Rear Speakers (1 Viewer)

[Shalen]

I'm having a townhouse built and want to pre-wire the rear speakers. Should I do ceiling mount or go through the wall which the back of the couch will face? Any suggestions on regarding height or anything else will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Brandon:W]

I'm having the same delema, Shalen, but my house is already pre-wired.

I don't have any specific recommendations about placement, but I would suggest:

- Making sure the builder uses good quality speaker wire. My builder used some kind of lame 16 guage speaker wire.
- Wire it for 7.1, not just 5.1. Even if you don't have the speakers now - you may want to upgrade in the future - and it shouldn't be much more expensive.
- Wire for a sub placement. Even if you are planning to put the sub close to the TV (where you may not need a pre-wire), you may want to add a second sub or have it placed in the rear later (depending on the room acustics).
- Have the wire placed in the wall/ceiling to give you speaker placement options. For example, have them run the wire through the ceiling and down the wall to an outlet near the floor. That way you can place an in-ceiling, an in-wall or one terminated near the floor. Your options are more open.

One thing I learned about pre-wiring (cable/phone/ethernet/speakers) is that you will always wish you had more options later. I don't know how flexable your builder is with regards to you doing some of the work yourself. But if I had the options, I would have put conduits and wires all over the place where they are difficult to place after the sheet rock is up.
Plus two coax lines in each room - two CAT5E lines in each room - but 3-4 coax in each media location (2 for satellite, one for modulated media distribution, one to grow on).

Oh, and it's a good idea to take pictures of the wiring before the insulation and before the sheetrock is up so you know exactly where the wires are.

Brandon

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Shalen,

If you intend to locate the couch several feet away from the back wall, I’d go with in-wall. You would probably want the couch at least five feet away. If the speakers are mounted six feet up or higher, then invert them upon installation. This will place the tweeter as close to ear level as possible.

If the couch is to be against the wall, go with in-ceiling.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt