Recently Filed in Structured Wiring

Since the first issue of Electronic House back in the early 1980s, we’ve harped on the importance of prewiring. With the right low-voltage wiring in all the right places, your home will be ready for any cool electronics or home systems you want installed—now or in the future. It’s always good to be prepared, right? How Much Does It Cost? Prewiring a home for a 6-zone music system costs between $700 and $1,000. Prices go up from there, depending on the number of systems you… View this story
Audio Cables • Speaker Wire • Structured Wiring • Video Cables • Info and Answers

Ten years ago, the big talk in the home electronics industry was structured wiring. The prepackaged bundle of wire offered us a quick and easy way to get our homes prewired for all kinds of fabulous systems. A novel idea at the time, prewiring was preached as being the best thing since sliced bread. Fast forward to 2009: We still hear a lot about wire—what with HDMI and fiber hype—but sadly, the frenzy over structured wiring packages has fizzled. The companies that pioneered the concept,… View this story
Cables, Wires and Tools • Structured Wiring • Info and Answers

After showing you the worst wiring jobs on the planet, we’ve tracked down photos of what those same jobs looked like after a custom electronics professional (CE pro) cleaned up each mess. Now, don’t be fooled, some of these jobs belong to and were done by CE pros themselves. That’s why you need to map out exactly how you want your system to look, and dictate your vision to whoever (you or a CE pro) and wiring your system. You certainly don’t want to be… View this story
Cables, Wires and Tools • Structured Wiring • Info and Answers • Slideshows

Have you ever tried (unsuccessfully) to wire your own system? What about hiring a CE pro to come out and tackle a complicated wiring job? While CE pros almost always do great work, there’s always that one installer who just doesn’t care. Either of those scenarios could leave you with a rat’s nest of wires in the basement or a bird’s nest of wires under the stairs, possibly affecting system performance. And fixing such a mess is no easy task. We’ve rounded up 10 of… View this story
Cables, Wires and Tools • Structured Wiring • Info and Answers • Slideshows

Wiring isn’t sexy. But it’s necessary. Here are seven vital wire/cable runs you should ask your custom electronics pro to install to ensure that your plans for technology are up-to-date and your modern lifestyle at home is well in hand. Category 5 structured cabling. This is a must. Also, make sure the phone locations are wired with the same cable that is used for data. This makes future conversion of phone locations to data locations a simple task. Terminate Phone Locations as Data using RJ45.… View this story
Cables, Wires and Tools • Structured Wiring • Wall Jacks • Info and Answers

By now it may be a little obvious that you should prewire your home with lots of low-voltage cabling before the Sheetrock goes up. In particular, experts recommend running Cat 5 (or better) cabling to each entertainment area in the house – and lots of it to A/V-intensive locales like the home’s media center. Beyond the usual, where else should you run wiring before it’s too late. Scott Fuelling of Memphis-based Phoenix Unequaled Home Entertainment recommends the following: We prewire for drapery control systems. Depending… View this story
Structured Wiring • Bedroom • Entryway • Exterior

We’ve been hearing a lot more lately about manufacturers embracing green initiatives and greener products. It seems pretty fitting that a recent one was brought to our attention from a company based in Colorado. Colorado Springs-based Liberty Wire & Cable has announced that more than 90 percent of its 6,000-plus products comply with the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. The company’s green manufacturing practices comply by using reduced lead, mercury, cadmium, hexevalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) in electronic and… View this story
Cables, Wires and Tools • Audio Cables • Connectors • Speaker Wire • Structured Wiring • Video Cables • Miscellaneous • Green Technology • Enhancements • Product News

If you’re planning on constructing a home anytime soon, here’s a little something you should know: By building certain technologies into the structure of your residence, you can roll their costs into your mortgage. That goes for the box—the structured wiring panel, or hub,—where all the wiring of your house comes together. Manufacturers of structured wiring systems offer a host of add-ons to support computer networks, multiple telephone extensions and surveillance cameras. More recently, third-party manufacturers have started to create unique systems designed specifically to… View this story
Power Management • Structured Wiring • Multiroom Audio • Multiroom AV • Product News

The topic of wire can be a little messy. Wiremold/Legrand looks like they want to untangle your wired world—via the web. The company just announced that they’ve launched a website aimed at consumers with an interest in cable. The site has a lot of neat projects, such as Garage Makeover, Install a Flat Screen, Kid Safe Your Home, and others. There are some nice how-to videos. Of course, there’s no shortage of information on how to purchase Wiremold products. However, we’re hoping the company plans… View this story
Audio Cables • Structured Wiring • Video Cables • Web Services • Networking • Product News

The CEDIA Expo just wrapped in Denver, but it ain’t ever over as long as people can flaunt their awards. The organization, also known as the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA), has bestowed those bragging rights on five companies. The Manufacturers’ Excellence Awards were presented at the trade organization’s annual banquet on Saturday, September 8. The awards are designed to recognize innovative products that most enhance an installer’s business—because you want it. And the winners were… > AMX for the AutoPatch PrecisLT with… View this story
In-Wall Speakers • Structured Wiring • Switches and Extenders • TV Mounts • Lighting Control Systems • Shows and Expos • Home Theater • Audio • Home Control • Product News

When it comes to optimizing a home theater, townhouses can be tricky. This Florida resident thought outside the box—in this case, his 13-by-13-foot box of a living room—to make way for a 60-inch plasma and surround sound system. To create about 4 more feet of viewing depth so the screen didn’t overwhelm him or the room (his old TV jutted out almost two feet in front of the railing and virtually hid the nearby fireplace), the owner wanted the plasma mounted onto a staircase wall.… View this story
Plasma • In-Ceiling Speakers • On-Wall Speakers • Structured Wiring • Equipment Racks • TV Mounts • Entryway • Living Room • Media Room • Installers • Home Theater • Cool Homes

What do you do if you want to go for a nice, warm swim but live in the chilly Northeast? You can build an indoor pool, but would you use it in the summer? Sure, if it has a retractable roof. That’s what this homeowner did when he built a pool with a motorized glass roof. The top panels slide down at the press of a button on one of the Crestron touchpanel controllers. A retractable pool cover is likewise motorized. That’s not the only… View this story
Safety and Security • HDTV • Plasma • On-Wall Speakers • Structured Wiring • Zone Controllers • Home Control Systems • Pool and Spa • Touchpanels and Keypads • Home Theater • Home Control • Enhancements • Cool Homes