First time installing speaker wire

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11-22-2005, 07:03 PM
mcwildcat

First time installing speaker wire

Hey everyone. I posted this on avsforum and got some good responses. I wanted to post it here as well since I'm getting ready to buy Ascends and I thought it would make sense to get feedback from some Ascend owners.

This is my first time installing speaker wire.

The way my home theater is set up has the tv, receiver, and everything else located on an island in the middle of my living room. That means I can't run the speaker wire for the rear speakers around baseboards on sidewalls. I'm going to have to run the speaker wire on the rears up the rear wall, onto the ceiling, and then down the front wall and into the receiver (Panny XR55). Also, the right rear speaker will likely be out from under the ceiling where the living room vaults up into the loft. So, for the right rear, I'll have to run speaker wire along side the rear wall until I get under the ceiling, and then run up the rear wall, onto the ceiling, and down the front wall and into the receiver.

Do you all have suggestions for how I can best conceal the speaker wire? My walls are all white. Distance should be less than 20 feet although I haven't measured exactly yet. I know there is flat wire speaker that adheres to the wall but I'm thinking I won't be able to use that, at least for the right rear, as the wire is going to have to angle to go from the side and up onto the ceiling (i.e. it won't be a straight line). I assume that the flat speaker wire is designed to adhere to surfaces when you're going in a straight line and not when the wire needs to angle in certain spots.

I've also heard about channels you can get, paint, and adhere to the wall, then run your speaker wire through. Are these a better idea than flat speaker wire? If so, can anyone recommend something specific as far as brand/product?

Finally, is it best to buy speaker wire that's terminated once I know what the length will be? I'm going to go with banana plugs so should I just get terminated speaker wire that already has the banana plugs attached? I have no idea how you're supposed to do it yourself as far as connecting the plugs to the wire. I'm sure it's easy..if you all have any suggestions or can direct me to a site that would explain it, that would be helpful.

ANSWER FROM AVS THREAD:

Since you don't want to get into drilling holes into your walls, I would run the cable under the rug (or tuck them under the baseboard molding) as far as you can and use the plastic wire covers when you have to run it up the wall. You can get the wire covers at Home Depot for cheap. You'll also be happy to know that the wire covers come in a set that includes corner and elbow pieces for right angles.

Don't worry about terminating the speaker wire with banana plugs unless you want to be able to easily disconnect the wire from the speaker. The performance of using bare wire ends is just as good and actually better than using a connector. The connectors are just for convenience.

My Follow-up for here:

I'm going with 170s for my fronts, the 340CC, and HTM200 rears. Is it okay to just splice the speaker wire and insert it directly into these speakers and not worry about banana plugs? Also, do you recommend the wire covers from Home Depot?
11-22-2005, 07:21 PM
bikeman

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcwildcat

My Follow-up for here:
I'm going with 170s for my fronts, the 340CC, and HTM200 rears. Is it okay to just splice the speaker wire and insert it directly into these speakers and not worry about banana plugs? Also, do you recommend the wire covers from Home Depot?

I like banana plugs and use them but they're not a necessity. They don't improve the sound over bare wire. I run the wire for my surrounds through the heat vents and into the basement so I can't help with the wire cover question.

David
11-22-2005, 10:51 PM
BGHD

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcwildcat

Do you all have suggestions for how I can best conceal the speaker wire?

I use a wire management track (Home Depot or Lowes??) that is available in white or off-white. I only use it for a 5 ft vertical stretch that's butted up against a door frame, so it's less conspicuous. Long stretches will not look good, unless you can run them along some structure.

Is it not possible to run the rear speaker wire down the rear wall, under the seating area then to this "island"? That is, rather than along the ceiling and down the front wall to the island.

No way to fish 'em in-wall or in-ceiling? No attic or crawlspace? Maybe hire a pro?
11-23-2005, 07:36 AM
TomK

Running Wires

For what it's worth I saw a component in Radio Shack that allows you to send the surround channel speaker outputs through the air like a radio signal. This means no wires from the Panasonic. I just got done fishing wires through walls with an electrical fish tape. The speakers are plugged into wall plates. It is a lot of work but makes for a neat connection. You don't need bananas, but they are convenient for quick connects and disconnects.

Tom
11-24-2005, 04:03 PM
mcwildcat

Thanks for the info everyone.

I would definitely be interested in the device from Radio Shack that makes the rears wireless. Any idea on the price? It would be nice to get something like that. I just wonder if there would be any compromise on sound by using a wireless device.

A friend of mine told me that the flat speaker wires could go in angles so theoretically I might be able to just run flat speaker wire over the rear wall, up the ceiling, and down the island. Then I could paint over the flat wire, if need be, and that would look good.

I'd have to get a couple of big rugs to put in front of my couch to run the speaker wire under the couch and directly to the tv if I wanted to avoid going over the ceiling. I'm not sure if I want to do that.
12-01-2005, 08:40 PM
lei@forum

Banana plugs are not necessary but make connections much easier, especially
for the connections to the receiver - the back of a receiver is very crowded
and there is not much room between binding posts - so it's not easy to make
solid connections without some major effort if the back of the receiver is not
easily accessable, pay attention to stray wires if you use bare wire.
01-18-2006, 09:33 AM
Drew.Ri

I hope this doesn't seem like too stupid or basic a question, but do speaker wire interfere with eachother?

I am considering two placements for my electronics cabinet, one which would require lots of fishing speaker wire across the ceiling and down the walls. The simpler placement will allow me to run most of the speaker wire hidden in the baseboard. However, this will put the wire for the front three speakers packed together for 15-20 feet. I wasn't sure if having a relatively long length of the wires running together (directly touching) would cause any interference or any negative effects.

Still waiting for the wife's approval to purchase my Ascend's. But I might as well get everything set up with the current speakers.

Thanks for any info.
01-21-2006, 06:07 PM
curtis

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew.Ri

I hope this doesn't seem like too stupid or basic a question, but do speaker wire interfere with eachother?

I am considering two placements for my electronics cabinet, one which would require lots of fishing speaker wire across the ceiling and down the walls. The simpler placement will allow me to run most of the speaker wire hidden in the baseboard. However, this will put the wire for the front three speakers packed together for 15-20 feet. I wasn't sure if having a relatively long length of the wires running together (directly touching) would cause any interference or any negative effects.

Still waiting for the wife's approval to purchase my Ascend's. But I might as well get everything set up with the current speakers.

Thanks for any info.

It should work fine....I wouldn't worry.