Q. I’m remodeling a basement and want to install a 65” plasma TV, wall hung above a cabinet for peripheral, Blu-ray, HD cable box, etc. I don’t want any wiring showing between the TV and the cabinet. What kind of in-wall prewiring do I need to install for wiring between the cabinet and the TV? - Gerardo, Pittsburgh

I would look at the in-wall power cabling kit from Panamax to start. From there I would run multiple Cat-5 (Ethernet) for Internet connectivity for the BD player and TV (if it’s Web enabled). It sounds like your TV won’t be too far from the equipment so long distance HDMI runs shouldn’t be an issue. I would run a couple of HDMI cables with some slack to maneuver the cables into position for connections.  Also a basic RG-6 (coax cable) should be run too.

For your own ease of install consider running conduit to make any future cabling runs easier than having to snake additional cables through the walls.

I agree with Robert, but would actually simplify to (2) 1.5” flex conduits for now.  The cabling requirements to the TV can vary quite a bit depending on the configuration of your equipment - conduit will allow you to run only what you need once the final system has been designed.  I would recommend an in-wall box (such as the PAC series from Chief) - particularly if an articulating arm is required.  I would also highly recommend the Panamax (or equivalent) remote power kit.

+1 for Robert and Curt’s comments. As a rule we run 3 CAT6E, 2 CAT5E and sometimes a coax to each TV. We use one CAT6 for Ethernet, the other 2 for future use with HDMI baluns, One CAT 5 for Control, 1CAT5 as a spare (Could be VGA, Component or audio baluns). We also run an empty 2 inch conduit for future use and upgrades. We use different colour cables for ease of identification using our internal colour code.