House under construction (1 Viewer)

[Todd Henry]

I am in the process of having a townhome built. In a week I am meeting with the guy to run any additional wiring for the house.

I am having the living room pre-wired for 5.1 and perhaps 7.1. What questions should I ask. I should make sure he is using the correct gauge wire. How will the speakers be connected after the pre-wire? Are there plates or connections installed near where the receiver will be that I connect to the receiver?

Also, I am having cable jacks installed in every room. I believe comcast does that. What should I think about if I want DirecTV with Tivo capabilities.

Finally, I am having at least a 4-port wired network installed. Does it make sense to put on of the connections in the living room near where the receiver will be.

If anyone has done this before any other advice will be appreciated.

Thanks
Todd

 

[todbnla]

I will give you the most important tip I can think of: Do NOT under any circumstances, let the wiring installer run the speaker wires thru the same holes in the top plate (or bottom) as your home electrical wiring...!
Read up on this subject!

Its Bad Karma...

 

[Paul_C]

Having an ethernet port near your receiver is a great idea. You never know when your multimedia server will be setup.

FYI. Low voltage wire should never run parallel to regular electrical runs unless it is about 2' away. If you HAVE to run a low voltage line parallel to a regular line and it is closer than 2' then try and keep it below 2 or 3 feet. If you have to cross an electrical run then do it at 90 degrees.

Normally, the low voltage wire is run AFTER the regular electrical runs are done. This way the electrician won't be temped to use the same runs as your low voltage.

Have fun and enjoy your new home.

Paul.

 

[Travis_R]

wire it for 7.1 for sure, even if you only use your 5.1, you will always have the option for it, I actually wired mine for 8.1 which in turn also gives the option for 5.1 , 6.1, and 7.1

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

As Paul mentioned, it’s probably a good idea. You might also want to run a phone line for that future Direct TV or Tivo.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt