erikm121 Posted February 21, 2001 Share Posted February 21, 2001 Hi all, Getting ready to build a house, and am trying to figure out how and where to place my rear channel speakers. Say you room is 14x24 ish and you want to put a sofa about mid way in the room . What options do I have in running speaker cable to the rears other than going through the floor? Is there a better method? Anybody have any other things they would like to share experience wise, either good or bad? Anything would be helpful. Rock is cool, Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTYoung Posted February 21, 2001 Share Posted February 21, 2001 If you have attic access above the room, you could run the wires overhead. Running them overhead allows you to hide your wires and they will probably be a little more accessible than running them through the floor. You just have to use wire that is approved for in wall use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossVTaylor Posted February 21, 2001 Share Posted February 21, 2001 Erik, Many people suggest that the ideal location for the surround speakers is 110 degrees from your listening position (so if 90 degrees from the screen is directly to your sides, then 110 degrees would be slightly behind you). This placement can vary, however, depending on the surround speaker type (such as direct radiating or dipole). The Klipsch wide dispersion speakers are really very flexible in placement. Surrounds are frequently placed about 3 feet above your *seated* ear. If you need to place the surrounds higher on the wall for WAF or other reasons, then you can angle them downwards slightly. As far as running the wires to surrounds, that can be tough. Frequently, the easiest way (if you don't have attic access) is to remove the baseboard molding and run the wires behind that molding. You'll find that the drywall is (or should be) about 1/2 inch above the floor, so you have a 1/2 by 1/2 inch channel there. Run the wire in this channel to the stud bay underneath the speaker location. From here, you may need to slot the drywall to run the wire up over the sill plate, then you can run it up inside the wall (until you get to a firestop, of course). Re-attach the molding without nailing through the wire and you're all set. I've simplified the wire-in-the-stud-bay process for brevity. If you need more details, please let me know what kind of wall construction you've got. There are several ways to to this. Happy listening, Ross "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossVTaylor Posted February 21, 2001 Share Posted February 21, 2001 Just re-read your post and realized (after all that effort) that this is new home construction you're talking about! Darn, and I sounded so good... Since it's a new home, see if you can run conduit inside the walls so you have the flexibility to change wires later. Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted February 21, 2001 Share Posted February 21, 2001 erik, I will pass on the valuable information that was posted here by someone,like myself, that had been there.Run speaker wire to any location in your room where you think there may ever be a possibility that you may want to put speakers.You could draw yourself a map for future reference for the locations of your pre-wire.I just bought Monster Cable IW 16/4 at Home Depot for .55 ft to run in my "prewired" home. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbart Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 The THX website explains where to properly place surround speakers in a 5.1 channel setup for the home. www.thx.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikm121 Posted February 24, 2001 Author Share Posted February 24, 2001 Thanks for the tips. Thats a good idea about pre-wiring. Also excellent idea about running it by the baseboard in a pre existing home. My real concern was if the sofa is in the middle of the room with 4 feet on either side, will that be too far to place the speakers on the wall? I don't have that problem now due to my smaller living room, 12x12. And somehow have the idea that your back speakers need to be fairly closeto you. Now that I'm thinking about it, that seems un necesary. What do ya'll think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Phillips Posted February 24, 2001 Share Posted February 24, 2001 erik, My room is 15.5 X 26 with the couch in the middle of the room.I was lucky when the house was being put together(double wide)and ran the surround wire before they finished the inside.I put 2 wall plates in and evrything worked out great. I'd bring the wire out at about 6 1/2 feet from floor level.The rule of thumb is 6'to the bottom of the surround speaker.There is a rule about how high above ear level the tweeter should be,but can't remember it(36 to 39 inches maybe). Your speakers won't be too far from the setting area,if that's what you were wondering. I just noticed that you said rear speakers.I was talking about the side surrounds.My back rear centers are about 13' from my couch and work fine. Here is a thought!Run a wire(in wall type)in each side wall where the seating will be and run a wire to where you might put 2 rear center speakers,just in case you upgrade to 6.1 or even 7.1 in the future.Unless you are doing that now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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