Ideas to sort out this cock up?

indus · 24-02-2008, 7:27 PM

Hi guys

I cocked up a bit on my install and as you can see from my pics you can see the wires when they should have been hidden behind the cabinet.

The HDMI is the worst, which finishes a good two inches above the cabinet. I think I have a solution for this which is to get a tradesmen to chisel a passage lower and then block up the existing hole and paint it.

The speaker wires are only just visible if you are standing up looking down onto/towards the cabinet. Any ideas on this?

Many thanks

neilball · 24-02-2008, 7:39 PM

Is the wall solid or plasterboard on dabs/studwork? If it is studwork then I would suggest cutting in a double gang plasterboard back box and re-running the cables so they pass into the back box and out of the wall. You could then fit a brush plate onto the back box to make it look nice and tidy. If you can fill/sand the holes carefully (or get someone to do it for you) and providing the paintwork is fresh & clean then you should be able to get away with only painting the repaired holes rather than needing to paint the entire wall.

Dr Force · 24-02-2008, 7:49 PM

This is quite simplistic and does not require the exspense of a tradesman.

Just mark down from the hole where you want the cables to finish using a straight line around 2" thick.

Carefully score the plaster using a stanley knife so you get neat edges rather than it breaking off when you chisel it out.

Plaster comes away easily so you dont need to bash it as if going through bricks. just carefully knock it away using a bolster.

Now its just a case of getting a good filler that is easy to sand down (not the fine grade stuff as its difficult to sand) once its gone off, keep sanding until its flat (good tip is to wrap the relevant grade snadpaper around a small block of wood).

wipe off dust and re-paint.

Sainty · 24-02-2008, 8:36 PM

Raise the cabinet by 2 inches, or whatever is necessary to hide the cables!

Rgds

Sainty

steve12 · 24-02-2008, 8:59 PM

I'd have to agree with Sanity, Raise the cabinet by buying some legs to go underneath. Would save on making a mess of the wall.

Steve

dirtydingo · 24-02-2008, 9:37 PM

stick that fisher price car on the cabinet? sorted

beerglass007 · 24-02-2008, 9:41 PM

Place some table top pictures over the front to hide the cables

*banners* · 24-02-2008, 10:10 PM

Add a splash back? Back lit I'd imagine it could be quite nice...

Steve

scott R · 24-02-2008, 11:17 PM

Have to agree with Dr Force, it also looks like you have block walls so even if you wanted to chase the cables in and cap them it wouldnt be no trouble.
or as a quick fix sit your amp ontop of the unit

Btw ive got a fire truck a big red fire fire truck also

indus · 25-02-2008, 4:57 PM

Thanks for all the advice.

I've thought about raising the cabinet but it would need to go up 3 inches and that would look a bit silly.

The wall afaik is blocks, sand and cement and then plaster. The idea of scoring the plaster downwards seems like the best bet. The only issue with this is that one of the speaker cables is very short and just reaches the amp, if it takes a straight journey further down the wall first it may fall short.

Will it make a huge difference to sound quality if I lengthen the cable by joining some more on? ( I'll post this under the appropriate forum aswell)

Thanks again

velvitjester · 25-02-2008, 5:36 PM

how the hell did you get the measurements so wrong?looks like you did an excellent job apart from that

just buy a new cabinet if you dont want to extend the cable,doesnt look like you have much of a choice.im not into audio but im sure if you solder another piece on their wont be much of a diference unless its top notch kit and your big into audio,u wont notice.

how did you bury them?are they just running under plasterboard,if so just get a longer length of speaker wire,tie it onto the existing on and pull through

Ross82 · 25-02-2008, 6:07 PM

i say raise the cabinet up by 3 inches and add the led strip lights underneath to make a feature of the height - Blue LEDs would give the cabinet a look of hovering off the laminate. I say it would look sweet!

jolly · 25-02-2008, 6:10 PM

Wow

Proper splid plastering, a rare site now a days

Bonesy · 25-02-2008, 8:00 PM

easiest way is to upgrade your kit. the new flagship pioneers and denon are really high, admittedly about £5K a pop, but the speaker cable connectors should be higher, and the double height of the amps will cover the holes.
if not, then perhaps add some HD players on top, etc.

nbaker · 25-02-2008, 8:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by velvitjester

how the hell did you get the measurements so wrong?

Was wondering that myself, didn't you check after drilling first hole

Anyway I think I would put up a mini floating wall and remount tv on that.

indus · 26-02-2008, 8:30 AM

How did this cock up happen?

The room is an extension which I had built a year ago (by builders). At the time I had an idea that I would like home cinema there but was a newbie and didn't own ANY of the kit.I didn't even know whether I was going to have a 42 or 50'' TV

I just estimated where I thought wires would have to go and then asked the builder to put the wires in place.

I bought ALL the AV kit afterwards, and the cabinet (which is essential because of small kids) came up short.( I bought it over the internet)

The speaker wires are chased in the plaster then through the ceiling cavity, they will not pull through.

Ross, your idea is interesting and I can see how it would look cool with the lights dimmed (and leds on) but how about during the daytime? Would it not look weird having this AV cabinet 3 inches off the ground?

Also what should I use to raise the cabinet? It needs to be stable, as I mentioned I have small children that might topple it over if its not.

Many thanks for all the advice so far

Ross82 · 26-02-2008, 9:34 AM

Leds would do the job in my eyes. If the cabinet is only 3 inches off the floor, its still going to be pretty dark directy underneath, plus at only 3 inches the lights will still be pretty bright against the laminate. The edge of my TV sits about 4-5 inches from each edge of the walls and the still seem to light up to some extent - and thats not covered by a cabinet as yours would be.
Raising the cabinet - steel runners would work. I only say that because thats how we have ours - we set them in about 3-4 inches in from the edge so you cant see them.
I have attached pics but it doesnt really give a true indication of what i mean.

You can see how far from the left wall the leds are - still very bright.

Look how far off the ground our cabinet is, and look how dark it still is underneath - if yours was not much higher and had leds underneath, at least it would look like you have done it on purpose as a feature!

If i'm not making sense, send me a PM.

indus · 26-02-2008, 11:20 AM

Ross, your set up looks fab mate!

I may not be able to raise it enough to hide the hdmi cable on the left which as you can see is quite high, but would like to raise it a bit to hide the speaker cables and install the leds. You've sold me on the led idea as I think it would add some zing to an otherwise plain set up.

Where did you get the runners from?

Also I could put matching leds around the tv like you've done to add further effect. I'll take some pics later on that show more and how the tv is installed and then perhaps you could advice on the best way to proceed?

Thanks alot for all your help

Ross82 · 26-02-2008, 4:11 PM

Nice one!

Thanks for the comments mate, glad your sold on idea.

My Dad owns and runs a engineering firm so getting metal runners and stuff is no bother. You might have to do some digging on that one but i can't see it being too hard to locate some. Just give them the length (correct measurements mind!

), how thick you want them and if you need pilot holes drilled in them and off yo go .

Leds are from Ikea at £40 a set, http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/30119408

They all clip together for the length you need (we've got single strips on each side of the tv) i'm guessing you would need 2 packs. 4 connected for underneath and a whole pack for behind the telly.

Any probs give me a shout.

Hope you get on ok and keep me posted.

Cheers!

indus · 26-02-2008, 5:12 PM

Ross, have you got the runners running along all four sides of the bottom of the av cabinet or just the two shorter sides?

No reason why I can't use timber is there? This would be much easier to get hold of and cut to length and then just screw ( or even glue?) it into the bottom of the cabinet.

Thanks again

Ross82 · 26-02-2008, 6:32 PM

just got 2 running the width of the cabinet about 2-3 inches in from the front and back.they span the whole width and are about 3-4 inches in width themselves.

Just make sure they are pretty wide or are not too far away from each other so the cabinet doesnt buckle between the gap

I cant see why timber wouldnt work. Personally i would paint it the same or close to the cabinets original colour just in case.

I would screw to be safe but i hear nothing but good reports about all this no more nails stuff!!