Moving AV receiver and amplifier to closet under stairs

[superczar]

I am planning to move my entire HT gear except the TV and speakers (of course!) to an enclosed space under the stairs for aesthetic reasons.
approx Layout with current positions and desired position (marked as closet) as attached.
Images at end should help visualise better

There’s a total of 8 speakers, 5 standard, 1 sub, 2 height atmos
Front LR are driven by an integrated amp and the rest directly by the AVR
IR control is via a Harmony hub
Network access is via an Orbi satellite with a 1000 mbps backhaul with the network backbone
Primary video renderer is a Apple Tv 4K , occasional usage of a chromecast and ps4
Power is via an APC 1500VA/865W UPS

The plan is thus:

1) Move the AVR , Int Amp, UPS, PS4, Apple TV, Harmony hub, chromecast to the closet
2) Run amazon basics (AB) 14 or 16AWG cable X 7 from closet to existing AVR location and crimp the wires
3) Run a 25 foot AB subwoofer cable from closet to sub
4) Run a 3 core power cable from UPS in closet to power TV and orbi
5) splice and extend harmony blaster wire from closet to TV stand to control TV and subwoofer
6) Run a single AB 25 foot HDMI cable from AVR in closet to TV
7) Run a single ethernet cat6 from Orbi satellite to closet to hookup Apple TV/PS4




This seems to be at least a half day project for a valuable Saturday so I need to make sure I got it right...
Is there something I am missing on...
Any other recommendations?

Room layout for visualization - closet visible in 2nd pic

 

[ItsMe]

That is a good thought and will make it look very good. I had moved my AV stuffs to a closed rack to make it look better. Few issues which I faced which you should be aware

1,The AV receiver runs very hot after a while, and you need a proper ventilation plan in place. The ventilation holes I had in my rack was not sufficient and I had to add an additional fan on top of the AVR to cool it down even in a closed AC environment. This will cause a humming sound though
2, XBOX had similar issue and even a fan was not helping. I had to move it out of my rack
3, The IR remotes were very difficult to control devices in a closed rack. I had to add a harmony hub to control it
4, The 25 feet HDMI cable which I had initially was not carrying signals properly to my projector. Switched to amazon basics which is doing a good job
5, Its a nightmare to connect all cables, especially to AVR once you keep it inside the rack. Better to make all connections outside and push it in. Do proper cable marking before you start. Its even more difficult if you are tracking a loose cable. Will be good if you can add a sliding rack system
6, Add some lighting to the cabinet if it is very dark

Hope it helps

 

[elangoas]

Any other recommendations?

Well planned.. I think, it will make the room even more tidier..

Slightly OT though..

- 6010 capable of front wides, and you seem to be having space, haven't considered it ?..
- You seem to have placed heights behind your LP.. Hope you have considered getting in-between the fronts & surrounds..

 

[superczar]

That is a good thought and will make it look very good. I had moved my AV stuffs to a closed rack to make it look better. Few issues which I faced which you should be aware

1,The AV receiver runs very hot after a while, and you need a proper ventilation plan in place. The ventilation holes I had in my rack was not sufficient and I had to add an additional fan on top of the AVR to cool it down even in a closed AC environment. This will cause a humming sound though
2, XBOX had similar issue and even a fan was not helping. I had to move it out of my rack
3, The IR remotes were very difficult to control devices in a closed rack. I had to add a harmony hub to control it
4, The 25 feet HDMI cable which I had initially was not carrying signals properly to my projector. Switched to amazon basics which is doing a good job
5, Its a nightmare to connect all cables, especially to AVR once you keep it inside the rack. Better to make all connections outside and push it in. Do proper cable marking before you start. Its even more difficult if you are tracking a loose cable. Will be good if you can add a sliding rack system
6, Add some lighting to the cabinet if it is very dark

Hope it helps

The cabinet under the stairs is big enough to accommodate two full sized human lying down or bent
So hopefully airflow and connections won’t be an issue
I am using a harmony hub currently and plan to use the blaster extension inside the cabinet
Glad to hear good feedback on the 25ft AB hdmi cable

 

[superczar]

Well planned.. I think, it will make the room even more tidier..

Slightly OT though..

- 6010 capable of front wides, and you seem to be having space, haven't considered it ?..
- You seem to have placed heights behind your LP.. Hope you have considered getting in-between the fronts & surrounds..

Thanks

as for the speaker placements, as much as I’d have loved to put front wides and place the atmos in center rather than rear , unfortunately there’s no way I can convince the home ministry to let me do that.
Our agreement is to setup speakers the way I want them only when we redo the house at which point I’ll be getting the cabling and extra speakers concealed

 

[superczar]

And done!
Everything working as expected
Ended up moving AVR, Int Amp, gaming console, Apple TV, network switch, Hue hub , UPS to the closet

On a side note, the 25 ft AmazonBasics HDMI cable is a beast - It’s so thick and well constructed that even the slightest bend becomes a task!

Here is an after pic

 

[superczar]

Here's a shot that reminds me of my college days
Behold, the area in the closet under the stairs :

 

[Love4sound]

Here's a shot that reminds me of my college days
Behold, the area in the closet under the stairs :

View attachment 43158

What is that APC ups model? And are you using it as a back up for AVR?

 

[superczar]

What is that APC ups model? And are you using it as a back up for AVR?

That’s a APC BR1500
It acts as backup for the AVR + everything else except the IA

To be specific, I need approx 2 minutes of backup before the primary backup kicks in and 10-15 seconds when mains power comes back on

 

[sud98]

So to achieve this did you just need the harmony hub or the ir blaster is an additional device you had to buy?

 

[Love4sound]

That’s a APC BR1500
It acts as backup for the AVR + everything else except the IA

To be specific, I need approx 2 minutes of backup before the primary backup kicks in and 10-15 seconds when mains power comes back on

Ok this is an online ups right? How long have you been using it? I was about to get one but got mixed reviews. Some said it’s not advisable to use for HT some said it’s fine

 

[superczar]

Ok this is an online ups right? How long have you been using it? I was about to get one but got mixed reviews. Some said it’s not advisable to use for HT some said it’s fine

If by online you mean o/p completely disengaged from mains then No.. It's like a regular UPS only
my HT setup(s) have been on UPS since 15 years now
When my last APC 1000 something died (after 10+ years), I got this one

 

[Sandeepgarg907]

If by online you mean o/p completely disengaged from mains then No.. It's like a regular UPS only
my HT setup(s) have been on UPS since 15 years now
When my last APC 1000 something died (after 10+ years), I got this one

From what I understand, this will only give backup but not condition power for fluctuations ir surges. That is achieved only by online ups. But the question is, is that needed??

 

[superczar]

From what I understand, this will only give backup but not condition power for fluctuations ir surges. That is achieved only by online ups. But the question is, is that needed??

Most cities including Pune seem to have decently clean power
I haven’t had any AV electronics fail on me over almost 2 decades with a simple surge protector and an offline UPS combo
The sole failure instance I have had was a subwoofer board 8-9 years ago but it was powered directly from mains with no protection whatsoever.. I suspect a lightning surge killed it
the board was replaced by polk under warranty (To cut a long story short, ProFX refused a claim as it was 2 years old, a phone call and an email to Polk directly was honored and yhey shipped a replacement board to a local address which i picked on an upcoming vacation)
I still have that sub - powered via surge protection and UPS


YMMV, of course!

 

[greenhorn]

I hope your equipment doesn't get accepted into a school of magic and disappear one day!

 

[superczar]

So to achieve this did you just need the harmony hub or the ir blaster is an additional device you had to buy?

Harmony hub comes with an extra IR blaster.
The cable was not long enough so I had to cut and extend it - but no other extra devices were needed
RC seems to be working absolutely fine

 

[superczar]

Just an update that I am really glad I did this.
Not only is the living area freed up from the clutter, since I pulled a GBe ethernet line into this closet, I was able to move out a bunch of other bulky/ eyesore things into this unutilized hidden space.

Added a cheap gigabit switch in here and that enabled me to stash away my home server, NVR, printer, smartthings , hue and couple of other assorted paraphernalia in here


On a side note, the closet now seems to be hovering at least 5 centigrade higher than the ambient temperature after all this so I have added a temp sensor to keep an eye on how bad it gets.
If the summers start getting taxing for this space, i may need to consider adding small PWM exhausts - will keep an eye

 

[superczar]

Closet temperatures are now a bit of a concern
With the summer setting in, the closet seems to be hitting 40C all too often.
Over the last few months, I have moved plkenty of equipment in here including an Amp, AVR, home server, NVR and misc controllers incl Hue and SmartThings.

Have ordered a couple of plate fans from amazon to work in a push -pull mode to get the temps back in line - The missus won’t be too thrilled i guess but lets see how it goes :|