Infrastructure · Cabling

AV wiring: why cabling quality matters more than you think.

2026-09-26 · Obsidian Audio Video · Houston

AV cabling is the least glamorous part of a smart home — and the most critical. Every intermittent audio dropout, every HDMI handshake failure, every "why does the TV keep going black?" is traceable to cabling.

HDMI: the biggest culprit

• Under 25 feet: Use a quality HDMI cable (Premium Certified or Ultra High Speed).
• 25–50 feet: Use an active optical HDMI cable (Fiber Optic HDMI). No signal degradation over distance.
• 50+ feet: Use HDBaseT (HDMI over Cat6 with a transmitter and receiver). Reliable up to 330 feet.

Speaker wire: gauge matters

• 16 AWG: Fine for runs under 50 feet with 8-ohm speakers.
• 14 AWG: Good for 50–100 foot runs or 4-ohm speakers.
• 12 AWG: For runs over 100 feet or high-power subwoofers.

Cat6: the backbone

• Copper: The only kind to use. Copper-clad aluminum (CCA) has higher resistance.
• Shielded (STP): For runs near electrical panels.
• Rated for in-wall: CMP (plenum) or CMR (riser). Building code requires it.

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