix of hardware seemed too much like hard work.

Anyway, fortunately I think that I have enough room (if there is such a
thing).

Cheers

Dave R