speaker wire before drywall?
George R.
speaker wire in the walls. Was looking to do the great room for
home theater, currently have an older Pioneer pro-logic
receiver. Do I run them to a box, might look funny 7 feet off
the ground on the wall, if so what kind of box and plate?.
Should I install the in-wall speakers instead? If in-wall should
I do 4 of them, 2 front 2 back and hook up the center channel
inside the entertainment center? I have 500+ feet of decent 18
gauge wire still on a coil but its about 10 years old, is it
still good? Should the front speakers sit up high o the wall as
well as the back two? I'm not an music aficionado so I'm not
looking for ultimate sound quality. Should I run wire to other
places in the house (deck, dining, garage bedroom) for future
use, how would I end those if I don't plan on using them for a
few years. I have a basement and the home is a colonial, approx.
2700 sq/ft.
Thanks in advance,
George
Charles
Here's what I did in my new house:
Behind entertainment center I mounted a standard, single-gang electrical box
at outlet height. Mounted another one behind the couch. I ran two pair of
good speaker wire between the two and curled up the extra inside the box.
From the same box behind the entertainment center, I ran two more pair out
to the deck.
After the drywall went up, I terminated the wire in the boxes with face
plates from Niles audio. http://www.nilesaudio.com Now I can run any
surround speaker I want to the outlet plate behind the couch.
If I had planned better, I'd have run another set up to my bonus room. I
spend a lot of time here and some good speakers would be nice in this room.
My advice would be to run wire all over the place. Anywhere you think you
might ever need it. The cost now is next to nothing. Running it AFTER the
drywall is up will be really expensive.
Charles
George R. <NOSPAMr...@ncweb.com> wrote in message
news:sjp2la...@corp.supernews.com...
hum...@my-deja.com
audiophile either. Mostly I just don't want to have wires visible.
1. Get new wire. You will only have an opportunity to run the wire
once, this is not the place to scrimp. Use a "monster cable" type of
wire. Get the largest gauge wire you can find that is rated to run
inside the wall. There may be building codes in your area that require
you to run plenum rated wire in the wall. You can buy the wire at any
place that sells stereo eqpt., I've seen inside the wall speaker wire at
places like Best Buy, Circuit City.... If you have a subwoofer you can
run TV coax (RG-6) in the wall for that. Subwoofers can be used with a
coax style connection. This is what I used.
2. I only installed the speaker wire in the family room. Now that
we've lived in the house for a couple of years we wish we had installed
speakers in other rooms too. This will depend on your house, but in our
case we wish we had it in the master bedroom and office upstairs and the
dining room, however I would run it to every bedroom given the
opportunity to do it again. I also ran 2 different runs for the
subwoofer, allows me to move it different locations in the room if I
need to.
3. At the entertainment center I installed a large (4 way) plastic
outlet box, plus a seperate single box for the subwoofer. At the
various speaker locations I installed single outlet boxes. If you don't
have speakers where the boxes are you can put a blank plate over the box
and paint it the same color as the room. Although they are expensive, I
used gold plated speaker jacks mounted to wall plates. They make the
installation look professional. You then make "jumper" cables from the
speaker to wall plate, for these you get a lug type of connector that
plugs into the wall mounted jack. If you use in the wall speakers you
don't need these on the speaker end of the connection.
4. What you do for speakers depends on what kind of look you want to
acheive for the room. In my case we used external satellite speakers
using wall mounts for the front and rear speakers. The front speakers
are mounted about 2/3 up the wall, facing straight out. They are
located equal distance from the monitor, roughly 4 feet to either side.
The rear speakers are up near the ceiling and adjusted to point down
towards where the couch is located. The speakers just kind of hang on
the wall. If you check out the Bose satellite systems you can get an
idea of how this looks. If you use in the wall speakers you can paint
the grills to match the wall and the speakers almost disappear. My
center speaker is on the top of the entertainment center with a direct
wire run to the amplifier. I have a pair of satellites for front and
rear, center speaker and a powered subwoofer, which just sits on the
floor. I have an older (~5 years) Onkyo prologic system, sounds great.
In article <sjp2la...@corp.supernews.com>,
"George R." <NOSPAMr...@ncweb.com> wrote:
> Getting ready for drywall and was wondering how I should end
> speaker wire in the walls. Was looking to do the great room for
> home theater, currently have an older Pioneer pro-logic
> receiver. Do I run them to a box, might look funny 7 feet off
> the ground on the wall, if so what kind of box and plate?.
> Should I install the in-wall speakers instead? If in-wall should
> I do 4 of them, 2 front 2 back and hook up the center channel
> inside the entertainment center? I have 500+ feet of decent 18
> gauge wire still on a coil but its about 10 years old, is it
> still good? Should the front speakers sit up high o the wall as
> well as the back two? I'm not an music aficionado so I'm not
> looking for ultimate sound quality. Should I run wire to other
> places in the house (deck, dining, garage bedroom) for future
> use, how would I end those if I don't plan on using them for a
> few years. I have a basement and the home is a colonial, approx.
> 2700 sq/ft.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> George
>
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Wes Gardner
You can use an adaptation of what commercial installers of phone/data
stuff call "ring and string" which is literally a ring on a piece of
string that's left dangling in the wall. you can then pull your new
wiring in when you want to....
For you, I'd run wiring to wherever you might want stereo and then
either just leave it behind the wall, coiled such that there'd be enough
to fish out once you determine where you want to locate any necessary
boxes. You can use in-wall speakers, you can use standard electrical
boxes with recessed plates such that once the speaker is hung on the
wall, the box is directly behind the speaker and is invisible. Codes all
your wiring and the n WRITE the code down so in a few years you'll be
able to remember that the red-coded wiring goes to the living room or
whatever....
As far as your home theater, locate stuff for optimum listening... you
may not want your rear channels high on the wall, your ear, after all,
will be at about 4 feet when you're seated....oh yeah, digital is on
it's way, some of the large TV manufacturers are switching over and will
soon only build digital
Wiring does not "go bad" ... copper's been around for a long time...
What I would do is sketch out a little plan of your home and then take a
few hours to think thru where you might want stuff and then mark it up
and keep it somewhere as an archive of what you buried in the walls...
Hope this helps
Wes
Jmast42
>I do 4 of them, 2 front 2 back and hook up the center channel
>inside the entertainment center?
This part of the question I can comment on!
Go for the in-wall installation. In my old house, I had speakers attached to
the wall, and there's no way to make them look good (Although some are much
better-looking than others,especially the small cubes). I updated the system,
and went with an in-wall speaker system, and it was without question the better
way to go. I painted the grills the same color as the walls, and they were as
close to invisible as you can get.
I'd see no reason not to do the front speakers the same way., although you may
like the results if they are placed lower, closer to the screen, because they
produce sounds that are off to the side of the action on the screen, not really
above the action.
Keep the center channel close to the screen.
Also, consider an in-wall sub-woofer. The drawback is, it can rattle your
picture frames during an intense scene, but maybe thats the effect you want!
John Kobzik
pointing upward. Obviously only practical in first floor applications where the
subwoofer would be in the basement. Yes, if the basement is finished this could
also be a problem but...... I have two subwoofers installed this way, part of a
pair of Bose AM5's. The subwoofer location is not all that fussy as they are
omnidirectional, well to a point they are.
jmk
Dave Winslow
> speaker wire in the walls. Was looking to do the great room for
> home theater, currently have an older Pioneer pro-logic
> receiver. Do I run them to a box, might look funny 7 feet off
> the ground on the wall, if so what kind of box and plate?.
I think I would use an electrical box down where others are set -- about 12"
off the floor. There are various covers for phone, ethernet, etc., you may
find one with screw terminals. If not you can get blank covers and add
appropriate speaker wire connectors. I would then run wire up the wall to
the speakers. I would do this to accomodate future changes of any kind.
> Should I install the in-wall speakers instead? If in-wall should
> I do 4 of them, 2 front 2 back and hook up the center channel
> inside the entertainment center?
I don't know what kind of good speakers you can get for in wall use. I would
hate to limit myself this way.
> I have 500+ feet of decent 18
> gauge wire still on a coil but its about 10 years old, is it
> still good?
Yes
> Should the front speakers sit up high o the wall as
> well as the back two? I'm not an music aficionado so I'm not
> looking for ultimate sound quality.
I think I have seen the recomendation, and it makes sence, that the front
speakers should be at approximately the same height as the screen
> Should I run wire to other
> places in the house (deck, dining, garage bedroom) for future
> use
I would sure. Also run phone, cable, and eithernet also.
> how would I end those if I don't plan on using them for a
> few years.
They don't need any special termination.
> I have a basement and the home is a colonial, approx.
> 2700 sq/ft.
>
Run all leads down to basement where they can be wired for current and then
future use. You might want to run them all to a central location for
interconnection, maintenance, etc.
> Thanks in advance,
> George
>
Good luck, Dave
Eric Gunnerson
"George R." <NOSPAMr...@ncweb.com> wrote in message
news:sjp2la...@corp.supernews.com...
> Getting ready for drywall and was wondering how I should end
> speaker wire in the walls. Was looking to do the great room for
> home theater, currently have an older Pioneer pro-logic
> receiver. Do I run them to a box, might look funny 7 feet off
> the ground on the wall, if so what kind of box and plate?.
Standard boxes are fine. For plates, you can get a number of ones that
support speaker terminals, or you could just use a plate with a single hole
in the center.
> Should I install the in-wall speakers instead? If in-wall should
> I do 4 of them, 2 front 2 back and hook up the center channel
> inside the entertainment center?
I would say *no* to this. There aren't many choices on in-wall speakers, and
you'll have a different kind of center channel than the mains, which will
color the sound.
You'd also be stuck with them, and would have a hard time upgrading them. If
you can tolerate visible speakers, the sound is much better.
> I have 500+ feet of decent 18
> gauge wire still on a coil but its about 10 years old, is it
> still good?
Well, it's probably still fine, but I prefer to have at least 16 gauge, and
it's might be worth it to spend a bit extra if it's going in the walls.
> Should the front speakers sit up high o the wall as
> well as the back two? I'm not an music aficionado so I'm not
> looking for ultimate sound quality.
The front speakers should be at normal listening position, which would
ideally mean in line with the center at ear height.
The back ones are up high because they're providing reflected information.
> Should I run wire to other
> places in the house (deck, dining, garage bedroom) for future
> use, how would I end those if I don't plan on using them for a
> few years. I have a basement and the home is a colonial, approx.
> 2700 sq/ft.
Consider running conduit to those locations.
Mark
The center conductor of RG-6 is typically copper-plated steel wire
about 20 gauge. Some audiophiles use cables resembling garden hose to
high current speakers like subs. Personally I think something
in-between would be best--14 gauge at a minimum.
Daniel Hicks
drywall there and stick the wire through, then knot the wire so it won't
fall back through. If you don't know for sure, put the wires into
blank-covered boxes on line with the outlets near the floor, then you
can poke a hole in the wall and drop a wire down to the box later. In
this latter case consider using telephone frames rather than closed
boxes, to make fishing the wire down easer. (The closed boxes will work
-- you just have to fish the wire through an opening in the top of the
box with a coat hanger.)
"George R." wrote:
>
> Getting ready for drywall and was wondering how I should end
> speaker wire in the walls. Was looking to do the great room for
> home theater, currently have an older Pioneer pro-logic
> receiver. Do I run them to a box, might look funny 7 feet off
> the ground on the wall, if so what kind of box and plate?.
> Should I install the in-wall speakers instead? If in-wall should
> I do 4 of them, 2 front 2 back and hook up the center channel
> inside the entertainment center? I have 500+ feet of decent 18
> gauge wire still on a coil but its about 10 years old, is it
> still good? Should the front speakers sit up high o the wall as
> well as the back two? I'm not an music aficionado so I'm not
> looking for ultimate sound quality. Should I run wire to other
> places in the house (deck, dining, garage bedroom) for future
> use, how would I end those if I don't plan on using them for a
> few years. I have a basement and the home is a colonial, approx.
> 2700 sq/ft.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> George
Robert Hancock
RG-6 should work OK for that. If it doesn't have a built in amplifier,
definitely RG-6 would be no good for that.
--
Robert Hancock Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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