07-24-2009, 02:53 PM
I've done it, but I'm not really sure what advice you're looking for. I have my tv mounted in a recess above my fireplace. I ran power to the recess when I framed it in, as well as conduit for the wiring. My gear is in a credenza about ten feet over. I used cable channel from that to the side of the fireplace, and flexible conduit from there.
If STB means set-top-box, I'm not really sure why you'd do that. Here's what I have running through the conduit: one HDMI for all audio and video, optical audio back to the receiver for OTA sound, coax for antenna, and wire for my xantech remote sensor. I did have cable at one time though, and I just used the HDMI for that as well. All A/V goes through my receiver to limit cabling. I would not have wanted to do it this way if I had all my components attached directly to the TV. If you do something like this, make sure to run one or several heavy strings or light rope through the conduit to pull your wiring through. You can use just one, but make sure you run another attached to each cable you pull through so you've always got another. If you don't you can still get a line through by attaching something soft (I used a small piece of fabric) to the end of the string and sucking it through with a vacuum.
FWIW, I also have my left and right speakers wired through to the sides of the fireplace, and another recess below the TV for the center channel.
My project was fairly extensive, and I wouldn't have done it if I didn't already have to rebuild the fireplace surround. If I was flush mounting the TV on a wall, I'd just use cable channel and paint it the same color as the wall.
Edit: I reread your post and I understand the STB part now. I thought you wanted to have it up by the TV. My advice, as i did, is to limit cabling by using a decent AV receiver with HDMI.
If STB means set-top-box, I'm not really sure why you'd do that. Here's what I have running through the conduit: one HDMI for all audio and video, optical audio back to the receiver for OTA sound, coax for antenna, and wire for my xantech remote sensor. I did have cable at one time though, and I just used the HDMI for that as well. All A/V goes through my receiver to limit cabling. I would not have wanted to do it this way if I had all my components attached directly to the TV. If you do something like this, make sure to run one or several heavy strings or light rope through the conduit to pull your wiring through. You can use just one, but make sure you run another attached to each cable you pull through so you've always got another. If you don't you can still get a line through by attaching something soft (I used a small piece of fabric) to the end of the string and sucking it through with a vacuum.
FWIW, I also have my left and right speakers wired through to the sides of the fireplace, and another recess below the TV for the center channel.
My project was fairly extensive, and I wouldn't have done it if I didn't already have to rebuild the fireplace surround. If I was flush mounting the TV on a wall, I'd just use cable channel and paint it the same color as the wall.
Edit: I reread your post and I understand the STB part now. I thought you wanted to have it up by the TV. My advice, as i did, is to limit cabling by using a decent AV receiver with HDMI.