Cable Guides

Posted by: Jason Milner on 24 January 2005

Does anyone have any recommendations for these? I'm just finishing off decorating my Cinema room, & about to re-lay the cables, & it occurs to me that there must be a tidier way to do this short of plumbing the cables through the walls (too late for that as I've already painted).

On first inspection, there appear to be two options. Simply Computers sell something called Cableater, which comes in at £23.50 per 20 metre strip, plus £3.50 for the applicator tool, but this is only available in black, so seems more suited to the back of a desk than for a long run of speaker cables. The other option is square section ducting, which they sell at ScrewFix but that's a bit industrial looking.

I need it for front left, right & centre speaker cables, and also for the Component cables to the projector. The latter is not too much of a concern, since the electronics are all behind the viewing chair, but the speaker cables need to run the length & then width of the room.

I guess what I'm really looking for is either Cableater, but in a more room friendly colour (matt metallic effect would work for me), or er... a better idea.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

J

PS - have found this in the US - getting warmer? Cable Organiser
Posted on: 24 January 2005 by Geoff P
Jason

I use this:
Cable Tidy

It is a bit fussy. The blue spreader allows you to feed multiple cables into the cable tidy which has an interlocking plastic spiral. The only thing is it is limited to a certain thickness bundle. i would estimate it could take two NACA5's pressed to each other along with some brute force.

regards
GEOFF
Posted on: 24 January 2005 by Jason Milner
Thanks Geoff

Looks similar to the Cableater, but cheaper & available in white Smile The internal diameter may not be an issue since my AV setup is Eek non Naim, so no NACA5 to deal with.
Still looking for a silver one (I'm thinking I may as well make a "feature" of it if I can't hide it away), but will definitely keep this stuff in mind.

Cheers, J
Posted on: 24 January 2005 by Robmark
Jason , hi. Go down to your local electrical hardware store, and ask for the plastic conduit that electricians use for routing cables. It is rectangular in cross section, comes in different sizes, and has a press-on style top. The base section is fixed to whatever you want (screws, adhesive double-sided tape, or whatever), the cables are then laid inside as required, and then the top section is a press-fit into place. Inexpensive, and works well. Colour is usually light grey, but there might be others, and of course it can be painted to any colour you choose.
Posted on: 24 January 2005 by Robmark
Sorry - this might be the "square section ducting" you were talking about, but in general I have found it very useful, and not intrusive. Regards.
Posted on: 25 January 2005 by Peter Gear
Jason

I am currently using cable organiser - I currently use black - to go with the (usually)black cabling and makes a quite neat job running arond the outside of the room. The advantage is that it will cope with different diameters and numbers of cables.

Cheers
Peter
Posted on: 25 January 2005 by Jason Milner
Hi Robmark - that is the "square section ducting" I was mentioning but... I have to confess it hadn't occurred to me that I might paint the stuff (I have the IQ of a "four-by-two" when it comes to DIY) - I don't suppose you have any pictures of it in place do you?

Thanks Peter - do you have any pics of the Cable Organiser stuff?

cheers, J
Posted on: 25 January 2005 by Robmark
Hi Jason. No sorry, I don't have any photographs, but just a look at the ducting will give you an idea of what it will look like. There is something else - the fact that the top is removable means that you can access the cables anytime - to change them, and so on. Different cables can be exited from the ducting at any place by the simple process of cutting a hole in the side of the base plastic. Best I can do; good luck. Mark.
Posted on: 25 January 2005 by Peter Gear
Jason

Looks to be the same as the Cable Organiser or Cable Tidy already mentioned. I've only seen it in black or white however. A great feature is that it very flexible - adjusting to diffenrent numbers of cables and thickness and can be easily removed/replaced if you change layout and add/subtract further cabling etc.

Peter