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JohnRice
- John Rice
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- offline
- Joined: June 2000
- Location: Colorado
- Post Count: 7,526
Hmm, those sound like pretty common speaker binding posts, with the (not sure what to call them) retaining part removed. If that is the case, yes, they are pretty much useless. I wonder why they would remove them? The two parts are worthless without each other. An example of what I mean is
HERE. If that is the case, hopefully the wires in the walls are intact and you can just replace the plates. The ones I linked are very good, a reasonably priced. Click the image to see it larger.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
- Joined: April 2004
- Post Count: 789
It is possible that the new house has connections for the speaker wires, but does not have a bracket to mount the speaker.
Usually, the ends of the wire from the speaker are pushed through the hole in the side of the binding post, and then the cap is screwed down to keep the wire in place. You can also wrap the speaker wire around the post, then screw the cap down. If your speaker wires have crimped-on pins or lugs, they attach as above. Or, if you have banana plugs on the speaker wires, they just plug right into the end of the binding post. That, quickly, is why these things are called five-way binding posts.
Somewhere near the area for the TV and amplifier you will find either wires hanging out of the wall, or more wall plates with binding posts. You connect these to your AV amplifier or receiver. You'll need to take care to keep the polarity correct - plus to plus and minus to minus.
For hanging the speaker, you will probably have to purchase brackets and attach them to the walls. You can find loads of different brackets at electronic stores, and on the web. I imagine that the previous owners never put up brackets, or if the house is brand new, they were not supplied.
--ignore the man behind the curtain
