In Wall Speaker connections guidance (1 Viewer)

[Paul D G]

I'm fairly certain I know what I need but I'm new to this and would rather ask than not and find out I should have.
We're doing some renovations (ie: adding a second floor above the kitchen and dining room) and I'm having the electrician run speaker wire for me so I can mount some speakers in that area.
I'm going to have the wires terminate at a wall plate behind the stereo so I can plug speakers into that. As for where the speakers will be mounted, I'm not sure what I should use at that end. Another wall plate or is there another option I'm not aware of?
I'm assuming this is what I'll need for the stereo's plate, and this for the speakers themselves.
The thing is, the speakers will be mounted in the jamb between the two rooms (7 foot wide jamb. the speakers will have swivel mounts so they can be angled towards whichever room). Because of this we have a narrow space to work with and I'm not sure how a wall plate in addition to the speaker mounts will look. Would it be better just to have the bare wire coming out of the wall since it will going directly into the speaker? We're talking three or four inches from exiting the wall and going into the speakers so putting a wall plate there might be more of a headache in the end than it's worth.
Thoughts, opinions?
-paul

 

[Ted Lee]

paul -

your title states "in wall", but it sounds like you'll actually be mounting external speakers?

i'll assume you're talking about externally mounted speakers.

since the spacing is so tight, i think you're better off just running the wire straight out of the wall to the speaker. put a regular plate (something like a 75-ohm cable cover) on the wall. it will still have a nice finished look.

plus, if you run the wire directly to the speaker, that'll be one less break in the signal connection path.

 

[Paul D G]

By "in wall" I meant the wiring will be in wall, but yes, the speakers will be mounted.

Possibly coming straight out might be the best choice. I've seen these little circular plastic things you insert into the tiny hole in your drywall which you feed the cable through -- the cable tv installers use them. You don't need the large plate and it disguises the hole nicely. I guess I can try that and if I change my mind I can always fake a plate later.

-paul

 

[Ted Lee]

yep. one other thing you may want to consider is the color of the visible wire. some people will actually splice white wire for the last couple of feet just so that the exposed wire matches the wall.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Paul,
I’m with Ted. Take the wire straight from the wall to the speakers. Actually, there’s no reason to put in the termination panel behind the stereo, either. What, you plan to pull out the stereo to show it off to people?
As with the speaker locations, just leave enough wire behind the stereo to get to the amplifier. Adding termination panels at both ends adds eight additional termination points per speaker! In other words, keep it simple and save yourself the headaches and expense.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Paul D G]

Thanks all for the tips and advice. I think I'll go with the wall-to-speakers approach with the splice to the white wire.
As for the headaches and expense - it's not costing me any more than the cost of the wire and the wall plate. The electrician doing the wiring in the new room even offered to re-wire the rest of the house with RG-6 for me while he was at it!
The wall plate will actually be exposed to a small degree due to where he was able to drop the wiring, but there will be enough slack behind the wall where I can remove the termination if needed. I don't need it to sound phenominal or anything, it's just so we can hear some background music over dinners, or so we can hear the radio, etc when in the kitchen.
-paul

 

[Andy Young]

I'm going through the whole wall-plate/speaker wire thing. Will have 4 pairs (8 jacks) behind my receiver: Surround Right, Surround Left, and Outdoor right and left.

I'm not planning on living in my house for the rest of my life. Therefore, I chose to use wall-plates. When it comes time to sell my house, it will look much nicer than some bare wires jutting through the wall.

That may or may not be a consideration for you.

 

[Luke_Y]

Or you could do both. Run straight connections without terminating at wall plates. If you move/sell you could terminate to a wall plate at that time.