Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Wiring for rear surround sound speakers
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jreed
11-17-09, 07:11 AM
I just purchased a new TV and home theater system and am planning the wiring. I need to run wire from where the TV is sitting, through the wall, under the floor, and back up to the rear of my living room. Id like to place junction boxes at the TV as well as in the rear to plug the reciever and rear speakers in to. My question is what type of junction boxes would be best. Having two boxes I am afraid will degrade the ound quality...is that true? Also, do they make a box that contains a coax output in addition to two speaker outputs?
njnorsky
11-17-09, 06:27 PM
Trying to figure out your set up, so your saying the TV is in the front of the room but your HT receiver is in the back of the room near your rear speakers? How did you plan on running the speaker wire for your fronts and center channels? Are you doing 5.1, 7.1?
I'm assuming it's either a crawlspace or unfinished basement underneath the living room?
HD and Lowes have face plates that can be used with regular/standard wall boxes that allow you to make your connections. I believe the brand is Leviton. Best Buy may have them too, but it's probably 'Monster' brand which means you'll pay 10x what you need to.
I'm assuming it's either a crawlspace or unfinished basement underneath the living room?
HD and Lowes have face plates that can be used with regular/standard wall boxes that allow you to make your connections. I believe the brand is Leviton. Best Buy may have them too, but it's probably 'Monster' brand which means you'll pay 10x what you need to.
mazz1111
11-17-09, 07:11 PM
If you have carpet, there may be room under the baseboard to tuck....
If you can remove the BB, you may be able to sneak it b/t the flooring and the wall and replace the BB
If you can remove the BB, you may be able to sneak it b/t the flooring and the wall and replace the BB
cheinemann
11-17-09, 07:43 PM
mazz1111 If you have carpet, there may be room under the baseboard to tuck....
If you can remove the BB, you may be able to sneak it b/t the flooring and the wall and replace the BB
Well, pulling the baseboard trim is one way to go about things. But the thing to be aware of is that you may not have that gap to tuck cable 100% of the time. As for which type of wire to use, this will vary upon what you have for equipment. If you simply went out to best buy or something like that and bought some type of a home theater in a box thing, 16-2 twisted pair would work fine for speaker wire. Avoid the "zipcord" speaker wire, since it is cheap junk, and this is what probably came with you unit. If you have a higher power amp (100watt-200watt per channel +), then it would be recommended to step it up to a 14-2 or a 12-2 wire, for the heavier guage to deal with the additional current associated with the high power. As for what type of "boxes" to use, go to the home depot, and buy some of the "carlon low voltage remodel rings". They are bright orange in color, and simply a ring with some flip tabs on them. For low voltage applications, such as a/v actual "boxes" are not needed, and low voltage rings make things much easier to deal with. As for what type of plate to use, there is an item that is called either a "bulk plate", or a "bulk head wire plate" which is a decora plate that the center insert is shaped like your nose. This piece is open all the way through, so the wiring can be simply run through, and then can be trimmed out with the corresponding color of decora trim plate to match everything. This way, you can run your speaker wiring, and you additional coaxes, etc. As for if its better to run 1 or 2 boxes, it does not effect the sound quality at all what so ever.
carlon low voltage ring
http://shop.tjm-secure.com/shop/show_image.php?p=10070&d=75
bulk wire plateshttp://fourpair.com/ccp6_09/media/ccp0/prodsm/1021411.jpg
http://diyhomestore.com/images/white_dual_nose_plate_14014.JPG[/url]
or if you want something neater, you can fab up custom plates as well. Here is a pic of a custom plate
http://www.av-outlet.com/media/cablemanagement-L.jpg
If you can remove the BB, you may be able to sneak it b/t the flooring and the wall and replace the BB
Well, pulling the baseboard trim is one way to go about things. But the thing to be aware of is that you may not have that gap to tuck cable 100% of the time. As for which type of wire to use, this will vary upon what you have for equipment. If you simply went out to best buy or something like that and bought some type of a home theater in a box thing, 16-2 twisted pair would work fine for speaker wire. Avoid the "zipcord" speaker wire, since it is cheap junk, and this is what probably came with you unit. If you have a higher power amp (100watt-200watt per channel +), then it would be recommended to step it up to a 14-2 or a 12-2 wire, for the heavier guage to deal with the additional current associated with the high power. As for what type of "boxes" to use, go to the home depot, and buy some of the "carlon low voltage remodel rings". They are bright orange in color, and simply a ring with some flip tabs on them. For low voltage applications, such as a/v actual "boxes" are not needed, and low voltage rings make things much easier to deal with. As for what type of plate to use, there is an item that is called either a "bulk plate", or a "bulk head wire plate" which is a decora plate that the center insert is shaped like your nose. This piece is open all the way through, so the wiring can be simply run through, and then can be trimmed out with the corresponding color of decora trim plate to match everything. This way, you can run your speaker wiring, and you additional coaxes, etc. As for if its better to run 1 or 2 boxes, it does not effect the sound quality at all what so ever.
carlon low voltage ring
http://shop.tjm-secure.com/shop/show_image.php?p=10070&d=75
bulk wire plateshttp://fourpair.com/ccp6_09/media/ccp0/prodsm/1021411.jpg
http://diyhomestore.com/images/white_dual_nose_plate_14014.JPG[/url]
or if you want something neater, you can fab up custom plates as well. Here is a pic of a custom plate
http://www.av-outlet.com/media/cablemanagement-L.jpg
jreed
11-18-09, 06:15 AM
Great information folks! All of this really helps! The bulk plate sounds like a great idea; might make things much simpler. This system is a Best BUy special...it actually came with the TV I bought. Im not a big AV junkie so this one will suffice...in fact my wife doesnt even want to use it.
njnorsky - no, the reciever is in the front with the TV...sorry for the vague description. This is a 5.1 system.
njnorsky - no, the reciever is in the front with the TV...sorry for the vague description. This is a 5.1 system.
cheinemann
11-19-09, 04:47 PM
but a couple more questions, first of all, can the speaker wires be disconnected from the speakers so you can use a different type of speaker wire? Secondly, why do you want a coax conection by your rear speaker locations?
jreed
11-20-09, 06:06 AM
Speaker wires dont appear to be able to be disconnected which may cause an issue because of the type of plug on the end.
The coax will be up front by the TV and reciever. Sorry, terrible explaination. I would have been better drawing a pic:)
The coax will be up front by the TV and reciever. Sorry, terrible explaination. I would have been better drawing a pic:)
cheinemann
11-22-09, 11:36 AM
ah ok, well then your best bet is that you may have to cut the ends off of the wires in order to run them. Cut off the plug and about 6" of wire so they can be wire nutted back together, and note which wire goes to each side of plug. (often one of the wires will have writing on it and one wont)