Great tools for your HT

[hopjohn]

Thought I would point out a few tools beyond the obvious wire strippers, sound meters etc. that I find useful when setting up an HT system.

A small mirror - Ever like to look behind a component and show you where that connection is before you yank every wire out trying to get where you need to go? This is the way.

Snakelight or clamp light - It sure helps being able to point that light right where you need to read those small printed labels on your components when you need to make changes or additions.

Wire loom - using wire loom helps to greatly clean up your system by organizing wires with this cheap yet, great wire managment tool

Area Rug - great for helping with acoustics from 1st order floor reflections and will even help manage/hide your wires when running them to the back of the room

Bookshelves/ Media storage - need some place to put all your software? Try using these along the side walls to help with acoustics, and have your media close by too.

Mini fridge - Is the kitchen just too far away? Put one of these babies in and you'll just be a few feet away from all your Shiner, and day old pizza. Just the right size to put components on as well.

Got others? Love to hear them.

 

[sjdgpt]

First, I like a "flexible" spot light. Don't know the name of the thing, but the spot light distribution is variable from a spot to a flood. Gives a better (broader) light pattern than the snakelight in my opinion, and can be moved from shelf to shelf as needed.

I am still using cable ties. I would use duct tape, but the stuff is so hard to get off when you want to move something.

Mini Table to set by the Lazy Boy, positioned just right with every thing at arms reach. I like the Mini Table because as I recline the Lazy Boy, I can relocate the table for ease of food consumption. My current table is a $20 plant stand from Belk's. Marble top, wood tripod legs. Marble top is great for not having to use a damn coaster.

 

[rgriffin25]

I like to carry Gerber multi-pliers. They are great to have on hand when you might not have another tool.

 

[rgriffin25]

Just in case

These are not used for baby food!
Found HERE

 

[WorkerBee]

The inventor of the {handy dandy}Gerber tool is probably a gazillionaire.

Plenty of good light and I even snip off the x-tra cable tie after tightening.

 

[dohanc]

Volt meter! I commonly run a 60Hz sine wave in and measure the amplitude of each speaker to make sure I'm getting the same voltage. I have a few components with right left analog gain controls which unfortunetly are not easy to get perfectly matching. For you more modern digital receiver types - might be a good idea to double check and come to realize you have some strange balance -1dB skewed to the left on your CD player that you completly forgot was even an option!

 

[Willow]

Beer or a wine for those times when you need a break to try an figure out why it's not working properly

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

Sears sells these neat eyeglass frames in the hardware dept. with an LED light in each temple; they can be adjusted up and down to focus in your line of sight. Great for wherever you need a bit more light and want to keep your hands free, like when futzing around with interconnects behind your gear.

BTW, while the Gerber multitools are very nice (as you'd expect from a maker of fine knives), the original is the Leatherman! I am never without my Leatherman Micro, and I have a couple of the larger Leatherman tools too. One resides permanently in my car glovebox ready for whatever.

And...cable ties and those Velcro wrap thingies: you can never have enough!