Utilizing the home theater speakers that came with the house (2 Viewers)

[Brandon Lecrone21]

Hello-,

First timer here and yes, I signed up just to ask a question. If I can contribute in any small way I will, but my ignorance is what brought me here, so you've been warned!

We just bought a house and the living room is equipped with some speakers mounted in/on the walls, I believe there are 8 spaced around the room. They are all the same size and without measuring I'm guessing they are approximately 4 to 6 inches in diameter. There is no brand name on them as far as I can tell. This does not look like an off-the-shelf home theater system installed by the homeowner - this strikes me as something custom built when they house was last rehabbed. There is also a cluster of banana connectors coming out of the wall near the TV mount - 7 pairs of black/red connectors.

I don't even know if they work, so I guess my first question is how can I check these speakers out to see if they are functional? I have a multimeter with some knowledge of how to use it, if that is helpful.

The next question, assuming they speakers work, is how would I go about making use of these speakers and what additional equipment would I need? I am guessing they are set up to make us of surround sound, and that at the very least I would need some sort of a receiver with surround sound capabilities. My current setup is a basic Vizio smart tv that is about 2 or 3 years old, plus an old 2 channel Sony stereo receiver/amplifier (that I am guessing is useless in this situation) powering some cheap (but decent sounding) RCA bookshelf speakers. I dabbled with audio when I attended church 20 some-odd years ago, so I do have a vague understanding of matching impedance and wattage between speakers and amps.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[JohnRice]

The simplest way to check if they work is with your multimeter. You just want to make certain there is continuity between each pair of connections, and the impedance (whatever it is) should be the same for every speaker, if the speakers are all the same.

It would help going forward if you describe how they are laid out in the room.

 

[drunkpenguin]

You might have to remove one speaker to see what they are. There should be something printed on them some place. Typically their are 3 or 4 screws that you turn slowly and they release the latch on the attic side which allows them to come out. Heres a good installation video that shows you how they work. Very simple to remove.



Also, pics of the room would be super helpful.

 

[Brandon Lecrone21]

Here are pictures of the room and a drawing of the room and speaker layout. All the speakers are the same size and all are mounted in or on the walls. Also included is photo of the label inside one of the speakers. I'll get my multimete out tonight and check them out.

I think the knob control and above the right speaker in the kitchen might be a volume control? It has distinct indexed stopping points/clicks as you rotate it but no numbers or anything.

Thanks all. Any further thoughts appreciated. Room and speaker

living room

left living room

right living room

right kitchen speaker and knob

typical speaker

 

[JohnRice]

Those appear to be really cheap, full-range speakers. I'm not sure it's worth bothering with them, but you have them if there's no options. You can use the wiring for better speakers, except the one surround speaker we can see is almost at floor level. Unfortunately, it appears whoever installed them had no idea what he was doing. it's set up as a 7 channel surround system, when you include a speaker under the TV. The speakers in the kitchen are for ambient music, and probably is controlled by the dial you showed.

 

[RobertR]

Those appear to be really cheap, full-range speakers. I'm not sure it's worth bothering with them, but you have them if there's no options. You can use the wiring for better speakers, except the one surround speaker we can see is almost at floor level. Unfortunately, it appears whoever installed them had no idea what he was doing. it's set up as a 7 channel surround system, when you include a speaker under the TV. The speakers in the kitchen are for ambient music, and probably is controlled by the dial you showed.

I agree. The speakers themselves wouldn't be of much use, not if high quality is the goal. The only useful thing about the setup is that it's been prewired, but even that has limited usefulness because of the floor location.

 

[drunkpenguin]

Oh wow. Unless your goal is elevator quality music throw those things out. Freq range on those is
250 - 8000. Any respectable speaker should get down to 80 or at least close. I would cover those things up and start over personally.

 

[Brandon Lecrone21]

Well that's disappointing to hear. I was able to find a company name printed on the speaker boxes - turns out it is a local custom audio company that does custom home audio installations among other things. I would have expected a bit more from a company like that, but apparently the homeowner went with the budget option. Ah, well. thanks for your time RobertR, drunkpenguin and John Rice! I might look into upgrading at least some of the speakers since the wiring is already there. The speakers located near the floor could pretty easily be moved up higher.

 

[JohnRice]

Remember, you can always put connectors in place of those little speakers and use floorstanding or bookshelf speakers on stands or small shelves in place of what's there. They don't have to be mounted on the wall.

 

[Sam Posten]

It looks like you have a whole home audio system. You probably have control panels with inputs in a couple rooms and a distribution box in the basement.

If so, These are NOT suitable for home theater use AT ALL.

 

[Brandon Lecrone21]

OK, so now that we're a bit more settled and unpacked in the new house, I have some free brainpower to consider this again. We typically like to keep things simple as we don't watch a whole lot of TV or movies, but I'm trying to think of how to leverage the existing in-wall speaker wiring with perhaps some better speakers and a soundbar as the main speaker for the TV. Not looking for anything really high end - our previous setup was an older analog Sony receiver with RCA bookshelf speakers and we were happy with that.

I am envisioning some sort of soundbar setup that would be able to connect to the existing in-wall speaker wires for rear or surround channels (swapping out some of the existing speakers with something better) and perhaps adding a subwoofer into the mix somehow. My wife is generally opposed to visible wires and never liked having the receiver sitting out in plain view. I can hide the cable between the soundbar and the TV, so I was thinking if there is a soundbar with additional outputs for surround speakers, I could connect a BT transmitter to those outputs, then have a BT receiver connected to the in-wall speaker wires (there is about 10 ft from the TV location to the connection point for the speaker wires) and I might be able to get that approved. A wireless subwoofer would be a nice addition as well. I have no idea if any of that is possible or practical, but that's why I'm here, right? Appreciate all of your input so far, and thanks in advance for further comments.

 

[Sam Posten]

It is highly unlikely that you will be able to tie a sound bar to any existing system. Give us pictures of what you are seeing (At the distribution panel!) and we can help you figure out what can and can't be added, until then it's all guess work.

Wireless speakers for HT suck, in general.

 

[Brandon Lecrone21]

I have attached my drawing of the speaker layout and a photo of the living room indicating where the TV is and the location of the existing speaker wire connectors coming out of the wall. They are all banana connectors, I believe there are about 10 of them. I can provide additional photos as needed.

FWIW, there is a single HDMI cable running through the wall from behind the TV and comes out below the mantle on the right hand side (not visible in the picture). I might be able to get additional cables through there, but it appears it would be difficult as the HDMI that's there now doesn't budge at all and it appears the opening where it comes out below the mantle is just big enough for that one cable.

 

[JohnRice]

Is Rube Goldberg still a member here? He always had good ideas for this kind of setup.

Seriously though Brandon, in the quest to make the system simple, you're trying to make it ten times more complicated. Not to mention, most of what you're proposing doesn't even exist, can't be used the way you suggest, or is a combination of hardware that is not intended to be used together.

Let Sam contribute some suggestions.

 

[Sam Posten]

None of my suggestions are going to be welcome, I am sure. Starting with a panel over a fireplace is the first thing to go. Just don't do it.

If you have a bunch of cheap speakers in the walls pull em all out. Pull the mount off the mantle. Patch the sheetrock and paint it all over. Wipe your hands and be done with all of what came before.

Find a nice area of the home where you can plop a couch and watch a panel that won't strain your neck. Put a nice HT table there, put the biggest OLED you can afford on top of it. Buy either a high quality soundbar if you gotta give in to your wife's demands or put a Denon x000 series receiver in with some decent speakers, I recommend paradigm, KEF, SVS or the Andrew Jones Pioneers with Atmos upfiring modules.

 

[JohnRice]

In that room, the system should be to the right of the fireplace. Sofa on the opposite wall, possibly jutting out past the corner a bit.

 

[JohnRice]

Now that I really look at the layout, having the TV over the fireplace is even worse than most cases. Where are you going to sit? At the dining table. The logical location for seating is at the opposite end of the room.

 

[Brandon Lecrone21]

Thanks guys. I think I get the "start over" advice loud and clear now. I'm not one to abandon something potentially useful until I'm certain it's not actually potentially useful. Will mull things over and see where we land!

 

[Dave Moritz]

Andrew Jones has also designed speakers for a brand called ELAC! They are very good speakers for the money along with SVS or the Andrew Jones Pioneers, Klipsch or Polk. I however are not a big fan of the upfiring Atmos speakers so I would go audition some for yourself before getting some. And I agree think about it and do not rush into anything!