Twin & earth upgrade & acoustically transparent screen.

[admin_exported]

I'm at the early planning stages of an extension and I'm looking to create a stealth cinema without spending silly money.I've already bought some monitor audio in-wall (3 fronts) and in-ceiling (rears) speakers. Also picked up 100m of 2.5mm OFC speaker cable (79 strand) for £10 , a real stellar bargain .So before I start wittering my first question is - can I get some better than bog standard twin & earth ring main cable that meets building regs and can be put in plaster ,that doesn't cost a fortune (around £5-6 max) .I'm planning on installing a dedicated consumer unit and ring main . Second question - I'm looking for a motorised acoustically transparent screen (preferably tab tension but not essential) that doesn't involve selling a kidney .Any help on either question would be greatly appreciated by an aspirational skinflint

 

[Anonymous]

Just a tip on the twin + earth front -

You may be already planning to, so apologies if you are but, use 6mm cable and not 2.5mm from the consumer unit.

Regards.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Soulton I see where you're coming from and I will probably go for 6mm .I'm looking for something made of OFC that meets the afore mentioned criteria.

 

[wireman]

celluloidzombie:can I get some better than bog standard twin & earth ring main cable that meets building regs and can be put in plaster ,that doesn't cost a fortune (around £5-6 max) .I'm planning on installing a dedicated consumer unit and ring main
If you're doing a ring, it's best to use 6mm T&E (cooker/electric shower cable), since 2 legs of 6mm will both fit into the terminals of a standard MK wall socket. If you do a radial instead, use 10mm with a 40amp MCB. Doubling the cross-sectional area of any wire halves the impedance, hence the benefit. 10mm T&E also has a considerably thicker earth strand than 6mm, which in many cases improves things further. Both 6mm and 10mm T&E are by far the most common cable used for a dedicated hi-fi/AV circuit, it's as cheap as chips (relatively), and chasing/plastering into walls is fine from a building regs point of view provided you adhere to the IEE guidelines.

 

[Anonymous]

hi celluloid, long time no speak mate, I would be seeing my electrican personally, if you blow the house up you won't get any insurance payout if you re-wired it yourself mate?

make sure whatever cable you use it ends at the wall socket with the new furutech un-switched double GOLD PLATED mains wall socket, good to go mate.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave ,don't worry I'll be getting a sparky to connect it all up .I wouldn't want to burn the house down with some dodgy DIY.But I can do the rubbish jobs like chasing out , fitting back boxes etc.Thanks for the brochures by the way.