IMPORTANT!

If you are building a new home or are doing a major renovation don't make the mistake and think about the AV last.

I walk into situations all the time where  the AV has been left till last. Electricians have run Antenna cable great!  but where has provision been made for getting video from other sources like your DVD/Bluray player, Foxtel  etc

1. Think about where you are going to have the main TV
2. Think about the sound system ie; multi room sound? Sound outside?
3. Think about cabling. This is where you will get caught out. If you do this when all the wall are finished your up for big bucks to re-do the walls and ceilings again.  
4. Most electricians dont know anything about AV thats why you need someone like me to advise you.
5. Do yourself a foavour and call MAXTV 0425 348 202 and save a bit of money and STRESS.

BASIC Retro Cable concealment

 Cable concealment for wall mounted Plasma TV and LCD TV

One of the great features of plasmas and LCDs is that they can be hung on the wall. However, cables running from the TV to the components (DVD player etc.) can be an ugly sight. The cleanest installations, and the most professional-looking, are generally those where a good job has been done to conceal cables from view. With this in mind, it is important to choose the right spot hang your TV (this may mean re-arranging your furniture) and to keep in mind placing speakers and cables for your surround sound.

In the wall cavity

This is the ideal place to hide cables. Most if not all houses that are double brick have a wall cavity. You will only find this cavity on the external walls, meaning the walls that run around the house or home unit. Houses that are brick veneer also have a cavity between the outside brick and the inside walls, usually of stud and gyprock construction. If your only option is to mount your TV to an internal wall, then conealing the cables may only be possible if the wall is of gyprock and stud construction. If a house is constructed out of brick then the internal walls will be single brick and will need to be chased or concealed with ducting.

Chased

To hide a cable or a number of cables inside a single brick or concrete wall you need to cut a groove in the wall. A length of duct is then placed into this groove to house the cable. The groove is then plastered or rendered back over and painted to match the rest of the wall.

Cutting into walls can be a messy job and plastering the wall back up may not match the rest of the wall. Be prepared, cover and move all your furniture and electricals away from the area this will eliminate any risk of brick and concrete dust contaminating your valuables.

Ducting

This is definately the most inexpensive of all the concealment options.  Ducting (Aussie duct) it consists of a length of plastic square shaped tubing that has a removable face. The duct is fixed to the wall with strong double sided tape, glued, nailed or screwed. The cables are placed inside the tube and the removable face re-attached. The Duct can then be painted to match the wall colour.

Then there is this type of ducting by ATDEC which is gerat for Units and apartments that have no cavity walls or where the concrete walls just make it to expensive. The beauty of these is that you can tkake it with you when you leave. Below is an ATDEC I installed with a wall mount. You can purchase the cable manager with or without shelves RRP  price is $320 

You can buy ATDEC products through MAXTV and we will install it for you

MAXTV

FOR installation equiries and ADVICE.

Call

0425 348 202

Cable concealment for Surround Sound: Getting Discrete Multi-Channel Sound Without Visible Wires

Ok you just bought youself nice home theater system. You've got the  flat-screen LCD TV or plasma, a home theater receiver, A great set of speakers, and a nice entertainment unit. Everything's looking really good. But what about those wires ay?

You might be thinking- Why didn't I buy that  completely wire-free  one-box virtual surround sound system like the Phillips SurroundBar or Yamaha Sound Projector.These units are great but they don't offer the  truly immersive surround sound experience. OH! they still have wires that need to go to your TV and if your TV is wall mounted well.... For that  real  surround sound imersion you simply need speakers behind you and in front of you.

If you want that clean look with all the speakers out of the way,like in wall, on the wall in the ceiling or on the ceiling. The only way to acheive this is by having holes put in your wall and ceiling to be able to feed the wires through. Then there is the patching and painting that needs to be done afterwards. Don't expect this to be a cheap installation. Realistically you would be looking at a two man team ranging from half a day to a whole day for one room. (If you are not a handy person or an amature handy man then I would not recommend attemting this on your own). Then if you have a mutiZone Amplifier reciever you may be looking a days to get the wires to other rooms or outside at the BBQ area. 

In apartments, flats and home units your best option is to run the cables to floor standing surround speakers by running the speaker cables under the carpet using a flat speaker wire. Or, if you intend to put down new flooring, this would be a great opportunity to lay some flat speaker cable, keeping in mind the type of system and number of speakers. If there is a false ceiling, or you live on the top floor of your home unit, the roof space is also a good option if you want to wall mount or roof mount speakers.

In houses there is a lot more flexibility for concealing speaker cables: under floor space, wall cavities, roof space, even skirting boards are all good places to hide speaker cable around the room.

In a house you also have much more flexibility in choosing the type of speakers amd mounting options:

Good quality speaker cable is a must when running cables where vermine have access like roof space under the floor and wall cavities.

If you are building a house and you already have in mind a home theater then you should get a wiring diagram done and have the nessecary wireing done before the walls are finshed. Retrofitting will cost you.

MAXTV

for installation equiries and ADVICE.

Call

0425 348 202