Labels or Color Code Used for Interconnects

[Jim M]

Probably like a lot of you I have interconnect wires running everywhere. Sometimes it gets confusing as to what IC goes where when you are swapping out gear. I am going to start labeling each end with something simple like CD / L, CD / R, etc.
What do you guys do for labeling or coding, if anything?

I am planning to make labels using a Brother P-touch machine I have.
It is a refurbished unit I got off the bay for less than $40 shipped. It works great, is easy to use, and makes professional looking labels. I’ve been using it for various things like labeling my tube boxes with test data results, etc.

In addition to labeling (or instead of), I was also planning on color coding each end of my speaker wires using electrician tape or shrink tubing.
Is there a standard out there for what color goes to what? Left Front, Left Rear, Center, Sub, etc?
If not, is there a preference you guys use?
Jim

 

[Elfasto]

Well, there is the usual White=Left and Red=Right.

I pretty much stick to that and simply trace the cables from source to device then back again.
As for speakers, I use Red=positive, Black=Negative and then they go to either the left or right.

 

[gearhound]

I color code with small cable ties (white, black, and red).

Steve

 

[Jim M]

Well, there is the usual White=Left and Red=Right.

I pretty much stick to that and simply trace the cables from source to device then back again.
As for speakers, I use Red=positive, Black=Negative and then they go to either the left or right.

Sigh. If it were that simple I would not worry about it. :sigh:
I have multiple systems in multiple rooms, but let’s take the Home Theatre setup in the living room for an example.
(I have a vintage setup in there also, but let’s start here)

I have a Marantz SR8500 Receiver with all sorts of inputs and outputs and here are just some of the things I have connected to it.
Oppo DVD player for DVD play but primarily for 5.1 CD / SACD type music play
HHB BurnIT Professional CD Recorder for CD copy
RCA? DVD player + Recorder for play & record of DVD’s
A VCR Player + Recorder
Large Screen TV (no Hi Def yet)
Sometimes a Sony Cassette deck.
Sometimes a turntable with a separate phono preamp
A 5.1 speaker setup with LF, RF, LR, RR. Center, and subwoofer. BTW – These go to a speaker switch box so I can run my speakers off of multiple sources since I do Modern Home Theatre, Vintage Quad, and Vintage Stereo in my living room with multiple peices connected to them also.
Jim

 

[Aage]

Well, there is the usual White=Left and Red=Right.

I pretty much stick to that and simply trace the cables from source to device then back again.
As for speakers, I use Red=positive, Black=Negative and then they go to either the left or right.

Well, for cartridge holders, I always remember

White= Left +
Red= Right +
Green = Ground Right
Blue (or black)= Ground Left

Speaker wire:

The lead with a thread through it, (or a ridge along the length of it) is always + for me.

But of course, if you are left-handed, all bets are off.

 

[avionic]

If you can find or pick - up one of these . You can make some real pro -style wire/cable labels.. Its a Kroy heat shrink tubing labeler which is similar to the brother P-touch..
http://www.graphicproducts.com/labelers/kroy-5100/index.html

 

[Jim M]

Hi All. I hope the following information helps someone out there:

I did some research and found that there was a wide dipartite among manufactures about what color codes they used for speaker hookups, especially in the auto industry.
Then I found the following article that mentioned they came up with a standard code around 1985.

CEA's (Consumer Electronics Association) Color Coding Standard Simplifies Home Theater Installation http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_April_15/ai_n13612474
They provided no real information except that they had adopted a standard for home theater color-coding (CEA-863 Rev.A) and it was available from Global Engineering Documents at http://global.ihs.com.@.
I went to that link and again no info except to say it was $54.00 a copy. No Thanks :thumbsdn:

Did some further research using keyword CEA-863. Then Bingo. Thanks to Wikipedia and their RCA Connector article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector I came up with this standard:

Analog Audio
Left (or Mono) = White
Right = Red
Center = Green
Left surround = Blue
Right surround = Gray
Left back surround = Brown
Right back surround = Tan
Subwoofer = Purple

Digital audio
S/PDIF = Orange

Composite analog video
Composite = Yellow

Component analog video (YPbPr)
Y = Green
Pb = Blue
Pr = Red

Component analog video/VGA (RGB/HV)
R = Red
G = Green
B = Blue
H/Horizontal sync = Yellow
V/Vertical sync = White

 

[x_25]

I am almost always rewiring my system (duno why, I just do it a lot) so I usually just trace them back to where they go or pull everything apart and redo it.