Cable runs

[drummerman]

Its cable week and I thought I contribute in my own, swiss non-confrontational way to this most original subject...

How do you hide your cable runs? Do you keep them tidy, separate from mains cables. Do you lovingly dust them as you do with your HIFI or are they all over the place and you fall over them regularely?

 

[Diamond Joe]

I don't try to hide mine as such, but they do run quite close to the wall, fairly tidy I'd say, and as far away from mains cables as I can get them. And do I clean them? Only when the dust gets really thick.

 

[gpi]

Ah cable dressing. My point of view is any cable fit for purpose with a design and construction that has been considered as fit for purpose by the manufacturer, will have some form of material around the wire (whether that is copper, silver or string or a combination of wires), which acts as insulation. You don't buy a cable with a warning on the packaging, telling you to keep the product well away from all other cables or it will not function correctly. Heaven forbid.

It does make sense to run speaker cable away from trailing mains cables as much as is practical, but surely the cable manufacturers have thought of these concerns in their designs. This point also applies to the feet of hi-fi components. The manufacturers must surely consider the design and construction of feet on their separates, but a lot of people seem to think they are an after thought and have been stuck on at the last minute, without any thought of their anti-vibrational or damping properties. They feel the need to add wooden cones and the like. An analogy would be buying an umbrella and being concerned about not using it in the rain. My main, rambling point here is I think a lot of us get too het up about things in our systems that firstly have been carefully considered by specialist designers and manufacturers, and secondly, have no real impact on the performance of our systems. I am also saying a cable manufacturer would be pretty negligent if they sold a product that wasn't fit for purpose and affected the performance of everything it touched.

 

[gregory]

i like to keep things tidy and have a little clear up every 3 months or so, but my brother never dusts and his cables are all over the place. his system sound's bloody great so i don't think it makes a lot of difference, purely aesthetic.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="drummerman"]
Its cable week and I thought I contribute in my own, swiss non-confrontational way to this most original subject...

How do you hide your cable runs? Do you keep them tidy, separate from mains cables. Do you lovingly dust them as you do with your HIFI or are they all over the place and you fall over them regularely?
[/quote]

NO siree! I don't know if im in the minority here but i really think the 'back of the hifi' can be a beautiful place!!!! its where all the magic happens. signal travelling from source to amps to speakers. Ive spent a long time getting my interconnects and speaker cable right and i have to say im ecstatic with what i have now given my budget or otherwise. there's this laboratory/ mechanical physical aspect of hifi that is so cool IMO and in the same way someone can look at a building site with mass construction going on (eg Berlin post war) and say it is a wonderful site in some way i can look at all the wires at the back of my system i have some pleasure in the sight of it all. SO no i don't hide my speaker cable. my hifi is not hidden in a cabinet in the corner of the room either!!