Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Ceiling Speaker Wiring

OK, I will admit I am not too savvy with electronics. :rolleyes:

I just purchased a house with in ceiling speakers, four in living room, two in bedroom, two on patio, and can not figure out how to hook the darn things up to my stereo.

I have 2 large white cables for the speakers coming out of the wall marked as (UL) Type CL3R 4/C 16AWG coming out of the wall with four individual different colored wires inside with just copper wire.

I would take it the four individual wires get connected to the stereo, but what confuses the heck out of me is since I have just a copper wire, how do I hook the darn things up to the stereo, with its positive and negative cables.

I bought the house from an old lady, who definitely was of NO help with the question.

I also have wall mounted volume controls.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. After going through Hurricane Frances, could use a little pleasant noise from overhead in my new house.

Thanks :)

the wires were not labeled ?
to trace the wires- your best bet is to remove the speakers from wall/ceiling and look at the wires for color matching them with whats coming out of wall.
time consuming but worth it to avoid miswiring your system; make sure to clearly label your newly identified wires.
best of luck.

Since you have volume controls, that's where I'd start. Pull the wall volume control in your living room - you should be able to tell the L+, L-, R+ and R_ wiring from the connections on the volume switch. Write down the color coding. Same thing for the switches in the bedroom and on the patio.

Once you know how the switches are wired, you should be able to connect the wires to your stereo.