So I am building a new house and was going to wire the surround sound myself as the electricians are quite busy and want them to keep working. My AV equipment is going into a closet about 50 feet from where the flat screen will be located. For the TV, Do I want to run Cat 6 and use converters or will a 50ft HDMI be able to do the job? I have read some things about HDMI wire not fulling supporting 50 ft runs? Any idea about the cost difference?
50 ft HDMI run should not be a problem, assuming you buy a quality cable. Check www.monoprice.com for all your cabling needs. The problem with HDMI though is the relatively rapidly changing specs. CAT6 isn't likely to change, and comes with the capability to handle massive bandwidth. Personally, if I was wiring my home right now, i'd run both. Lots of entertainment center devices are ethernet capable, and it is nice having the ethernet back there. Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
My plan was to run both ethernet and either a hdmi or cat 6. I am just confused . HDMI would go directly to the A/V and the ethernet to my apple time machine connected to the router. I guess you answered my question, as I had read a 50ft hdmi loses some of its ability to carry data that far. Would there be any added benefit to using Cat6 over HDMI?
Forgive me for being so ignorant, but I guess I could run a PAIR of cat 6, then use a powerless HDMI extender at each end? That would still require a third for the ethernet connection, correct? I am just trying to soak this all in
I would run 2 pairs of cat 5 or a cat 6, even if you only run one to the plate. That way you could adapt to any technology. Funny thing, I've been replacing some of my HDMI with component due to recent DirecTV/HBO HDCP issues, which is sure to roll out to other carriers. They should have named HDMI PITA. The difference between 1080p and 720p on smaller screens is negligible yet you have all the HDCP issues to go with it. That said, you can still use HDMI over cat 5e/6 if you want to.
So, If I ran 4 lines of cat 6 to the plates, Then I could use the HDMI converters and the ether until something else comes along I guess? I guess it is much cheaper to do it now before drywall is up than tear it apart 5 years from now. Thanks for all the info guys. Funny how I was the AV guy in high school thirty years ago who went around all the classrooms setting up projectors and stuff, and now I cannot keep up with hooking up a freaking TV
I just installed a new tv on my patio using the cat-6 hdmi converters. They are great and the picture is perfect. My run is only about 30 ft, but they sav you can do 100 with no problem. This is the one I used: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10425&cs_id=1042501&p_id=8201&seq=1&format=2 Good luck!
Cable is CHEAP compared to all the other costs. Run LOTS to allow for future expansion. Put in CAT-6e (not just CAT-6). Run several. The wire is very cheap, and even if you never use it, who cares? But you may well want it later. Jedi
Maybe consider running a conduit if it isn't too late. Then, pulling cables will be a lot easier later. Some PCs have fiber-to-the-node capabilities and it's only a matter of time before smart TVs will have the same. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_to_the_home
You can run multiple cat6, but that's overkill. If you do run multiple, consider using pvc pipes to run the cable bundles through. 50ft for HDMI is ok.
what is cat6e? did you mean cat6a (augmented)? crosstalk is not a problem unless he's running a big bundle.
You too, Call Me Daddy...both you hooked me up!! DAMN, thanks for the heads up!!!! I just got about 5 boxes from them. Besides the HDMI extenders, I ended up buying everything from speaker wall jacks, home theater wall connectors, TV swivel mounts, ether port jacks, speaker wall mounts, face plates,,,,you name it. I saved a fraking TON from what the stuff was going to cost for the electrician to run all this. These guys cut even Lowes or Home Depot for simple stuff by almost 75-80% Everything I bought was less than what some places wanted for a 1 big screen TV wall mount We are getting close to completion of the house and everything will start going in this weekend. Thanks again,
hahaha I am building this house, and my brother in law is the general contractor, so we are kinda working in tandem to keep costs down. I ended up buying boxes of top quality Cat6 at ridiculously cheap prices, so i figured, what the hell? I mean the stuff is cheap when you buy it in bulk. I mean Really cheap The house is about 6000 sq ft, but when it is still all in a frame mode you can run it easy. Thanks to your guy's suggestions, I just ran 4 strands to each room in the house. I can now put HDMI wherever I want Hell, it was so cheap, why not?!!! Thanks to the other guys who suggested Monoprice. In the future I can have it all. HDMI, ETHER and another spare from the video closet. yea, it may be overkill, and outdated in 5-10 years, but at least it is already in the walls and do not have to deal with it for a while. My Fchat subscription payed for itself this year thanks guys
too late now, i guess. I got connectors that make two C6 turn into a HDMI. plus two spare per room. My original concern at this post I started was my run lengths, costs, and ability to hold a signal. With four runs of Cat6 to each room, coupled with my age, profession, lifestyle, and occupation, I will let the next owner of my new home deal with it. At that time, either I will be hit by an asteroid, have my law license revoked and die smoking crack homeless, or just dead of natural causes and have my ashes spread over the parking lot.
By the way, I just took a look at the link: that IS just HDMI. When they say HDMI/ETHER they are talking the same thing. Notice their max length at 25 feet. I needed at least 50ft, more like 75ft it turned out, running in walls rather than under the floor. That was then entire problem I was debating back in May when I started this thread and was trying to figure out my solution. That is only 25 ft. My original concern and post had to do with the length of the run, and capability of the wire vs cost. I am betting next year they have discovered how to 3-D actual aliens into our living room to do a Broadway Show. At the speed technology runs, I may be outdated next month, but really do appreciate all your guy's support and help in my questions.
Glad everything worked well for you. Monoprice really is a fantastic website for all cabling needs. Having 4+ Cat6 ethernet to every room in the house is friggin fantastic. That is not going to be outdated for YEARS (probably decades). I would love to have a house set up like that, unfortunately it is way outside the budget for now. Just make sure you buy a solid networking switch and router that can handle all those connections and you'll be good. Also, if you didn't already label the ends of the cable at the switch with Room and Port #, I would do that ASAP.
Ahhh, I should have specified, the link purpose was just as an example. I am 100% positive you could get a cable any length you wanted
Funny you should mention that, as I just bought a new Denon 2313 to run the 7.1 main. I ran a zone 2 speaker wires out to my porch for ceiling speaker. Crutchfield sends you full sheets of pull off sticky labels to tag your wires and equipment. I am using my old Harmon Kardon stuff for the 5.1 Band Room/ spare studio and that is a separate system, but still bought all the stuff to wire it in wall. I also ran ether to all bedrooms for a TV connection to my cable box. and bought a Harmony RF remote to work the deal. Cannot wait to try it out, but all are still in the box at my rental house until final hook up. I ran coaxial for the subs, then used a converter at the wall to RCA for all rooms if I ever want a sub in the rooms. I ran speaker wire to most every room, and tucked it in the wall with a plate, just for future if need be. 14 gauge is so cheap, might as well wrap the entire house. When I ordered my jacks for the other rooms from Monoprice, I got the ether plug ins at different colors to match the rooms. You can get about 6 different colors and match each room to the main closet. Blue at the closet matches blue in the bedroom etc... That way, I know my cables by color codes to match the rooms, and also ordered face plates that allow naming them
Funny you should mention that, as I just bought a new Denon 2313 http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/denon-avr-2113-2313-3313-pre to run the 7.1 main. I ran the zone 2 wires to the porch for a second set of in ceiling speakers. Damn fully wired face plates with banana plug ins on line were only 18 bucks for a 7.1 plus 2 subs all labeled on the plate. Lowes wanted $65 bucks. Crutchfield sends you full sheets of pull off sticky labels to tag your wires and equipment. I am using my old Harmon Kardon stuff for the 5.1 Band Room/ spare studio and that is a separate system, but still bought all the stuff to wire it in wall. I ran coaxial for the subs, then used a converter at the wall to RCA for all rooms if I ever want a sub in the rooms. I ran speaker wire to most every room, and tucked it in the wall with a plate, just for future if need be. 14 gauge is so cheap, might as well wrap the entire house. When I ordered my jacks for the other rooms from Monoprice, I got the ether plug ins at different colors to match the rooms. You can get about 6 different colors and match each room to the main closet. Blue at the closet matches blue in the bedroom etc... That way, I know my cables by color codes to match the rooms, and also ordered face plates that allow naming them
