Speaker cables in wall

thenewoc

thenewoc

thenewoc

Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2012
Posts
10,082
Location
West Sussex, England
Hi,

Am currently working on a cabling project around the home and looking to replace the poorly cabled speaker cabling in the lounge. I have some modular faceplates and banana post modules to go at the normal socket level behind the lounge TV. My question is what would you do at the ceiling end of the speaker cable?

Cable protruding from top of wall in each corner of the room or would you also terminate those ends to single gang modular faceplates?
 
I think it has to be that way as the faceplate would look too large. We're not going to have speakers there at first due to other priorities with renovation but I want to get all the cabling done and out the way. Thinking perhaps could use some small bore conduit to create a neater hole in the wall and push most the cable through and out the way.
 
thenewoc said:
I think it has to be that way as the faceplate would look too large. We're not going to have speakers there at first due to other priorities with renovation but I want to get all the cabling done and out the way. Thinking perhaps could use some small bore conduit to create a neater hole in the wall and push most the cable through and out the way.
Click to expand...

Yep thats the sort of thing I would do.

If you really dont need them for some time I would be tempted to actually plaster over them, thats assuming you can have some slack somewhere where you can push the excess cable.
Take some good photos and measurements before you plaster over, you know exactly where to break open when you do want the cables.
 
Better to chase some small 13mm or 16mm oval conduit in the wall, would allow you to add extra cable in the future.


EDIT: 13mm Oval Conduit size 13mm x 8mm: 16mm Oval conduit 16mm x 10mm.
 
Last edited:
I'm intending to lay some 25mm flexible conduit above the ceiling at the same time I do the ethernet stuff. Trying to avoid too much wall chasing as I've managed to confine it so far to a couple of vertical drops behind the TV on the wall which is going to be wallpapered.

On a slight tangent would speaker cable cause any interference with a satellite or ethernet cable, or would a speaker cable pick up interference from an electrical socket?

At the moment I have two double gang pattresses next to each other in the corner of the lounge with a vertical channel to each from the ceiling. I was thinking of running shot gun satellite cable down the one closest to the corner along with either ethernet or speaker cables to save me doing another channel. The satellite cable needs to go around the corner to the first single gang pattress which used to be a telephone socket, which I've moved to the other end of that line of faceplates so I can have all the TV aerial, satellite connections together. There was no proper satellite connection previously as it used to come through the wall on the other side of the room. Am thinking of putting a third pattress in too so I can have an additional double power socket behind the TV. Just two power sockets behind a lounge TV seems a bit skimpy.
 
Last edited:
I did this and I opted for cable poking through plaster.
Then after looking about online for some suitable speakers when they arrived the terminals were in the base, even better! so I have no visible cabling to my surrounds at all :D
 
Here's what i've done so far, since a pic tells a thousand words and all.

19w0t2.jpg
 
Nightglow said:
No, easy expanded foam.

As long as cables are in conduit not a problem, bring foam close to surface, then skim with filler.

Use low expansion foam, not so vigorous in expansion.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p66044
Click to expand...

That's what I'm doing, all going down conduit and got the foam stuff yesterday. It looks a bit worse today as I discovered yesterday that I couldn't do horizontal chasing so I now have another two vertical chases from the old and new telephone socket position. Getting there slowly, rechased a couple of vertical drops for the speakers and ethernet so I can drop two conduits to each of those rather than jam pack them to one each. Also looking to swap out the fused switch spur as its not in use and should be possible to swap out for another twin power socket outlet.
 
maccapacca said:
Bit late for you but this is what we are installing now.

Hot hot hot

Yv0xI5r.jpeg
Click to expand...

Looks nice, I did look at something like this but it would have been more of a chore to redo the stuff that was already in place and wouldn't have matched the socket style used elsewhere. I managed to find out the style of the sockets in use throughout this house so I've opted to stick with that but mainly using the modular faceplates in this same range.

It will be a nice upgrade when its done as it will add twin satellite connections, 4 speaker connections, 4 Cat6 ports, and the return aerial feed for potential Sky distribution.

The two main bedrooms are due to have the wall mounted TV services upgraded in a similar fashion, to support Sky Multiroom but to also include brush plates so that any devices can sit on furniture beneath TV. All 3 bedrooms to have additional Cat6 ports behind bed and / or where a desk maybe situated.

Also fitting 4 Cat6 ports next to router so I can take one up to patch panel for switch and the other 3 as a redundant measure / < ping, one to lounge TV, one to my PC, one to box / office room.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom