Speaker Wall Plates (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Larkin]

I have a house being built that is currently without drywall. I wanted to prewire my rear surround speakers in the family room by using one of these wall plates on each side of the room. Receiver to wall plate, under floor to other wall plate to speakers. I'd use banana plugs on each end but I'm not sure how the wire will connect behind the wall plate. I believe it accepts bananas or a straight connection behind the plate.

My question is this - is this too many connections and am I going about this the right way? Does anyone else use these face plates? There is no way to get speakers to the other side of the room without seeing it ,,,

Thanks.

 

[TomWinRichmond]

I put in 4 wall plates for my rear surrounds, each with
dual 5 way binding posts, and a corrosponding (4x2)
wall plate at the a/v receiver location. After looking
online, the best price (surprisingly) was at Best Buy,
running about $15-20 per wallplate.

The speaker wire connects to the back via set screws,
and it accepts 12-18 gauge wire.

If you are concerned with reducing the sound levels
leaving your room, you'll need to consider that each
box you throw in the wall will only increase the exit
points where sound can travel. A small hole drilled
just for the wire that can be caulked may be a better
approach.

--
Tom

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

There are a variety opinions on this, so expect your responses here to reflect that.

Personally I prefer a straight-through cable because I don’t like the added expense or all the extra termination points. Adding wall plates at each end results in eight additional termination points per speaker.

For dressing-out a straight-through cable at the speaker end, you can use a blank plate with a hole in the center.

By the way – if you really want to go this route, much of Radio Shack’s stuff is overpriced. You can probably by similar wall plates cheaper at Home Depot or Lowes.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Thanks for all the replies...

I already ran the wire and didn't leave enough to go straight through so I'm committed to a plate at the speaker side, at least.

Also, I contemplated the straight thru approach but really have no idea where the furniture will be at this point.

I looked at Home Depot for the face plates and didn't see them. I'll be sure to check out Best Buy and Home Depot again.

 

[Kevin G.]

I AM ALSO IN A SIMILAR SITUATION
I AM GUTTING MY UPSTAIRS AND WANTED TO RUN AUDIO/AND EVERY WAY I LOOKED AT IT , I NEEDED TO HAVE EIGHT PINS ON TWO WALLS AND TWO 2-PIN CONNECTIONS ON THE SIDE WALLS

ALSO POSTED THIS FOR SOME HELP ON ANOTHER FORUM AND STILL CAME UP WITH THE SAME ANSWERS.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Patrick,

They should be back near the electrical/phone area at Home Depot. They sell the modular Leviton stuff.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I used the modular Leviton stuff from Home Depot. (actually, I bought the snap-in binding posts at Radio Shack... but they only had white.. then I found the Levitons at HD in putty.. so, I have white snap-ins on a putty plate. Ah well... you can't see 'em anyway)

is this too many connections and am I going about this the right way?

You should wind up with 4 posts behind the receiver and 2 posts behind each speaker... that's why the modular stuff is nice, you can mix and match... my panel has 4 posts for the rear surrounds and an RCA jack for the LFE to my subwoofer and a COAX jack for the cable TV input... all on one plate! Just make sure you keep your polarities right when you wire it all up and you should be fine.

 

[Jack_TN]

accessories4 has some nice wall plates made by AR at very reasonable prices.

Jack

 

[AlanHF]

partsexpress.com has super cheap wall plates compared to Radio Shack. (Mix and match modular parts to get what you want.) The connectors take banana plugs or will screw down on the bare wire. I did the latter to save some $$. Setup still looks very clean.