Show us your cable management system

[Kingrex]

The space behind our racks is many times a cluster of wires. Not only do they interact with each other, many times they are hanging and stressing the connection point.

I have mulled ways to mitigate this issues but never acted on it. The best I have done is to try and keep signal cables away from power cables. But I do at times look at the interconnect hanging from my preamp and see the stressed bend occurring from years of hanging.

Has anyone has created an effective way to isolate and support wires. Does anyone have a rack that has an integrated cable management system. Does that system work effectively?
Thanks.

 

[jeffreybehr]

Well, I'll be the first victim.. Here's the rear of my PS Audio P20.

All the powercable (hereafter 'PC') is kept off the carpet, but I haven't spent any Fog Lifters back here for no good reason. (I think I'll do that tonite!) The shiny, woven, black-jacketed cable is Sonic Craft's custom-made, 6x11AWG*-conductor, super-hi-quality stuff that I call JG-6x11, wired as 3x8g... All plugs are hi-end Furutech, Cardas, or AudioQuest.. The 4 cables disappearing at the lower-right are (1) the 2 GJ-6x11s feeding the main poweramps; (2) the shinier black cable is DH Labs 12g. (I think) that feeds the center-and surrounds Emotiva poweramp, and (3) the dull-black cable is the 12g. 'extention cord' I made with inexpensive commercial 12g.x3 that feed two duplex outlets you'll see soon.. The smallish gray cable you'll see in all the pics lying on the carpet is speakercable for the surround and ceiling speakers.

Rising from the P20...

...are 2 Neotec PCs feeding the pre/pro and the Oppo discplayer.. Those are wound around the rack's leg to keep them away from ICs, etc.. None of the PCs seem to be straining the plugs or outlets and are not otherwise supported.

The 4 PCs disppearing out of the lower-right of the first pic hit the wall behind...
...and are held and separated by nails driven into the studs.. They run behind 2 CD cases and then extend across the front wall..

Here you see one of the 2 duplex outlets installed in the extentioncord.. Plugged into that is the left-channel bass amp for the Serenity Super-7s and a PS Audio Noise Harvester..


Here are the PCs feeding their amps.

...where the AudioQuest Fog Lifters keep them off the carpet about 6".. The IC is spaced off the carpet about 2" by the IKEA Tea Light glass holders.. Main-speakercable is suspended by the bass cabinets.



* hereafter 'g.'

 

[jeffreybehr]

'Fog-Lifted' the PCs right out of the P20.

 

[rpk]

The space behind our racks is many times a cluster of wires. Not only do they interact with each other, many times they are hanging and stressing the connection point.

I have mulled ways to mitigate this issues but never acted on it. The best I have done is to try and keep signal cables away from power cables. But I do at times look at the interconnect hanging from my preamp and see the stressed bend occurring from years of hanging.

Has anyone has created an effective way to isolate and support wires. Does anyone have a rack that has an integrated cable management system. Does that system work effectively?
Thanks.

Quote...an effective way to isolate and support wires......

No rack, but there are options to run cables A individually, B decoupled from the floor and C heavy mains cables ex unit.
Example = https://www.amazon.de/dp/B08283BZL2/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_367?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pd_rd_plhdr=t

In addition, the cables can be suspended from the outriggers via rubbers / O-rings.

Since such a construction is placed behind the rack, function takes precedence over appearance.

The budget expenditure remains manageable and experimentation creates knowledge....

Regards Rainer

 

[Kingrex]

I like the wall support Jeffrey. I was thinking of a thin sheet of plywood with dowels screwed into it.

I also found the strap around the duplex creative. Is it a rubber band or some other material.

 

[jeffreybehr]

I like the wall support Jeffrey. I was thinking of a thin sheet of plywood with dowels screwed into it.

I also found the strap around the duplex creative. Is it a rubber band or some other material.

TY, but some apparently feel that running PCs flat on a wall as I do is as bad as running them on the carpet.. I could get them out from behind the CD cabinets and run them in front of the cabinets over the carpet, but that's quite a project for this chubby oldfart; I do have enough FogLifters.

The strap is a pair of high-temp. rubberbands I bought thru Amazon, I think these...

https://www.amazon.com/Architec-Stretch-Cooking-Package-Assorted/dp/B000RODBZK/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1RXW871JX6WL5&keywords=kitchen+rubber+bands+for+cooking&qid=1661019081&sprefix=kitchen+rubber+bands%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-6

They're quite strong and durable.. The outlet and plug do not grip as tightly as I like, so I make sure it doesn't come loose.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...some thoughtful, creative solutions, @jeffreybehr
Thanks for the pics.

 

[Kingrex]

TY, but some apparently feel that running PCs flat on a wall as I do is as bad as running them on the carpet.. I could get them out from behind the CD cabinets and run them in front of the cabinets over the carpet, but that's quite a project for this chubby oldfart; I do have enough FogLifters.

The strap is a pair of high-temp. rubberbands I bought thru Amazon, I think these...

https://www.amazon.com/Architec-Stretch-Cooking-Package-Assorted/dp/B000RODBZK/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1RXW871JX6WL5&keywords=kitchen+rubber+bands+for+cooking&qid=1661019081&sprefix=kitchen+rubber+bands%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-6

They're quite strong and durable.. The outlet and plug do not grip as tightly as I like, so I make sure it doesn't come loose.

The wall is not bad. Keeping the spacing is more important. I'm not jumping on the walls or wood floors bandwagon. I don't think you will ever hear it. Not unless you had a hyper detailed system. Then it could also be a case of vibration management.

Some people would say there could be wires behind the wall. I have roped many houses. No electrician crawls around drilling holes. You take a side angel drill, hold it at about thigh height and walk down the wall making holes. Now if there is a window you are going across, then yes, there is probably a set of wires 8 to 10 inches below the window. You are running below the receptacles. The worse you will encounter is wires out the bottom of the box that turn up, then travel across. No one drills down near the floor. It would be very unusual. Partly because we may not have looked at the baseboard details and do not want long trim nails damaging out wire, so we stay higher. And a box is 3 inches deep, so the wires are probably 2 inches minimum from the surface of the drywall. And the code says you have to be 1.5" from the face of the wood to keep nails from penetrating, so again, your 2" from a parallel wire.

 

[gleeds]

Hello all. The topic of cable management in high-end is under-discussed. There are significant differences if one does not engage in cable management. I believe running power cords at a right angle to signal cables is a good idea. If spending thousands of dollars on high-end cables, one should take the time to alleviate strain on the terminations and eliminate friction points that can damage or dislodge cables.

I recently installed a second tonearm and cartridge in a fairly complex system. The system included:

• turntable with outboard power supply
• two amplifiers
• phono stage with outboard power supply
• Pre-amp
• two-box CD/SACD player/DAC,
• two Richard Grey isolation transformers
• a power distribution box, and,
• two reel to reel machines

The wires behind the rack were a shit show, so much so that I could not work comfortably to install the arm. Things were so bad that when we experienced a ground loop, I could not determine which power cords were which, so we could play with some cheater plug, etc.! I proceeded to unplug and neatly reroute all of the system interconnects and power cords, so identifying what was what was now possible and we easily solved the grounding problem.

Unfortunately, this was not the first high-end system I have worked on that had the same jungle of wires, making it hard to troubleshoot, insert new components and plain old make things work as they should. All to say, I suspect many systems out there can benefit from better cable organization!

Recently, when looking for items to help organize things better, I decided to focus on cable risers that would provide AC plug strain relief as we all know the heavy ones pull away from the outlet. In my search I found an assortment of reasonably priced solutions for power cords, as well as speaker cables and interconnects out of the far east, as listed below which I hope offers WBF members some new options.



Note: there are quite a few other solutions on the site.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...9-4d20-b3b9-7a82014d3a72&algo_exp_id=81c6e5d2

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802279713921.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.57f07123MoJIas&algo_pvid=81c6e5d2-adc9-4d20-b3b9-7a82014d3a72&algo_exp_id=81c6e5d2-adc9-4d20-b3b9-7a82014d3a72-38&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000020754778192%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21USD%2132.0%2130.4%21%21%21%21%21%402101d4a716660493919361884e84db%2112000020754778192%21sea&curPageLogUid=wtUkxjINJcfD

-7&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000020333118887%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21USD%2130.0%2125.2%21%21%21%21%21%402101e9d516660496889946962e0dba%2112000020333118887%21sea&curPageLogUid=6PqdOtfm3f6N[/URL]

 

[Ron Resnick]

Those aluminum ones looks nice! I ordered one to check it out.

Thank you!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Some cable management has more performance consequences than others. The pics below show how I suspend/float my speaker cables to optimize my active isolation devices under my amps. The active isolation then is free to work without the cables dampening them. i can easily hear the difference.

any time you use even passive decoupling footers or racks, if you can un-weight heavy cables it will increase the effectiveness of your decoupling devices and improve performance. cable weight will neutralize/reduce the performance of expensive decoupling methods.

 

[Kcin]

+/- 2400 volts from my direct drive amps to the Beveridge line array.

Cocobolo blocks- don't try this at home kids . LOL.

 

[Kingrex]

Ges Mike, you have lifters under the power cables to the active isolation.

You bring up a good point about cables influencing the way a component interacts with its support base.

I have wondered, is there a way to lay cables that helps to reject RF. My understanding is RF is an airborn wave that strikes a wire and makes it vibrate. Then my mind thinks of musical instruments. A string under tension over 2 bridges will vibrate for a long time. Remove the tension or remove a bridge and replace it with a peg on a rubber board and the string will react totally different. So, is there a way to lay cables that will shunt noise or help it drain.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Ges Mike, you have lifters under the power cables to the active isolation.

You bring up a good point about cables influencing the way a component interacts with its support base.

I have wondered, is there a way to lay cables that helps to reject RF. My understanding is RF is an airborn wave that strikes a wire and makes it vibrate. Then my mind thinks of musical instruments. A string under tension over 2 bridges will vibrate for a long time. Remove the tension or remove a bridge and replace it with a peg on a rubber board and the string will react totally different. So, is there a way to lay cables that will shunt noise or help it drain.

basically how i view things is everything in the room is mechanically singing along with the music adding it's own flavor (distortion) unless i do something about it.

everything.

the RFI consequences are dealt with partially by my grounding methods draining off as much of that stuff as possible.

then there is power grid noise and the Equi=tech and all the other stuff that is your expertise.

the more dynamic your system, the lower the ambient noise, the more all this stuff matters.....you get more benefit since you hear deeper into the noise floor.

 

[Kingrex]

+/- 2400 volts from my direct drive amps to the Beveridge line array.

Cocobolo blocks- don't try this at home kids . LOL.

Whats going on Kcin? You have an output transformer on your amp that boosts to 2400 volts. I thought 1000 volts was high. Do you have wire like they used in neon lights. It has to have serious insulation. That type of voltage scares me. Even solar panels in the 600 volt range scared me.

 

[Kcin]

Whats going on Kcin? You have an output transformer on your amp that boosts to 2400 volts. I thought 1000 volts was high. Do you have wire like they used in neon lights. It has to have serious insulation. That type of voltage scares me. Even solar panels in the 600 volt range scared me.

Hi Kingrex,

I have electrostatic speakers. The high voltage is to polarize the diaphragm with stators of the speaker.

No output transformers on my amps at all. The +/- 2400v and 0 are coming off the plates of the tubes in the amp. I eliminate all the distortions of output transformers that are subjected to tube amps.

In this way , the speaker does not have a step up transformer such as in a conventional electrostatic to get the high voltage required for the stators inside the speakers. I have just eliminated another transformer with this arrangement like most every other electrostatic. Very pure "natural" sound lol.

High voltage - low current- silicone test prod wire or double teflon insulated- rated to 6kV. No issues. You don't want to go inside the amp with a signal playing though- could be deadly if you don't know what you're doing!

 

[BruceD]

Indeed makes for the purest sonics--I drove my stacked Dayton Wrights from the primary of the Transformer direct
0.25 Ohm--no problems with two Class A amps.

Luv the Beveridges by the way-- when I worked in Orange County ( late 70's early 80's) I was always tasked to pick up the latest Lp's from Sheffield Labs--I always managed to sneak time to visit Harold and listen to his wonderful speakers and his delightful hospitality.
I think I've mentioned before I spied the Julie Andrews Mirror ball ones in production--ha!

Good Listening !
BruceD

 

[InfigoAudio]

To organize our cables, we use simple 3D printed structures to keep the cables from the floor and to keep them nicely spaced from each other, while supported. Low tech solution for a high tech problem

 

[Kingrex]

Hi Kingrex,

I have electrostatic speakers. The high voltage is to polarize the diaphragm with stators of the speaker.

No output transformers on my amps at all. The +/- 2400v and 0 are coming off the plates of the tubes in the amp. I eliminate all the distortions of output transformers that are subjected to tube amps.

In this way , the speaker does not have a step up transformer such as in a conventional electrostatic to get the high voltage required for the stators inside the speakers. I have just eliminated another transformer with this arrangement like most every other electrostatic. Very pure "natural" sound lol.

High voltage - low current- silicone test prod wire or double teflon insulated- rated to 6kV. No issues. You don't want to go inside the amp with a signal playing though- could be deadly if you don't know what you're doing!

I had no idea electrostatic utilized 2400 volts. Such crazy power. I got hit by 480 volts once. I had to drill a hole in the top of a transfer switch to add a line. I grabbed some cardboard to lay across the top of the exposed bus to keep metal shards and the hole saw core from falling in. I was pushing it down on the metal and the cardboard split and 2 of my fingers on one hand crossed 2 phases. It threw me back from the enclosure. It was force like I had never felt. I then and there understood why electricity can spin a motor with such ease. It is also a reason why I left the field. I know too many people permanently disfigured or missing arms from accidents with electricity. Every kid who comes to me looking for career advise, I say, be a plumber. They make $140,000 on the check and they have a pension after 20 years that pays about $3500 a month with an annuity to supplement that is around $300,000.

 

[loki1957]

What cable management?