Home Theater in wall speaker wire advice

[FP]

I am converting a spare bedroom into an AV room and will be running speaker wire in the walls across the room (about 40ft). The speaker wire will run near but not directly next to some electrical Romex. I do not have any of the speakers or receiver yet. A couple of questions:

1. What kind of speaker wire would you recommend? I have read that shielded could blow my receiver if cut improperly and the shielding of two wires touches.

2. I was planning getting 12 AWG wire since my speakers won't be that high end. Will that be enough?

3. I would like to put my sub at the back of the room (opposite the side the receiver will be on). I noticed the sub out on the Denon receivers is just a regular RCA cable. What would you recommend using for that run? Do I need to run speaker wire AND an RCA cable? Do they make wall plates for such a thing?

4. Are the more expensive cables really worth it?

FWIW, my budget on the cables is no more than $200.

Thanks!

 

[d33pt]

regular speaker wire is fine. it's hard to induce noise into a high level signal like a speaker. 12ga wire is good too.

I wouldn't run the sub RCA cable next to the romex though. that signal is easy to get noise into. If you have to, cross the romex at a 90 degree angle.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

12 gauge is good. Just run an RCA cable, and yes, you can get wall plates for it, or simply just let it hang out, drill a hole into the wall plate. If the sub is infront of it, you won't see it.

What are the dimensions of the room? You may want to wire it for 2 or even 4 subwoofers, I think jello told me that with the more you have, harder it is to set them up, but give us dimensions and layout of what you want, and maybe Jello can make recommendations.

As for cables, no need for very expensive stuff, just go with what he recommends.

 

[FP]

The room is about 10' x 18'

It is an old bonus room that the previous owners sectioned off.

I was going to run the cables (speaker/RCA) along the same joist as some electrical Romex. I will try to space them out but will only be able to get 1-1.5' between them at the most. Is that enough?

I only plan on having 1 subwoofer. This isn't going to be an audio/videophile setup.

AgaBoogaBoo: How many strands of speaker/RCA wire did you run in your setup?

 

[iamwiz82]

To be up to code, you will need to get in-wall wire. It's not much more expensive, though.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
To be up to code, you will need to get in-wall wire. It's not much more expensive, though.

Yeah, if your house burns down and they find that you didn't use in-wall rated stuff, you may be in trouble 🙁

monoprice usually has good prices on cable.
They sell in-wall speaker wire here
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&style=

12 gauge is good. Some info
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

For a modern subwoofer and receiver, all you'll need is a 75ohm RCA cable to hook up the sub.
Something like this
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&style=

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
To be up to code, you will need to get in-wall wire. It's not much more expensive, though.

What's the difference? I have spool of 100' of wire that I was planning on using... the spec sheet says it's "power limited-circuit cable" with a temperature rating of 60C, and 20mm avg insulation thickness.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: binister
The room is about 10" x 18"

It is an old bonus room that the previous owners sectioned off.

:shocked:

Damn, that's some serious sectioning off.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
To be up to code, you will need to get in-wall wire. It's not much more expensive, though.

Yeah, if your house burns down and they find that you didn't use in-wall rated stuff, you may be in trouble 🙁

monoprice usually has good prices on cable.
They sell in-wall speaker wire here
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&style=

12 gauge is good. Some info
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

For a modern subwoofer and receiver, all you'll need is a 75ohm RCA cable to hook up the sub.
Something like this
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&style=

Real men use RG-6U Quad Shield 75-ohm wire :laugh:

 

[FP]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: binister
The room is about 10" x 18"

It is an old bonus room that the previous owners sectioned off.

:shocked:

Damn, that's some serious sectioning off.

lol... I meant feet 🙂

Yoyo... Is there any problem with long runs of RCA cable in terms of audio quality? I found this "High-quality Digital Coaxial Audio RCA CL2 Rated Cable - RG6/U 75ohm S/PDIF" from your link to monoprice but am confused. Is the sub preout a digital connection?

 

[nakedfrog]

Does the CL2 signify that it's rated for in-wall usage?
[edit]
Thank you, Google 😛
So I'm good.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: binister

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: binister
The room is about 10" x 18"

It is an old bonus room that the previous owners sectioned off.

:shocked:

Damn, that's some serious sectioning off.

lol... I meant feet 🙂

Yoyo... Is there any problem with long runs of RCA cable in terms of audio quality? I found this "High-quality Digital Coaxial Audio RCA CL2 Rated Cable - RG6/U 75ohm S/PDIF" from your link to monoprice but am confused. Is the sub preout a digital connection?

That 75ohm cable can be used for several signal types, two of which are SPDIF digital coaxial and a subwoofer signal.

How long of a run are you thinking of getting?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
To be up to code, you will need to get in-wall wire. It's not much more expensive, though.

Yeah, if your house burns down and they find that you didn't use in-wall rated stuff, you may be in trouble 🙁

monoprice usually has good prices on cable.
They sell in-wall speaker wire here
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&style=

12 gauge is good. Some info
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

For a modern subwoofer and receiver, all you'll need is a 75ohm RCA cable to hook up the sub.
Something like this
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&style=

Real men use RG-6U Quad Shield 75-ohm wire :laugh:

My poor RG-6U double shield 🙁

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Hey Binster. I hit my PM limit yet again so I'll have to empty that out when i get home.

For those two RCA cables you linked to, it seems like the "subwoofer" one comes with a splitter cable. With a modern subwoofer and modern receiver, this adapter will not be necessary. Either cable should get you good results.

As for the speaker wire, that would be the more important one to make sure it's rated for in-wall usage (as far as safety concerns) since it's carrying a higher power signal.

Most speaker cables are made with copper, so saying it's pure copper is pretty standard.

As for other wires, speaker wire and subwoofer sounds like all you're going to need for audio.

Depending on how you have it set up though, you might want to consider running wire for 7.1 if you're just doing 5.1
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html

If you click on DDEX, you'll get an idea for where the wires would be run. There are lots of good placement tips on that page as well. I would hope that whoever is doing the installation would know what good placement would be, but who knows?

If the video connections to your display and your front three speakers are going to have exposed wires, then that sounds like those would be the only wires you would need to run.

 

[FP]

Thanks Yoyo... One final question, I am going to be using the modular Keystone wall plate for the connections on both ends. Is a banana plug the standard way to connect speaker wires? In the past I have just used the alligator-type connections. If I need to use a banana plug, how do you connect the speaker wire to the male banana plug?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: binister
Thanks Yoyo... One final question, I am going to be using the modular Keystone wall plate for the connections on both ends. Is a banana plug the standard way to connect speaker wires? In the past I have just used the alligator-type connections. If I need to use a banana plug, how do you connect the speaker wire to the male banana plug?

The speaker wire would have the male banana plug on it and the wall adapter would have the female part afaik.

The method of connecting the speaker wire to the banana plug would depend on what kind you use. Some are crimp-on, some you solder, some you screw on, etc.

Do the speakers / receiver you have support banana plugs for the other end of the wires?

 

[FP]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: binister
Thanks Yoyo... One final question, I am going to be using the modular Keystone wall plate for the connections on both ends. Is a banana plug the standard way to connect speaker wires? In the past I have just used the alligator-type connections. If I need to use a banana plug, how do you connect the speaker wire to the male banana plug?

The speaker wire would have the male banana plug on it and the wall adapter would have the female part afaik.

The method of connecting the speaker wire to the banana plug would depend on what kind you use. Some are crimp-on, some you solder, some you screw on, etc.

Do the speakers / receiver you have support banana plugs for the other end of the wires?

No, the receiver I plan on buying has the regular alligator type clamps. The wall plates I purchased though have banana plugs on them (both sides) so I am going to need to put male banana plugs on the end of each speaker wire that I am running through the wall.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: binister

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: binister
Thanks Yoyo... One final question, I am going to be using the modular Keystone wall plate for the connections on both ends. Is a banana plug the standard way to connect speaker wires? In the past I have just used the alligator-type connections. If I need to use a banana plug, how do you connect the speaker wire to the male banana plug?

The speaker wire would have the male banana plug on it and the wall adapter would have the female part afaik.

The method of connecting the speaker wire to the banana plug would depend on what kind you use. Some are crimp-on, some you solder, some you screw on, etc.

Do the speakers / receiver you have support banana plugs for the other end of the wires?

No, the receiver I plan on buying has the regular alligator type clamps. The wall plates I purchased though have banana plugs on them (both sides) so I am going to need to put male banana plugs on the end of each speaker wire that I am running through the wall.

Which receiver are you buying? (not that it really matters for what kind of wall plates you get, but most decent receivers are going to have 5-way binding posts that accept banana plugs)

Out of curiosity... speaker/sub choice?

 

[Fiat1]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: binister

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: binister
Thanks Yoyo... One final question, I am going to be using the modular Keystone wall plate for the connections on both ends. Is a banana plug the standard way to connect speaker wires? In the past I have just used the alligator-type connections. If I need to use a banana plug, how do you connect the speaker wire to the male banana plug?

The speaker wire would have the male banana plug on it and the wall adapter would have the female part afaik.

The method of connecting the speaker wire to the banana plug would depend on what kind you use. Some are crimp-on, some you solder, some you screw on, etc.

Do the speakers / receiver you have support banana plugs for the other end of the wires?

No, the receiver I plan on buying has the regular alligator type clamps. The wall plates I purchased though have banana plugs on them (both sides) so I am going to need to put male banana plugs on the end of each speaker wire that I am running through the wall.

Which receiver are you buying? (not that it really matters for what kind of wall plates you get, but most decent receivers are going to have 5-way binding posts that accept banana plugs)

Out of curiosity... speaker/sub choice?

YOYo:
Off topic how do you like your Rocket Speakers? And will a Yamaha RX2700 push them?
Thanks,

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Fiat1

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: binister

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: binister
Thanks Yoyo... One final question, I am going to be using the modular Keystone wall plate for the connections on both ends. Is a banana plug the standard way to connect speaker wires? In the past I have just used the alligator-type connections. If I need to use a banana plug, how do you connect the speaker wire to the male banana plug?

The speaker wire would have the male banana plug on it and the wall adapter would have the female part afaik.

The method of connecting the speaker wire to the banana plug would depend on what kind you use. Some are crimp-on, some you solder, some you screw on, etc.

Do the speakers / receiver you have support banana plugs for the other end of the wires?

No, the receiver I plan on buying has the regular alligator type clamps. The wall plates I purchased though have banana plugs on them (both sides) so I am going to need to put male banana plugs on the end of each speaker wire that I am running through the wall.

Which receiver are you buying? (not that it really matters for what kind of wall plates you get, but most decent receivers are going to have 5-way binding posts that accept banana plugs)

Out of curiosity... speaker/sub choice?

YOYo:
Off topic how do you like your Rocket Speakers? And will a Yamaha RX2700 push them?
Thanks,

I am very happy with them (but that's not stopping me from thinking about going RS850/RS1000 and RSC500 eventually as an upgrade 😉 )

The RSC200 is the "hard one to drive" from my set rated at 4ohm, but just a couple weeks ago they started shipping out the new RSC200 version what is easier to drive. Although they are a bit power hungry, you shouldn't have an issue driving most of them with a standard receiver rated for 8-ohm loads. I'm not sure on the power capabilities of the RX2700 specifically, but it would probably be fine.

 

[OSX]

Unless you live next to an MRI machine, you shouldn't have a problem with any interference (at least from magnetic sources.)

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Oh, and now that I'm home Fiat1, I looked up that yamaha. I haven't paid attention too much to Yamaha's model numbering system. You should have absolutely no problem driving rockets with that.

I was doing fine with a Pioneer 1014 before I moved up to my current pre-pro and amp.

AV123 has a pretty nice deals on systems right now btw
http://www.av123.com/specials.php

EDIT: you know... I'm going to go ahead and make a hot deals thread 😛
I'm sure most people don't care, but who knows? 😀

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
To be up to code, you will need to get in-wall wire. It's not much more expensive, though.

I think that doesn't apply to low voltage wiring though. They do sell CL-2 rated wiring though for low voltage.

Check out Parts Express. http://www.partsexpress.com/ and Radio Shack used to be great for decent speaker wire (I got 100' for their 16g for rear surrounds for cheap and it's great wire and white)...they are moving into being a Monster Cable only supplier in my area now though.

Also www.sounddomain.com has closeouts time to time on quality items.

How much power you are feeding is a big factor (less than 100WRMS per channel is not a lot of power, but EXTREMELY adequate for almost all people).

Also you can never go too big on gauge for speaker wire as long as everything connects well. A lot of times though, people make installs a lot more complicated going too big on wiring.

 

[FP]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
To be up to code, you will need to get in-wall wire. It's not much more expensive, though.

I think that doesn't apply to low voltage wiring though. They do sell CL-2 rated wiring though for low voltage.

Check out Parts Express. http://www.partsexpress.com/ and Radio Shack used to be great for decent speaker wire (I got 100' for their 16g for rear surrounds for cheap and it's great wire and white)...they are moving into being a Monster Cable only supplier in my area now though.

Also www.sounddomain.com has closeouts time to time on quality items.

How much power you are feeding is a big factor (less than 100WRMS per channel is not a lot of power, but EXTREMELY adequate for almost all people).

Also you can never go too big on gauge for speaker wire as long as everything connects well. A lot of times though, people make installs a lot more complicated going too big on wiring.

Can you elaborate on this point? I actually just ordered 100' of CL2 rated 10AWG speaker wire because it was only $8 more than the 12AWG stuff. What problems will I encounter by going with the larger stuff?

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: binister

Can you elaborate on this point? I actually just ordered 100' of CL2 rated 10AWG speaker wire because it was only $8 more than the 12AWG stuff. What problems will I encounter by going with the larger stuff?

Big wiring is just harder to work with, that's all. It's much easier to pull 22ga wire with a snake than it is 10ga wire.