Wiring Rear Speaker Options? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

abel · 10-14-2004, 08:20 AM

hey there guys, i just recently bought a 2 story house and i am trying to figure out my newest home theater dilemma.

living area is on the first floor with rooms right above. place was origianlly carpeted and thought we'd replace it with new carpet. then i would have just ran the wires on the flooring to the rear speakers before the new carpet was laid...

now, we have decided to lay down tile in the living area instead. now im stuck on trying to figure out how to get the wiring to the rear speakers. there is not a solid full wall that we could just run the wires underneath a base board etc.

im timid about trying to run the wires up thru the walls and ceiling.

anyone have any advice on what i should consider?

thanks.

JJRousseau · 10-14-2004, 08:29 AM

Walls are out. Floors are out. Ceilings are out. ? Wow, that's a problem. There are self amplified wireless speakers out there but I'm not sure if they are any good. There is also very flat speaker wire made for running under carpet that you may be able to run under the tile. Good luck

abel · 10-14-2004, 08:33 AM

well they are not out of the question completely... i just dont have the experience to know ho to do it...

just looking for different idea... the wall that i mentioned that was not continuous has a brick fireplace that sticks out about a foot or so. maybe i can run some small quarter round molding at the base to hide the wires in that area. then just run them beneath the baseboards the rest of the way.

exploreyourself · 10-14-2004, 06:46 PM

There's absolutely noting wrong with running wire under a baseboard or through/in a wall. You just need to be sure to use wire approved for in-wall use. I use something similiar to this

If it's a really long run, you might want to use a bit heavier gauge.

There is a super flat wire made that is designed to be run across a wall and then be painted over. Once it's painted it is really hard to see, especially if it's run across the top or bottom of the wall. It's a quite a bit more expensive than the above wire though, usually around a few $/foot.

I'd recommend against wireless speakers. Both of the two types available (infrared and RF) suck to put it bluntly. The problem is that neither scheme allocates enough bandwidth to the signal to allow for truly high quality sound to be transmitted. And you still have to find a way to get some kind of wire to them for power.

JohnnyCarson · 10-14-2004, 08:43 PM

Maybe try this....Looks like it may be just the ticket.

Flat Wire

JJRousseau · 10-14-2004, 11:38 PM

Ya that's the stuff I was thinking of. I don't know about "invisible" tho. I wonder if it's thin enough to run under tile (like the heating pads).

abel · 10-15-2004, 04:43 AM

interesting.... thanks for the tips.

we were at the house last night working on some things and i revisited my wiring issue. the carpet flooring upstairs above the living room has been pulled out the tongue and grove wood flooring is exposed.

im wondering if i could pop out a couple of slats so that i can see the ceiling below and make it easier to run the wires thru the wall and across the ceiling of the first floor. also prolly leave a couple of pull lines in there to for future use just in case. then once im done, just nail the slats back into place...

im going back there today to look at it more closely....

10-14-2004, 08:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
abel Crazy Location: Houston, Texas	Wiring Rear Speaker Options? hey there guys, i just recently bought a 2 story house and i am trying to figure out my newest home theater dilemma. living area is on the first floor with rooms right above. place was origianlly carpeted and thought we'd replace it with new carpet. then i would have just ran the wires on the flooring to the rear speakers before the new carpet was laid... now, we have decided to lay down tile in the living area instead. now im stuck on trying to figure out how to get the wiring to the rear speakers. there is not a solid full wall that we could just run the wires underneath a base board etc. im timid about trying to run the wires up thru the walls and ceiling. anyone have any advice on what i should consider? thanks. __________________ Abel www.LifeAtF8.com

10-14-2004, 08:33 AM	#3 (permalink)
abel Crazy Location: Houston, Texas	well they are not out of the question completely... i just dont have the experience to know ho to do it... just looking for different idea... the wall that i mentioned that was not continuous has a brick fireplace that sticks out about a foot or so. maybe i can run some small quarter round molding at the base to hide the wires in that area. then just run them beneath the baseboards the rest of the way. __________________ Abel www.LifeAtF8.com

10-15-2004, 04:43 AM	#7 (permalink)
abel Crazy Location: Houston, Texas	interesting.... thanks for the tips. we were at the house last night working on some things and i revisited my wiring issue. the carpet flooring upstairs above the living room has been pulled out the tongue and grove wood flooring is exposed. im wondering if i could pop out a couple of slats so that i can see the ceiling below and make it easier to run the wires thru the wall and across the ceiling of the first floor. also prolly leave a couple of pull lines in there to for future use just in case. then once im done, just nail the slats back into place... im going back there today to look at it more closely.... __________________ Abel www.LifeAtF8.com

10-14-2004, 08:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
JJRousseau Psycho Location: Vancouver, Canada	Walls are out. Floors are out. Ceilings are out. ? Wow, that's a problem. There are self amplified wireless speakers out there but I'm not sure if they are any good. There is also very flat speaker wire made for running under carpet that you may be able to run under the tile. Good luck

10-14-2004, 06:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
exploreyourself Upright	There's absolutely noting wrong with running wire under a baseboard or through/in a wall. You just need to be sure to use wire approved for in-wall use. I use something similiar to this If it's a really long run, you might want to use a bit heavier gauge. There is a super flat wire made that is designed to be run across a wall and then be painted over. Once it's painted it is really hard to see, especially if it's run across the top or bottom of the wall. It's a quite a bit more expensive than the above wire though, usually around a few $/foot. I'd recommend against wireless speakers. Both of the two types available (infrared and RF) suck to put it bluntly. The problem is that neither scheme allocates enough bandwidth to the signal to allow for truly high quality sound to be transmitted. And you still have to find a way to get some kind of wire to them for power.

10-14-2004, 08:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
JohnnyCarson Upright	Maybe try this....Looks like it may be just the ticket. Flat Wire

10-14-2004, 11:38 PM	#6 (permalink)
JJRousseau Psycho Location: Vancouver, Canada	Ya that's the stuff I was thinking of. I don't know about "invisible" tho. I wonder if it's thin enough to run under tile (like the heating pads).