tidying up cables


I'm a little bored and would like to tidy up all the cables on my system which sits on a very solid stacked shelf unit, one component on each shelf - amp, streamer/server and DAC from top to bottom. I have to have the amp on the top shelf as it is a valve amp.

No matter how careful I am when setting it up, it seems it always end up a mess. It's almost impossible to avoid cables crossing over other cables or to have a power cable running along side a speaker cable.
I am in Australia and on 240v/50Hz supply. I use a Thor power conditioner with that companys power board and noticed some improvement in the noise floor since using that.
From there though, the power cords all run along the floor to the various components and sit next to, or on, the right side speaker cable. As the power cords go up the back of the shelf unit, they pass by the USB cable from the server to the DAC and the I/Cs from the DAC to the amp. Of course then, the speaker cables run back down to the floor past all of this jumble of cables.

Is there any down side to at least grouping the power cables together with a zip tie to at least make them easier to keep away from the other cables?
The wall behind the system is brick so I was thinking of running the speaker cable along a joint between the bricks and keeping it there with Blue Tac. This would at least keep them away from the other cables. Maybe I should try that first and go from there.

Thought on all of this anyone?
Thanks, Ian
ianrodger
Thanks for the quick response Erik.Im not sure on the power strip but could probably move the power board closer to the shelf unit. It as surge protection and filtering and is the one Thor recommend and supply for use with the conditioner.
I'll give the shortening of the cables some serious thought after that. It would certainly help in eliminating a lot of the mess.

I have some velcro straps so will use them.
Good ideas!
Its impossible to tell you how to fix your mess without having the mess in front of me to see what's what. A couple things we can say for sure though- you do not want to bundle power cords together, and there are things that will make an audible improvement. 

Have a look here to see what things might look like if you were able to rearrange your system for sound quality instead of rack quality.
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367

Nothing you see in any of those images has anything to do with advice people gave me. Every single detail was worked out over the years by trial and error. You will hear a lot of opinion about Cable Elevators. They would not be there, not a one of them, if they did not work. 

First thing I would do is go on eBay and order a bunch of these ceramic insulators. Use them on the floor and use them like I do with little wood stands to support cables. Where cables must be close to each other try and arrange them so they cross at right angles.

Ultimately its best to eliminate racks like yours. What you have, a tall rack with the amp at the top so speaker cables have to be long and send their high level signal right past all the low level signals, which are all crossed over each other, is just about the worst setup imaginable. Sorry, but you see the lengths I went to avoid that. (And the result: "audiophile nirvana". So totally worth it.

But in the meantime what you do is arrange cables so if one has to go only a short distance to the next component then instead of having it all bunched up you have it go off sideways and curve back. So it crosses other cables but at a 90 degree angle. With as much space between them as you can manage.

If you somehow manage to do all this don't be surprised if you don't hear a great big improvement right away. Messing with cables, bending them around like this, messes with the sound. It will take a little while to settle back in. Not long, hour or so should do. Just enough so when you think at first what a waste of time, then later start to wonder if its really better or your mind playing tricks, its not your mind. If you do all this it really will be better.

Maybe not nirvana. But better.
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I won’t be getting rid of the rack any time soon millercarbon so will have to try some of the other tweaks first. No PC bundling though.

It would appear, judging from your pix that having cables intersect is not the issue, rather, that they don’t touch. Correct?

Thanks for that link steakster.
I’ve got some of that insulation stashed somewhere and will use it where the PCs and ICs intersect. I guess one of those foam pool noodles would work too. Those flouro colours would certainly liven things up.

As mentioned, I have now run the speaker cable along the mortar joints in the brickwork which has certainly put distance between them and everything else. Some critical listening will occur today.

After that, the insulation separation suggestion will be brought into play
Thanks all!

So, power cords should not be bundled together?  I was planning on bundling the power cords together and the signal carrying cords together and then separating the two bundles.  Is that a bad idea?  Why?