New, hidden, install questions

[The_Lhc]

My other half has given me permission to convert the "cupboard" under the stairs (big cupboard, you can stand up in there, loadsaroom) into a media library and AV rack room. It's next to the living room and within a few metres of where the TV will go (when I've bought it...), so an hdmi cable run shouldn't be too difficult, but I have a couple of questions:

1) One of the fuse/circuit breaker boxes is in this cupboard, so it strikes me as sensible to have a new spur taken off it so that all the AV stuff is on its own circuit, with a power smoother/thingy to provide a nice clean supply, but how much current will a 7-channel amp (think decent Denon or something like that), Blu-ray/DVD player, SkyHD box (and a Sonos ZP90) draw? It'll mostly be the amp obviously, but could I get away with a spur from a 16amp breaker or would I need to use a 32Amp one (I have one of those free as it happens)?

2) I'll be trying to hide the speaker cable, but it'll be difficult because we have cob-stone walls, so chasing channels will be impossible. The alternative is flat speaker cable to hide under the carpet or wallpaper, however searching the reviews section I can't find any reviews of flat speaker cable, so what would be a reasonable cable for say an amp in the £500-£1000 region with speakers such as the B&W 685/6 or something similar?

3) The left, right and centre speaker cables will all be coming from the same place and will be following the same path for the majority of their run, is it ok to lay them right next to each other like this or will it introduce crosstalk between the cables?

4) Are there any in-ceiling left/right/rear surround speakers (I like dipoles for the diffuse soundstage) that are actually any good? SWMBO is balking at the idea of speakers mounted on the walls, so this might be my only option for the rears and surrounds.

5) Any one know what the minimum radius bend you can put in a Van den hul flat hdmi cable is before the copper starts to crack and weaken (similar question for speaker cable I guess)?

6) am I taking on far too much and should I get professionals involved instead?

cheers.

 

[cram]

2) QED Mico is pretty flat and is usable under carpet. Make sure you don't lay it under anywhere where you are going to walk over it.

 

[Sorreltiger]

My carpet fitters simply cut channels in the underlay where I'd laid out the QED Micro. ÿWorks well!

 

[Anonymous]

the_lhc:
My other half has given me permission to convert the "cupboard" under the stairs into a media library and AV rack room.

Are you sure the cupboard under the stairs wasn't 'sacrificed' to hide all that ugly AV gear?

 

[Anonymous]

Have you got solid floors between the two to tv and speaker positions?
If there are voids you could put some sort of conduit in with a pull wire to drag cables through.
Blue plastic water pipe (25mm) is good for this and pretty rodent proof being as it is HDPE.
Theres an easy way of getting a pull rope through using your vaccuum to suck a string through first, makes it all the easier to get a wire in.

As far as power is concerned, total up the comsumption of all pieces of kit when they are all on. 16A should be OK but best to check, just make sure if you use the 32A, that you use the correct size cable off it.

 

[Big Aura]

make sure it doesn't get too hot in that room!

In my old house, I used a track cut in the underlay aswell - worked fine, provided it's along the edge so doesn't get a lot of direct walking traffic. Anniverary XT should be good.

What remote control will you use?

If you can afford to wait a few months, there might be something in the wireless HD transmission pipeline that would be better than a long HDMi run..

 

[The_Lhc]

cram:2) QED Mico is pretty flat and is usable under carpet. Make sure you don't lay it under anywhere where you are going to walk over it.

Hmm, that could be difficult for the surrounds, but it might be doable, cheers.

 

[The_Lhc]

Sorreltiger:My carpet fitters simply cut channels in the underlay where I'd laid out the QED Micro. Works well!

That's a good idea, especially as a new carpet is bound to be one of the requirements for letting me do this!

 

[The_Lhc]

Octopo:the_lhc:
My other half has given me permission to convert the "cupboard" under the stairs into a media library and AV rack room.

Are you sure the cupboard under the stairs wasn't 'sacrificed' to hide all that ugly AV gear?

Not quite, it was a convenient excuse for her to get me to empty said cupboard of all the sh^H^H^H rubbish that was filling it (none of it mine I hasten to add)! I won't be getting most of the gear for a month or more but she insisted I do it straight away! We didn't keep anything bar a couple of plates that she found in there! We also found an air-rifle in there and neither of us has any idea where it's come from!

 

[The_Lhc]

GC69:Have you got solid floors between the two to tv and speaker positions?

Unfortunately yes, concrete! We've got a decent ceiling void which might help with the surrounds if I can persuade her to let me mount them up on the walls but it won't do me much good for the fronts.

If there are voids you could put some sort of conduit in with a pull wire to drag cables through.
Blue plastic water pipe (25mm) is good for this and pretty rodent proof being as it is HDPE.

That's a good point actually, we found rodent droppings in there when we were clearing it out, although I've had speaker cables running through there to the dining room for ages and none of them had been nibbled.

Theres an easy way of getting a pull rope through using your vaccuum to suck a string through first, makes it all the easier to get a wire in.

Cunning! ta.

As far as power is concerned, total up the comsumption of all pieces of kit when they are all on. 16A should be OK but best to check, just make sure if you use the 32A, that you use the correct size cable off it.

I expect I'll get a sparky in to do that bit!

 

[The_Lhc]

Big Aura: make sure it doesn't get too hot in that room!

That's a good point, but I don't think it does, the house is pretty cold most of the time, even in summer, this "room" used to be used as a parlour for storing food by previous owners, so I think it's pretty cool generally. I'll keep an eye on it though.

In my old house, I used a track cut in the underlay aswell - worked fine, provided it's along the edge so doesn't get a lot of direct walking traffic. Anniverary XT should be good.

I guess you could ask the carpet fitter to leave a bit more of a gap between the gripper rods and the skirting board? I play pool with a carpet fitter actually, I'll ask him! The awkward bit is going to be hiding two Sky coax feeds I suppose, as that'll be going through there as well and the current feeds come into the living room from the opposite side that the cupboard is on, which is just about typical really...

What remote control will you use?

dunno I was wondering about that myself, I guess I'll need a bunch of IR relay thingys as well, as they'll all be out of line of site, one of those logitech harmony things springs to mind though.

If you can afford to wait a few months, there might be something in the wireless HD transmission pipeline that would be better than a long HDMi run...

Maybe, it won't be that long a run though, no more than 5 metres I wouldn't have thought.