Mounting a TV and soundbar - set up in advance of purchase

[tygerbright]

Hi all

I'm looking for the best solution to allow me to mount an LED and a soundbar to a solid brick wall. I've seen lots of posts here about channeling, fused spurs etc and these all seem to make sense ... but in my case I don't have equipment yet so not sure it works for me as I don't know where to place things on the wall and can't wire in the devices.

We have builders and electricians round - first fix almost done, plasterboarding from this week so don't have much time to plan and not yet in a position to purchase the TV or the soundbar. I wanted to understand what my best options are with regards to prepping for when I do get these bought.

I have lots of questions!

1) AV cabling
For AV (2 x HDMI, Coax, RJ45, optical) I'm thinking of having a channel cut into the wall behind the TV and have it run all the way down the wall to my AV corner. I'll install a brush plate (single/double) at both ends of the channel to neaten things up. I think I will run the cabling in now .. i.e. even before purchasing the equipment.

Q: Should I use some sort of trunking for these or should I run the AV cables directly in the wall?

2) Power for TV
I'm planning to have a 2 gang socket installed directly behind the TV area.

For the TV this will plug directly into one socket and the other end into the TV - should be easy enough and have no cables showing.

Q: As a rule of thumb, any advice on where to position the 2 gang? I'm thinking I should place this bottom left corner of the TV when viewing from the front to allow for clearance of the wall mount fittings?

3) Power for Soundbar
I plan to have a channel cut directly below the 2 gang socket and have this run halfway down the wall. I'd get this plaster boarded till ready.

When I have the soundbar, I'd carefully (!) create two cut outs in the plasterboard to expose the prepared channel: one cut out directly underneath the 2 gang socket area and one in the position where the soundbar will be placed. I'd then plug in the soundbar to the spare socket behind the TV and feed the other end of the cable through the cut out below and out of the cut out where the soundbar is positioned. I can then connect it up. Again - no wires showing.

Q: Overall, does this sound like a reasonable approach?

Q: I'm also a little concerned that the TV plug and soundbar plug would sit too proud and force the TV to stick out (I wanted a slim wall mount stand with a tilt option).


I'm looking for a simple and neat solution that is flexible enough so many thanks for your time and advice !

Many thanks for your time and views on this.

 

[Lucid]

Hi all

I'm looking for the best solution to allow me to mount an LED and a soundbar to a solid brick wall. I've seen lots of posts here about channeling, fused spurs etc and these all seem to make sense ... but in my case I don't have equipment yet so not sure it works for me as I don't know where to place things on the wall and can't wire in the devices.

We have builders and electricians round - first fix almost done, plasterboarding from this week so don't have much time to plan and not yet in a position to purchase the TV or the soundbar. I wanted to understand what my best options are with regards to prepping for when I do get these bought.

General advice.....

Don't bother running local cables i.e. ones to and from the soundbar to the TV or from sources until you know for sure what you'll need. It issues isn't so much what you'll need but the lengths. Because of socket positions and cable routing you could end up with cables that are too long or too short, so all you'll do is end up pulling them out and replacing them.

Put in some 3" x 1" or similar size channel and a few pull strings instead. Pull the cable only after you know what you're dealing with.

Yes to finishing with brush plates.

You should also run TV coax and network cable now. (run Cat 6 to the TV and the soundbar. In the future you may well find it useful. Leave tails 24" longer than you think you really need. Cable is cheap. Trimming down to a length is easy and neat. Extending cables that are too short, isn't.

Run power in separate trunking and leave at least a 12" gap between AV cables and power cables that have to run parallel. Make a treasure map of the cable runs and their positions in the wall. Measuring out to check where you're drilling in 2 month/2 years/10 years is cheaper than chopping out to fix the wires you just drilled through.

TV/AV power socket.... If you're not planning on using a tilting TV bracket... Why? Your TV won't be on a table stand. It will be at some point a bit higher on the wall. So it should be angled down towards the viewing position. Also, your lovely new ultra thin LED is going to look awful hanging off a bracket that positions it 5" proud of the wall. So you're going to want a slim tilting bracket, and that means virtually no room at the bottom corner for a double gang wall socket and two plugs that will sit proud of the wall by an inch and a half.

The place you'll have space is above the TV bracket, not below. Ditch the idea of 13 amp plug tops and go with a switched n appliance socket instead. These have the cable wired in directly, but you're not going to do that...well, not quite. Buy a couple of IEC plugs and sockets. They're the indoor equivalent of an electric lawn mower extension cable. Chop off the TVs power plug and wire the IEC plug to that. Wire up an IEC socket to a short cable that then wires directly in to the appliance socket. You'll have something much slimmer and neater that's still compatible with domestic IEC (kettle type) power leads if ever you need to remove the TV. It will also help with cable management and make the install easier.

Power for Soundbar is run in the same way as detailed above.

When it comes to mounting the sound bar, use your treasure map to find the channel. This is why you don't riun loads of cables before doing messy cutting work.

 

[tygerbright]

Hi Lucid

Many thanks for the reply - really helpful

IEC sockets - I have never come across these but they look the perfect solution. Do you know if these come in a 2 gang flavour - I've searched around but can't find one online. Also another related question - can the IEC sockets be managed by a single fuse spur at the bottom of the wall for easy access? (I'll ask on the electrics forum also).

I've plotted out my plan based on a 48" LED TV with 200x200 vesa, a sonos play bar, and a slim wall mount with tilt.

See attached. Everything look good here you think?

View media item 77544

 

[Lucid]

No. You're not putting in an IEC socket wall plate. That'll be worse than a standard plug socket. The tail of any IEC plug will stick out further than a 13A plug top would ever do.


You're putting in two of these behind the TV:

It's a 13A DP Switched Fused Connection Unit.

See the white wire in the image below. That's your mains cable to the TV. This type of socket is designed to go in spaces where there's not enough room to a 13A plug top.

On the end of that wire you fit an IEC cord socket like this

You now have a pigtail with a socket in the end.

From the TV power cord you chop off the standard UK 3 pin mains plug and fit one of these:

Show this to your electrician. Get him to explain it to you. But it's all quite simple really.

If you want two of the flat switched utility sockets together then your electrician can fit one of these in an appropriate type and depth

The rest of it looks okay. ...nection cable for a subwoofer, just in case.

 

[tygerbright]

Hi Lucid

Thanks for the images - they really help.

However, I think this solution only works for the TV.

The problem for the soundbar is that I won't know how high up the wall it would sit

Or am I missing the point on this bit as well?!

 

[tygerbright]

Ok, I think I may have it now

1) Have my electrician, install two fused connection units with outlets behind the TV area with the mains cable running directly up the wall to power these. Left FCU will power the TV and right FCU will power the soundbar.

2) Create a channel for the soundbar cable to run to the soundbar from the right of the rightmost FCUs - i.e. across to the right and then straight down so no danger of hitting the mains cable.

3) For TV power:

- Connect the left FCU to a flex cable and connect this to a female IEC.
- Take the TV cable, cut off the plug and wire in a male IEC
- Connect the male IEC up to the female IEC.
- Connect the other end of the TV cable to the TV

4) For soundbar power:

- Connect the right FCU to a flex cable and connect this to a female IEC.
- Make an opening in the channel at soundbar height
- Make an opening in the channel behind TV
- Take the soundbar power cable, cut off the plug
- Fish the soundbar cable through the two holes - i.e between the soundbar and the TV
- Wire in a male IEC to the top part of the soundbar cable
- Connect the male IEC to the female IEC
- Connect the other end of the soundbar cable to the soundbar

 

[Sam Gangee]

It's worth pointing out that the fuse in the "13A" switched connection box isn't necessarily rated at 13 Amps. You should fit a fuse that's appropriate to the equipment. For example, a 3 Amp fuse is good for equipment consuming up to 700 Watts of power (not including surges). A 5 Amp for up to 1200 Watts. A 7 Amp for up to 1600 Watts. (Simply multiply the fuse rated current by 240.) If at all possible, the switch and fuse should be mounted in an accessible place in case of emergency.

About fuses: http://www.glodark.com/fuses.htm

The flexible cable should have a similar rating. In other words, don't use 3 Amp cable for a 1000 Watt appliance because the cable will become warm, with a danger of melting insulation in the worst case.

BTW, I'd like to point out to ALL READERS that Lucid AV does installations such as this for a living in Cheshire (and further afield) and gets paid for it. He gives his advice here freely and it's invaluable - including professional tips that you won't even find in books. (I've learned a lot from his posts.) But his time is valuable so he won't always be able to come back right away to answer all your questions. He'll point you in the right direction, then it's up to you to do your own research. I personally think that he should have a "Donation" button instead of merely a "Thanks" button!

@ Rashomon - it's really good that you are planning in advance, making sketches and thinking this through. Many people are completely unable to do this and suffer the consequences.

 

[tygerbright]

The information here is invaluable!

The electrician has come back to me and and asked me a few questions.

I have the option to have a single SFCU behind the TV and run the outlet flex into an IEC splitter to power both the TV and the soundbar...Or have two SFCU's installed.

He also mentioned that I could have a flat outlet plate (or two) behind the TV and have a switched FCU below this at around 450mm off the floor to allow for cutting the power off....

What's the thoughts on these options guys?

- two separate SFCU's or one
- SFCU with flex behind TV or plate with flex behind TV and a separate SFCU below

 

[tygerbright]

Too late ... (not that I gave anyone time to reply!)

Sparky is installing 2 switched fused connection units with flex outlets directly behind TV area as per Lucid's proposal