ONE (possibly stupid) question

buyitnow

Alright lets try this again since I didn't get a response last time.

Can I use a connector of some sort to extend speaker wire(s) that are protruding from wall?

The wires are for my front L/R speakers but the speakers will not be mounted on the wall as my builder assumed.

Please be frank. I want to make an informed decision and this is the place I have most confidence in.

thanks in advance

Skynut

Connect away.
If you are just adding wireI would be wary of the wire they put in the wall in the first place because they may not have used a heavy gauge.

heiney9

I am assuming the wire protruding from the wall is bare ended? If so you can use a product called shrink tubing. It's found at places like Radio Shack and possibly your neighborhood home improvement center (Lowe's, Home Depot). And several on-line electronics retailers like www.partsexpress.com

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&WebPage_ID=346&CFID=18817&CFTOKEN=22893681

Here is an illustration of several types of wire spilces. The most common is the Pigtail. It will work but isn't the cleanest looking. The Western Union splice is the cleanest type of splice to use when connecting 2 pieces of stranded wire and works well with the shrink tubing. Shrink tubing can be used alone or in conjuction with solder, but it's purpose is to eliminate the use of solder.

Here's a visual link to some splices. The Western Union is the best for what you are trying to accomplish

http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/paasurvey/elec/lesson5/lesson5.html


Shrink tubing is simply a hollow sleeve that is larger in diameter than whatever guage wire you are trying to splice. It comes in a roll and you simply cut the piece to size. You simply fit over one end of the wire you are splicing. Perform the splice and then slide the tube over the splicing area, which is bare (be sure to cut a long enough piece of tube to cover the bare wire). Then you heat up the shrink tubing with a lighter (don't set it on fire :eek: ) or soldering iron, or heat gun; as it heats up it shrinks tight around the bare wire splice. It performs both functions of insulating the bare wire and securing the splice so it doesn't come apart and keeps maximum contact for electron transfer.

H9

P.s. Shrink tubing is the greatest thing since sliced bread

Skynut

I always solder wire conections.
Good or bad I like to use solder.
Then I heat shrink.

buyitnow

Thanks for the quick reply and help fellas. It's the solid info I was looking for. What potential problems am I looking at or should I anticipate?

The speaker wire is 16 gauge. It has a gray insulating tube with the red and black wires inside. What size shrink tubing would I need?

One good thing is they left a lot of lag for the rear speakers so I can try to cut that wire and attach to the front. Hopefull it's enough. I wish they would have left the same amount of lag for the fronts; my life would be a little easier right now.

thanks again, however, if anyone has anything else to add I would certainly appreciate it and be open to opinions and comments.

adam2434

Another option that eliminates a splice altogether is to use a wall plate like this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062683&cp=&kw=wall+speaker+plate&parentPage=search
You connect the wire to the back of the plate, then run a section from the front of the plate to the speakers.

There are several ways to splice, in addition to the ones mentioned above, you could use crimp connectors like the ones below, which are often used in car audio. I used them when I installed my car stereo. I used Craig ProGold to treat the bare wire (to slow oxidation), twisted the wires together and crimped hard.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DTlenbWtOn4/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=750&I=263rcvrkit&search=crimp+caps

Not sure which is the best approach from a sound standpoint, or even if one is better than another.

buyitnow

Thanks adams2434. Two more solid and very helpful ideas to think about. I put a lot of faith in what you guys have to say because, quite frankly, I don't know much but am learning as I go.

I was initially gonna have someone come set this all up for me but it's turned into a diy project, which has turned out to be pretty cool.

Of course the more simple the job the more appealing it is to a novice like me, HOWEVER, I understand that the ultimate objective is to have the best sound possible.

Heiney9, with the understanding that I'm taking ALL recomendations into account, and not necessarily judging one as better than the other, what are your thoughts on adams2434's suggestions as they pertain to "quality of sound"? You seem to be well versed on this topic.

The plate suggestion is appealing because it would cover the two holes I have on my wall (even though my entert. center covers them up almost entirely).

Anyhow, didn't intend on getting so wordy so I'll stop.

thanks again guys.

Tour2ma

How long of a run to the surround speakers (I'm assuming) are we talking about?

If we are talking surround duty, it's lighter than mains, so 16 guage may well be adequate. Here's a table of wire runs to help you decide whether pulling a heavier guage is worth considering.
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

BullShifter

Since the topic is "speaker wire" I have a question also. Is there anything wrong with doubling up speaker wire? For instance 2 lengths of 18awg per speaker, to be used with surrounds.

Skynut

BullShifter wrote:

Since the topic is "speaker wire" I have a question also. Is there anything wrong with doubling up speaker wire? For instance 2 lengths of 18awg per speaker, to be used with surrounds.

I just did this for my surrounds.
I had them feeding off 14g wire in a run that is roughly 50' so I decided I wanted 10g. When I got into the attic I decided not to remove the 14g and just add the 10g. So now I have two sets of wire going to each speaker.
Since I did not want to actually bi-wire the surrounds I put the jumper back in the speaker and ran the 14g to the highs and the 10g to the lows.

Basically I just have overkill on the wireing to my surrounds.

Also just to mention... I haven't finnished yet so I do not know how it sounds.

Schris22

I just did some wall plates for my dad. This is a much cleaner look. If you are just looking to extend the wire PLUS plug a whole in the wall, then there are wall plates with a i guess semi sphere that will just direct the wire down so that the wire goes through and there is still a wall covering.

I looked around and my local audio store has it if you can't find it anywhere. Should be like 2 bucks per plate or so.

Just one more option

Chris

buyitnow

Not sure I'm visualizing the type of plate you're talking about Schris22. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll definitely do my homework on it.

Tour2ma, my surround speaker run is 31"-32". The wire for the surround AND the mains is 16 awg. I have no choice but to use this wire for the surround but it should be ok right? All charts I've seen on wire gauge lead me to believe that this size is adequate.

thanks for help

Tour2ma

Yup, 16 AWG should be fine.

As for the double run asked about above... no issue, so long as both are run in phase with each other.

dudeinaroom

you could always solder a heavier gauge wire to whatw in the wall, and see if it's loose enough to pull back through so the new wire would be in you walls.

Also if the wire is running up inside the wall you could always cut a new hole (the size of a speaker plate) near the bottom of the wall and pull the wires through, you might have to run a fish wire up to pull the wire down.

buyitnow

Dudeinearoom; I too thought about cutting a hole down below. What are some of the potential problems I could run into when fish wiring? I mean, couldn't the wire be bundled/tied (for a lack of better term) in a way that would prevent fishwiring from working? I don't want to be pessimistic about the idea, just trying to anticipate problems because I like the idea.

As far as soldering is concerned, I've never done it so, without trying to sound like a wuss, I'm a little apprehensive.

thanks for the suggestion

Zen Dragon

Even if you solder a heavier gage wire to whats in the wall, the 16 gage will still be the limiting factor in the set up. Imagine plumbing. You have a 1/2 inch pipe feeding into your litchen. Now you can couple a 1" pipe onto your 1/2 inch, but the flow of water will still be limited by the 1/2 inch feeding the kitchen.
Soldering is not real hard, but it is a little tricky. Study the basics and practice on some scrap wire before you do your speaker wire.
Solder used in electronics is a tin lead composition. Make sure the percentages are either 60/40 or 63/37 (ideal). It also helps sometimes to use a little flux even though flux is already present in the core of the solder. Flux can be purchased separately and aids in the bonding. You apply heat to the joint and allow it to heat, then slowly paint the solder over the joint making sure it is thoroughly melting into the joint. You do not want a big glob of solder, ideally you can still see the contours of the wire through the solder.

dudeinaroom

if the wire won't come down because it is tied, or stapled, you could always solder and heat shrink some wire to the existing wire, and pull that down, and throughn with a fish wire. If you cut a hole big enough for a plat, you might be able to see the wire if it is running up in the wall, if that is the case, you might be able to just pull it through. and as for solder, I personal like silver solder witch you can pick up at radio shack for a few bucks.

adam2434

I'm going to ask a stupid question.

Why not just run speaker wire directly from your receiver or amp, and forget about the in-wall wire for the front channels?

You're not wall mounting the front speakers and it sounds as though your entertainment center and equipment are right there, right?

This would eliminate the need for splicing, fishing, cutting holes for plates etc. and would also allow you to use better wire than the stuff your builder installed.

dudeinaroom

now wait adam, that would be wayyy to easy:)

buyitnow

Adam2434, very good question.

I've thought about that and it may just happen, but I wanted to see how difficult, if at all, it would be to try and use the speaker wire in place. Since I paid for the builder to wire the room, I'd like to look into every option I have to use this wire.

It's time to make a decision and make it happen. Thanks for your help to this point.

adam2434

Yep, I understand.

Assuming you were leaning towards the wall plates, I was just thinking that you could do new wire (maybe 14 awg) for about the same money, and less hassle.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

buyitnow

thanks, I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm getting real antsy about this and need to move on it. Staring at my system isn't doing a thing for me. . .time to hook it up and show it off.

thanks again.

buyitnow

Just connected my speakers. I went ahead and used wall plates on the front wall (7.5 ft. high) for the fronts and ran speaker wire down and through the back of the ent. center on to the shelves. Drilled a hole into the back of the ent. center. I also placed a wall plate down low behind the ent. center where the four speaker wires emerge from the wall. Looks sharp. Mounted the rear speakers on the ceiling and they look sharp too.

This is plenty sound for my room. Haven't hooked up the TV/CABLE and DVD/VCR to receiver yet. I'm going to post question below.

thanks for all the help, my friends (and wife) were pretty impressed that I could hook this stuff up. They loved the sound and it was just from the AM/FM tuner of the receiver (and hasn't been fine tuned yet) I CAN'T WAIT to hook it up to TV/CABLE and DVD/VCR. Hope that goes smooth so I can be done with it and enjoy.

Thanks again and will update soon