John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi guys,

what would you say about power cables running parallel? So far, I read it would not matter for high impedance audio cables (like speaker cable or a synths audio out), but it would matter for low impede cue ones (like a guitars direct output or a mic cable before the preamp). Is that about right?
I made cable trenches in my studio along the walls, but completely avoiding some parallel wiring is really complicated for the left surround speaker and my synthesizers. Any hints on that?
What about those cables crossing? Any problem at all?

The general recommendation is to run electrical power cables along the top of the walls, and signal cables along the bottom of the wall, which keeps them more than far enough apart that there should be no interference. Also, when signal cables have to cross over electrical cables, then they should do so at an angle of 90°, which eliminates inductive coupling between them as much as possible.


- Stuart -

That would be the best way to do it, of course, but it is not possible for everything:
I need to get power to the equipment on the working desk. I planed to do that via the left cable trench, but that is no 90 degree angle. So, I should probably cut a third cable trench into the floor in the center, right?
The surround speakers can be powered via ceiling cable, the same goes for the synthesizers in the back of the room. I just need to get cables down the wall, as these are bare walls, no drywall to put it behind. But I can probably find a way to hide most of those ugly cables behind absorbers or other treatment. Another question I have regarding power: until now I was using furman power conditioners for all audio related equipment. That only makes sense, when you don't put any power strips after the conditioner. On the other hand, I would really like to be able to cut power off each piece of equipment seperately from 1-2 places in the room. Energy is getting more and more expensive, so I thought of a strip like this with individual power switches. Like this ... But then the conditioner is obsolete pretty much ...
What kind of sollutions are you guys using for easy handling? I couldn't find a furman model, that supports switching individual channels on or off ...

The required required separation is often grossly exaggerated!

Bill Whitlock writes:

"At a distance of 2 or 3 inches, the magnetic fields from power cords are negligibly weak."

from page 92:

"An Overview of Audio System Grounding and Interfacing"
by
Bill Whitlock, President
Jensen Transformers, Inc.
Life Fellow, Audio Engineering Society
Life Senior Member, Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers

http://centralindianaaes.files.wordpres ... s-v1-0.pdf

Thanks for the input! Anyone has something to say about the switching units or the power conditioners or ideally both?

The required required separation is often grossly exaggerated!

Right. But it still makes sense to run all the power along the tops of the walls and all the signals along the bottom, and it sill makes sense to only cross them over at 90°. People who stick to those recommendations are unlikely to have induction issues, whether or not they understand the principles behind them.


- Stuart -

If we are talking about AC power to the lighting system or to appliances (coffee pot or refrigerator) then yes maximum separation is good. But if it's AC power to the audio equipment knowledgeable people have different views.

While somewhat out of John Brandt's area of expertise, this paper has a good simple explanation.

"Grounding, Audio Wiring, and Zero Loop Area Design"
By John H. Brandt
http://www.jhbrandt.net/pubs.html

Thank you for good communication.

Thank you for good communication.

I totally agree with soundman about that.....