Running speaker wire in existing walls?
EFW
Posts: 28
Hey guys,
Just bought a new house:D , and am looking for the best way to get my surrounds hooked up. I have a pair of Monitor 40s that I will be mounting to the rear walls, and I need to get cable to them. This is a brand new house, unfortuantely it was finished out when we bought it, so I couldn't get the builder to run the cable for me. The floor is tile, so no running under the carpet or up next to the base boards. I will be looking to do this in the living area, and going up through the wall from my AVR, into the attic and back dow the rear wall to the speaker. I want to minimize the amount of damage I have to do to the walls if at all possible, after all I have to keep the little woman happy right;). Any ideas, previouse experiences, nightmares or do's and dont's would be greatly appreciated. Also ideas for size of cable to use and brand would help. I was thinking 10 or 12 AWG, I estimate the total run to be about 35 feet or so. I'll try to knock out three birds with one stone here and also ask for suggestions on mounting brackets for the Monitor 40s. Thanks in advance for any and all help.:cool:
Just bought a new house:D , and am looking for the best way to get my surrounds hooked up. I have a pair of Monitor 40s that I will be mounting to the rear walls, and I need to get cable to them. This is a brand new house, unfortuantely it was finished out when we bought it, so I couldn't get the builder to run the cable for me. The floor is tile, so no running under the carpet or up next to the base boards. I will be looking to do this in the living area, and going up through the wall from my AVR, into the attic and back dow the rear wall to the speaker. I want to minimize the amount of damage I have to do to the walls if at all possible, after all I have to keep the little woman happy right;). Any ideas, previouse experiences, nightmares or do's and dont's would be greatly appreciated. Also ideas for size of cable to use and brand would help. I was thinking 10 or 12 AWG, I estimate the total run to be about 35 feet or so. I'll try to knock out three birds with one stone here and also ask for suggestions on mounting brackets for the Monitor 40s. Thanks in advance for any and all help.:cool:
AVR...........Onkyo TX-SR703
TV.............Mitsubishi WD-62627:D
HD DVD.......Toshiba HD-XA2:cool:
Power.........Monster HTS 1600
Mains.........Monitor 70's
Center........CS2
Rears..........Monitor 40's
Sub............PSW12
Cables........Signal Cable
TV.............Mitsubishi WD-62627:D
HD DVD.......Toshiba HD-XA2:cool:
Power.........Monster HTS 1600
Mains.........Monitor 70's
Center........CS2
Rears..........Monitor 40's
Sub............PSW12
Cables........Signal Cable
Post edited by EFW on
Comments
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It depends on your builder, but I have had three homes here in Texas and all three had horizontal bracing about half-way up the walls. I've had to cut-out sheet-rock - I have been lucky enough that this was usaually in an inconspicous location and easy to patch and re-texture. They charge out the arse to pre-wire, but with this last home I paid it. Grab a stud-finder and some painters tape and start mapping the studs to see what you are up against.
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I just went with in-ceiling speakers for the rear 4 surround speakers. I had thought about going the other route but I do like the "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy. Funny...I'm a home A/V rep and I have a pretty basic system for HT compared to the gear that I rep. But that's how it usually works it seems. I listen to music more than I watch movies/videos even though I do have HD channels and all.
But, one thing I found in dropping RG6 down some walls for satellite is that you'll have to drill into the "header" (if that's the proper term) to get the wires down into the walls. At least that's how my house was and it was built 4 years ago. Kind of a pain but a good wood boring (sp?) bit took care of that. Just be careful walking across the 2X6's in the attic! I can tell you first hand about that....:DRichard? Who's your favorite Little Rascal? Alfalfa? Or is it........................Spanky?.................................Sinner. -
But, one thing I found in dropping RG6 down some walls for satellite is that you'll have to drill into the "header" (if that's the proper term) to get the wires down into the walls. At least that's how my house was and it was built 4 years ago. Kind of a pain but a good wood boring (sp?) bit took care of that. Just be careful walking across the 2X6's in the attic! I can tell you first hand about that....:D
Yep, you'll have to drill through the top plate (2-2x4 or 2x6's nailed together around the wall perimeter). I bought a 15" long wood boring bit at Lowes to drill though the top plate and had no problems.
