Home Is Home: The Physical Practicalities - Smart Home Automation with Linux and Raspberry Pi - page 147

Figure 4-3. An AV connection for stereo and composite video. The top row sends the local AV signal upstairs, and the
bottom row receives an AV signal to downstairs. Note the trunking on the left and the exit for network cables on the right,
which is simply passed through from the trunking
The type and quality of the audio cable are an important decision, although not as important as audiophiles
would make you believe! These cables are likely to be several meters long and used with some fairly standard
connectors, so any cable greater than 42 strand is usually wasted. In fact, for some units, such as those placed in the
kitchen, the extra ambient noise in the environment will render any critical listening impossible. In these cases, you
could do as well with simple bell wire. In all cases, it's worth getting shielded stereo cable since it is bound into pairs,
with a mark on one of them, making it obvious at each end which cable is intended to be ground.
The other side of audio cabling is the connection of a passive speaker distribution system, where the output to
one set of speakers is routed to several others, without additional amplifiers. The same rules apply as stated earlier.
You can also reuse the color-coding idea of network cables and use one color for powered cables (which enter and
leave the amplifier) and a different one that distributes the signal to other speakers. You can see this in Figure 4-4 ,
where you'll also note the black line on the white cable, indicating ground.
Figure 4-4. The speaker distribution bay. This model also support push-button switches to turn each speaker pair on or
off (not shown)