I will try to post some photos of my installation when I get a chance. It is still a work in progress and my "hub" is a bit rough-and-ready - I'd like to spend a little time lining it and tidying it up before I install RJ45 racks, and my shielded R&M RJ45 sockets, etc.
My installation is a mix of CAT7 for normal "ethernet" use and CAT7 to "replace" ML runs. I'm going to wire ethernet-only cables according to the T568A scheme.
My hub connects four CAT7 ethernet runs to the study and eight CAT7 ethernet runs to the family room. In addition, another CAT7 run goes from hub to study and hub to family room to replace the functionality of the ML cable I would normally have run for such an installation.
But I also have existing ML runs (from a 3500 speaker) connected to my Avant / Beosound 3000 combination and a ML wall plate in the lounge room. From this setup in the lounge, some of my left-over ML cable has been chased inside mortar joins and alongside a gas line to run in to my media hub in the garage - which is where connections (using CAT7) will be made to my study (PC-Link2 / Apple iMac) and family room (Avant and Beosound 3000 will be moved out there). This will leave the 3500 in the lounge / dining area for radio / net.music playback. A Passive Link amp will connect to ML inside the hub and run outdoor speakers and an IR controller.
So, back to the hub. As you can tell, the CAT7 for my B&O system is merely replacing the ML cable - everything remains analogue, for now.
So, leaving the ethernet cables aside, I'll have inside my hub:
- a standard ML cable coming from the lounge (3500 speaker and ML wall plate where the Avant/3000 used to be);
- a CAT7 cable coming from the study (PC-Link 2 fed by an AirPort Express and USB to the iMac), connected through a standard ML wall socket in the study;
- a CAT7 cable going to the family room (where the Avant / 3000 will be, connected conventionally to 4000 speakers and BeoLab 2) connected via a standard ML wall socket, and
- a Passive Link amp (with standard ML socket).
ML cables have three twisted pairs, three separate wires and earth wires and braid - 9 "active" conductors and earthing. CAT7 has four twisted pairs, earth and braid - 8 "active" conductors and earthing. It's this "mix" of ML and CAT7 I'll be trying to tie together to form a working ML setup.
My understanding of the ML wiring (from the paperwork accompanying the ML sockets) follows. The numbers are the ML socket pin numbers, the colours on the left are the ML conductor assignments and the colours on the right are what I believe will work using CAT7 (four twisted pairs) instead of ML.
01 | Orange | Left +L | Orange
16 | Red | Right +R | Brown
02 | Green | Data + | Green
11 | Blue | - Supply Voltage | Blue
13 | White/Orange | Left -L | White/Orange
01 | White/Green | Data - | White/Green
15 | White/Red | Right -R | White/Brown
03 | White/Blue | ML-Sense | White/Blue
So all appears "normal" with the Brown/White-Brown pair of CAT7 replacing the Red/White-red pair of ML.
What is missing from this list is the pink ML conductor, "+ Supply Voltage". In all ML installations I've seen, ML-Sense (pink) and +Supply (white-blue) have been soldered together. So, I propose that where I'm using an ML socket, I install a link from pin 03 (ML-Sense) to pin 12 (+ Supply), but simply use the single White/Blue conductor inside the CAT7 cable. Or, is + Supply required at all?
Well, I'll throw all this out there in the hope that I can get a sanity check from the experts among you. Hopefully what I've described to you all makes sense - happy to answer any questions you may have.
Cheers - gary2002