Wires/Cables using a stage and speaker placement ?

I'm trying to decide how I want to incorporate/run my wires and cables through my stage below my screen, and ultimately hook to my speakers. I am building a stage out of 2 x 8's that will come out about 3-4ft from the back wall behind my screen. Trying to decide the best way to do the following:

1) My av closet is on the other side of the wall from where my right M60 will sits. I plan to run my speaker wiring and sub cable through the wall, through the side of the stage, and then back up through the top at the various locations where my speakers will sit. I would like the runs to go from the AVR straight to the speakers if at all possible, as I figure the signal will stay the most pure the less links there are in the chain.

Should I just drill some holes, or get some white wall plates and run the wires through them? I know they make special connector plates for subs and speakers but then you lose that direct connection, and introduce other pieces to the puzzle.

2) I'm also worried about placing my 60's and EP500 on the stage. Will I get some vibration in the stage, even though it is very solidly built. I plan to put carpeting on it as well, but was going to have a hinged lid so I could always get into it in the future. Also, I'm not sure it will look good with the 60's 8" higher than they are now on the stage. Currently the top of them is about 2" above the bottom of the screen.

I've thought about not building a stage, but I need to run an AC line to the left side for my sub, and I can hide it within the stage, along with the other wires. Sorry for being so lengthy and making no sense.

Randy I'm running wall plates for everything, six sub outlet plates, eight speaker plates and all of my interconnects without fear of any loss of sound/visual quality.

Be careful about running your power cables alongside your other cables, you *may* get interference which may be far worse than using wall plates. I have two places where my speaker or interconnect cables get close to the 12/2 Romex inside of the attic. I made sure the Romex crossed the other cables at 90 degrees and then wrapped both sets of cables with thick foam insulation to keep as maximum distance as possible. Throughout this project my pet peeve has been keeping all power cables maximum distance from speaker and interconnect cables.

BB,
How critical is the separation of power and speaker cables? When I look behind my equipment, I have cables on top of each other, next to each other and just outright mixed up!! :-). What am I losing or what would I gain by making sure they were all separated??

Thanks,
Charlie

Hey Randy:
Please forgive my very short answers, I'm working up against tight deadlines!

- It won't be hard to run parallel, but separated wires through the staging through seperate holes to keep A/C a little bit away from any A/V cables.

-You can get blank, metal wall plates and paint them an appropriate color to the stage. Drill each appropriately to run the cable thorough. Might exen be able to find rubber grommets so the vibes from that 500 won' vibrate the wires against the drilled metal hole.

-Are you carpeting the stage?

- Can you just pack some fiberglass batting in the stage for vibrations?

-I think the height will be _preferable_. If I built a theater, I'd want to get the speakers in-line with the stage as much as possible!

-personally, I think a stage makes a very nice visual presentation.

-Apply wood glue or other gunk along the top edge of your 2x8s (in addition to screws) to dampen vibes from between the 2x8s and the subfloor from anyplace not hinged. Put rubber washers or bumpers under any hinged tops to prevnt vibration. Use plywood and "rap" on it before carpeting. You want thud...not drum!

Sorry for the short answers!

Thanks guys for the advice, I will definately take all of this into consideration when finishing the stage. I may shorten the overall length of the stage so the sub can sit on the floor along the left side of the room, and just have my mains/center on the stage. I really need to get the room carpeted first before I complete the stage. Yes, Mark I will be carpeting the stage to match the rest of the room, as well as my risers for theater seating. Insulating the voids within the stage is a good idea. In regards to the wiring, yes I will keep the 12-2 AC line away from the speaker wiring to reduce the chance of an interferance.

Off to the basement to work, dang it is cold today here in Iowa. Using my miter saw outside is going to suck....

Randy

In reply to:
Apply wood glue or other gunk along the top edge of your 2x8s (in addition to screws)

Or better yet - PL400 (get the low VOC stuff unless you want your eyes to burn for a few weeks)

Bren R.

I used heavy duty liquid nails on the ajoining pieces before screwing them down. One of my EP500 sits on the stage, so I filled the cavities of it with sand, first lining the insides with roofing paper, or a heavy duty plastic would work well.

Keep the A/C 16" apart from your audio/video cable just to be safe. If the cables cross, do it at a perpendicular. I used the vinyl wall cover plates and just drilled a hole in each one for the speaker cable, maintaining one continuous wire.

It's worked out well for me, but I'm sure it's not ideal for everyone. Just how I did mine. Best of luck on it.

This is why it's great to have Bren back. Anytime someone uses a word like "gunk" he fills in the blanks with what the person SHOULD have wrote!

In reply to:
I used heavy duty liquid nails on the ajoining pieces before screwing them down. One of my EP500 sits on the stage, so I filled the cavities of it with sand, first lining the insides with roofing paper, or a heavy duty plastic would work well.

I'm sure that's a use Iko has never thought of for "tar paper". Good idea, though. It stays sealed at the corners and such with the vibration?

Coming from an insulating background - oh those crazy Grunge 90s! - I'd lean towards 6mil poly and "effing black sh*t" (the trade name for PL Acousti-Seal) to seal it in, but that's me.

In reply to:
Keep the A/C 16" apart from your audio/video cable just to be safe. If the cables cross, do it at a perpendicular. I used the vinyl wall cover plates and just drilled a hole in each one for the speaker cable, maintaining one continuous wire.

My AC runs and signal runs are separated by at the smallest one joist cavity (16" centres, minus the wood width) and no problems at all, so I'll second that spacing as being well in the "okay" zone.

Bren R.

Here's a nice article regarding cabling from BlueJeans, particularly describing wall plates.

Randy, it is wonderful to see you theatre coming together.

Bren, Mark and others beat me to "glue it and screw it". I really liked David's suggestion about the sand/mass. Shoot, plumb a drain, throw a little Portland and water in there, and build yourself a combination mud-pan shower and HT stage.

For short, uncomplicated runs like this, I also liked David's strategy about buying simple, cheap wall plates and just drilling them.

If you're going to have risers in the back, I think it makes some sense to elevate the M60's a bit.

I like it that you always post pictures!

Why do you have to saw outside? Dude, it's only sawdust. Vacuuming has got to be less hassle than going out into the frozen tundra.

Some of the walls, especially in the theater area are a flat paint, sawdust likes to stick to flat paint. Also, dust is a projectors enemy. Plus my wife gets pi$$ed when she sees sawdust flying in the air because she is always the one that ends up sweeping it up, she knows I'd just let it lay around.

Right-o. I sort of forgot how far along you are on other aspects.