Wiring new house for speakers, help (1 Viewer)

[jay lemons]

I am beginning the process of building a new house. My goal is to have ceiling speakers in several rooms. I would love to do this myself to save some money. The problem is, I have no idea how to do it. I don't know how to power them, how to connect the volume control for each room, or anything else. Does anyone know of any good books or web sites on this subject. If you could help me with this problem it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Shawn Solar]

Well it depends on how much money you want to spend. for an office,dining room,outdoor patio and maybe a bathroom or recroom figure on spending about $2000. thats the wire, speakers, volume controls and speaker selector. You run the wires from the speaker location to the volume control then from the volume control to the amp/reciever and speaker selector. Keep the speakers 5-9ft apart and use a ft4 inwall speaker wire. 16guage for up to 50feet, 14guage for 50-70ft and 12guage for anything else.

If you want something like russound's a-bus system then you would run the speaker wires to the kepad loctaion the a cat-5 from the keypad to the location of the hub which conects all the kepads to work from a cental location. It gives you the ability to listen to different sources from different rooms control volume and source and with the optional remote and IR emitters control the track and disc from the keypad with a remote. Figure about $4000 and up for something like that.

 

[Winston_T]

Does the builder know you are doing so? Have you planned on them giving you time? Just some things to consider.

Also watch how you cross the power lines. 90 degrees is best, if you must. I haven't done pre-speaker wiring but did but spools and spools of RG-6 and CAT 5 into the house, and the one things I can say is you can never have enough.

Also, you need to "attach" the wires every x distance (couple of feet, check code).

Have you tried doing a google search on something like "wire installation"? Doesn't have to be speaker specific. You can probably get good ideas from RG-6 and Cat 5 suggestions.

 

[jay lemons]

Thanks guys. This helps a lot. I will also do that google search. I really have not spent much time searching just hoping for some quick answers from fellow audio fans. Thanks

 

[Bill Kane]

Crutchfield.com has a 39-page illustrated Installation Guide online for AdobeAcrobat PDF download. Chp. 7 deals w/ in-wall, in-ceiling and controls HERE

 

[jay lemons]

Hey, thanks a lot. This is what I am looking for. Great!!!!!!!

 

[Bill Lucas]

Jay,
If you aren't up on local building codes and the restrictions that apply to drilling holes in joists (you can't drill holes in them) and studs (there are specific areas where you cannot drill) and how to route wire to avoid the trades in the house AND protect the integrity of the wire then you should probably consider using a professional. Boy, was that a run-on sentence or what! Regards.

 

[Bryan Acevedo]

Also, if you are going to do it yourself, you want to make sure your builder allows it. I am building a house myself (and built my last one 3 years ago). Both builders said that if they see wiring in the walls that they didn't do, they would rip it out. I don't blame them - they don't want to fail an inspection for my wiring mistake.

Also, the peace of mind when they do it is worth something. You at least have a warranty with them. What if you do it yourself and there is a short somewhere from a nail, or a wire is cut when they are doing the drywall? You will have to track it down yourself and possibly rip out walls to find the problem. Now the whole reason you did it in the first place is nullified. If they messed up, then they will bear the expense of finding and fixing the problem.

Just giving you some suggestions, as I leave that kind of stuff up to the contractors who know how to do it. It is a little more expensive, but you do get what you pay for.

Bryan

 

[Shawn Solar]

A lot of the time contractors do not know how to do it. They do not know where to run the wires to or what kind of wire to use. They often do not run it far enough a way from electical lines and have no acoustical knowledge.

If a builder won't let you run wire in YOUR own house then you need to have a long discussion. At the least I would call an audio campany and have them do it and set up a schedule with the builder as to when to come in and where and where not to run wires. My experience is builders do it cheap and quick with little regard to sonic accuracy.

 

[Bill Lucas]

Shawn,
I believe the "contractors" that were referred to were custom installers. They certainly know what they are doing when it comes to pulling wire for data, phones, satellite/cable, audio/video distribution and home theater.
BTW, it's not YOUR home until you settle on the property. Until then it belongs to the BUILDER and if you are on the property without his permission you are trespassing and if you are performing work on the property you are a huge liability risk. So, as a home purchaser, you have NO rights to the property prior to settlement. Regards.

 

[Shawn Solar]

Most builders here anyway do not mind working with the home owner. A lot of the time they bring someone like me in, I show them where I would run the wire and the home owner ends up runing the wire himself.
I also was refering to the builders themselves. if you ask them for speaker wires they usaully ask the electrician or do it themselves. The job does not usaully end up as nice as it should. Thats not to say all the builders do just some I've worked with.

 

[John Pine]

Bill: Great resource, thanks also!