General "how to" setup question (1 Viewer)

I just moved into a new place that's apparently wired for surround sound. The setup as I can see it is as follows (in the main living area):
1) In-ceiling speakers - front (2) and rear (2)
2) A single blue wire in the wall near where the outlets and cable connections for the TV are
3) Speaker wires in the wall where one might expect a receiver to go (down below in the cabinet). There appears to be 4 wires and then 2 other copper looking "wires."

That's all that I can see right now so I'm questioning a few things since I'm fairly new to this...

Q1) Should I just need a receiver, sub, and center speaker to get this up and running?
Q2) Shouldn't there be a power outlet near where the speaker wires protrude from the wall?
Q3) What questions should I ask the builder?
Q4) Anything I can/should do to test this stuff before buying aforementioned equipment?

Thanks!

Will give your questions a shot...

I just moved into a new place that's apparently wired for surround sound. The setup as I can see it is as follows (in the main living area):
1) In-ceiling speakers - front (2) and rear (2)

You say wired for sound - are the in ceiling speakers actually present, or just the wires to them?

2) A single blue wire in the wall near where the outlets and cable connections for the TV are

What type of wire is the single blue wire? Is it a coaxial wire (caries cable TV signals) or some kind of speaker wire?


3) Speaker wires in the wall where one might expect a receiver to go (down below in the cabinet). There appears to be 4 wires and then 2 other copper looking "wires."

Are the 4 wires actually sets of wires? You mentioned 4 speakers - and now 4 wires -- if these are speakers wires, there should actually be two separate wires for each speaker (positive and negative)...that would make some since. As for the two other copper looking wires -- I guess it depends on where they go and what they are used for. They could be for extra surround speakers, a second zone somewhere else in the house, or for a center channel speaker -- just have no idea...


That's all that I can see right now so I'm questioning a few things since I'm fairly new to this...

Q1) Should I just need a receiver, sub, and center speaker to get this up and running?

- Depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your setup. If you are planning on using the existing speakers - find out what brand they are so you can at least try to match a center channel speaker to them. If you can't figure that out - or you try them out and they just are lousy - you might be able to replace the speakers with a set that has a matching center. You probably won't know until you try them out. As far as making them work - what you listed will not be enough - as you have no sources listed. You would need to hook up some kind of blue-ray player, satalite/cable/TV connection to the receiver as well to get a signal. You also didn't mention what kind of display device you have (TV or projector).

You also didn't mention any kind of a budget. If you want to go as cheap as possible - you could get a refurbished receiver and a cheap sub - and set it up for a phantom center channel - to see how it sounds. If it sounds good enough for you - you haven't spent too much money. If having sounds rain down from the ceiling doesn't work for you - you can use your receiver and sub as a starting place and get some new speakers.


Q2) Shouldn't there be a power outlet near where the speaker wires protrude from the wall?

Not sure of your setup - but you should be able to get some power somewhere close. Speaker wires themselves do not need to be plugged into the wall - but any source device and your receiver will need to have power from somewhere.



Q3) What questions should I ask the builder?

Any information on the existing setup would be helpful. What speaker brand did they use? What are those extra wires used for? What kind of system used to be hooked up here?

Q4) Anything I can/should do to test this stuff before buying aforementioned equipment?

You will need a signal to hear what the speakers sound like. If you are going to be getting a receiver anyway, you can order one and use it to drive a signal. You can hook it up with white noise, and at least be able to label the speaker wires to their location.