[volterata]

I recently re-located to a condo with wood floors in the room that I am setting up my home theater system and I am in need of some inexpensive wiring assistance. I recently upgraded to a 7 speaker system and I now have two side speakers and obviously two rears. I have two to three walk areas which are heavily traversed with a possible third. I would like this wiring process to look nice, as the condo is very nice, and yet be inexpensive. Any ideas and diagrams would be of great assistance.
Thnx

[Ben_Williams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by volterata

I recently re-located to a condo with wood floors in the room that I am setting up my home theater system and I am in need of some inexpensive wiring assistance. I recently upgraded to a 7 speaker system and I now have two side speakers and obviously two rears. I have two to three walk areas which are heavily traversed with a possible third. I would like this wiring process to look nice, as the condo is very nice, and yet be inexpensive. Any ideas and diagrams would be of great assistance.
Thnx

I have the same problem. The wood flooring in my home is on about 90% of the house including the home theater area. If having someone drop wiring into the walls isn't an option, I found that using a flat speaker cable for my surrounds allowed me to place the wires behind the baseboards. Shortly after buying the house, we had some extensive painting done. I was able to get the paining contractor to remove the baseboards and then place the cables for a nominal fee. It looks seamless and was just what I needed to get wires to the places where I couldn't do a wire drop. Most baseboards have a small groove on the back side and this is an excellent place to hide the wires. There are many cable manufacturers who produce high quality flat cables... you might even be able to get away with using a traditional speaker cable if the groove in your baseboards is deep enough.

If this also isn't an option for you, Home Depot sells a cheap white cable channel that is available in lengths up to about 5 feet. These would simply be stuck onto the base of the baseboards all around the room and would act as a conduit for the cables. If you have white baseboards, this will appear pretty close to seamless.

Good Luck!

[volterata]

Thanks for the information. I really do not want to tear up my base boards so I guess the cable channel may have to be an option. Does the fact that the cable is cheap adveersely affect my speaker performance? Is there any type of tubbing that can fit over the walk ways of the doors as that is why I am most concerned about. The 5 foot cable length will be a concern..

[Ben_Williams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by volterata

Thanks for the information. I really do not want to tear up my base boards so I guess the cable channel may have to be an option. Does the fact that the cable is cheap adveersely affect my speaker performance? Is there any type of tubbing that can fit over the walk ways of the doors as that is why I am most concerned about. The 5 foot cable length will be a concern..

Cheap speaker cables are not recommended. They will definitely degrade the quality of the sound - - especially over longer distances. It's wise to invest in better quality cables. What kind of speakers are you using? What kind of amp/processor?

I'm not aware of any particular tubing that would fit over door space. You are going to have to get creative if you aren't able to do an in-wall drop.

[Parker Clack]

Todd:

One place to look at for sure is one of our vendors Cable Organizer. They offer a huge selection of just the type of thing you are looking for.

Parker

[volterata]

I have a Onkyo HT-R549 receiver and I am trying to decide between my old Sony Front, and Sony Center Channel which are currently rated at 40HZ-50,000Hz, Center Channel is 50KHZ and the Onkyo Front Speakers are rated at 55HZ-50KHZ and the Onkyo Center channel is rated at 55HZ-50KHZ. It is a 7.z system so I will be using the two Onkyo side speakers and the the rear speakers as well.

[Bud Huey]

I do not know your DIY abilities, but if the room does not have any crown molding you can add some - it makes a great place to hide speaker wires. If it already has crown molding you can add another piece below the existing molding and hide some speaker wires in the gap. Then you can drop the speaker wires behind the sheetrock and between the studs to the desired location. Then paint the new molding to match the exiting molding.

Good Luck,
Bud

[homthtr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by volterata

Thanks for the information. I really do not want to tear up my base boards so I guess the cable channel may have to be an option. Does the fact that the cable is cheap adveersely affect my speaker performance? Is there any type of tubbing that can fit over the walk ways of the doors as that is why I am most concerned about. The 5 foot cable length will be a concern..

The 5 Foot Length is the length of the track molding. You can buy as many lengths as you need. They sell for about $4-$5 per 5' piece. and the connectors for inbetween sections are about $2.00 a pair. Same for Right,Left angle turns and T's.

Available at most hardware stores in the electrical section. Just ask of surface mount wire track.