Surround Sound Speaker Cable Labeling - What to use?

J

jay21112

Audioholic
So the room is undergoing reconstructive surgery and I'm running all new speaker wire (In with the BlueJeans and out with the Monster). I'm going to an 11.2 setup and I would love to label each speaker wire and color code it with the matching color on the receiver.

I was thinking of just using my girlfriend's colored pens to write the appropriate label with the appropriate color on a piece of white paper, and then wrap it around the cable with just put a piece of clear tape around it. I was also thinking of using multi-colored sticky notes, but I don't think the sticky notes come in enough colors.

What do you use to label your cables?
I value ingenuity over expensive solutions. ...I'm labeling 11 cables, not setting up my own AV biz... :)
 
G

Grador

Audioholic Field Marshall
I number all of my cables. I call the left front speaker #1 and go clockwise around the room. I make little flags with masking tape around the cables.
 
J

jay21112

Audioholic
Masking tape might work better than paper with clear tape over it.
That's a good idea. Maybe Colored markers instead of just a black sharpie...

So what happens if you say went from 5.1 to 7.1 or 11.1. The numbers would all have to change if you just numbered clockwise around the room. I guess it isn't too big a deal to slap a new label on, but I'd still like to actually write the speaker names so it's futureproof.
 
G

Grador

Audioholic Field Marshall
Personally I'm lazy. I would probably leave the 5.1 as numbers and start using letters for the others, H for Height, W for Width, and B for back.

This is of course way less than elegant, you could go all letters from the start though.
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
I'd get a pack of multi-colored electrical tape. I think the come red, white, blue, green and yellow. Also, get a roll of basic black.

Use two bands to mark the cables on the receiver side. One for the R/L channels, the second for position.

Now, while you have several pairs of speaker cables, all but the center has a right and left. I'd use red for right, white for left.

Mark all the rights with red tape, left with white. That's one band, the channel band.

Now, for the other band, you simply assign one color to the speaker positions: Yellow for surround, green for rear surround, blue for height, etc, etc... The center could simply be left unmarked.

IF you reall want to get cute, you could use the position band to join the R/L wires together to keep the mess back there a little less messy.

Of course, you get to choose what colors for what, but you get the idea.
 
Last edited:
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I use blue painters tape. No residue and easy to write on.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
So the room is undergoing reconstructive surgery and I'm running all new speaker wire (In with the BlueJeans and out with the Monster)....... :)
Why are you getting rid of the monster? They do work, no?
 
J

jay21112

Audioholic
Why are you getting rid of the monster? They do work, no?
I'm just transferring...
I needed longer runs plus I'm bringing new speakers in to the theater and transferring the old speakers to the living room (which is not hooked up for surround sound yet).
So, the monster cables, which were cut to length for the old theater (which is moving to the living room) is going up to the living room.
So I needed new cable for the new theater, and I decided to go with BlueJeans instead of buying Monster again.

So, I'm not tossing the Monster cables, there is nothing wrong with them, in fact I like them a lot. ....but I have no desire to pay the price for them again. In fact The Monster cable is 14 gauge and cost me almost 5 times more per foot than the 12 Gauge BlueJeans I just bought.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
 
mpompey

mpompey

Senior Audioholic
I've used file folder labels. Fold them in half and write directly on the paper what the wire is for.

This is primarily for behind the cabinet or in wall. The wires that are expose don't have any labeling
as they are going directly from the jack panel and into the speaker.
 
ParadigmDawg

ParadigmDawg

Audioholic Overlord
I don't label mine and then I spend and extra two hours with a 9 volt battery and a second person telling me which speaker is making a popping noise.
 
jinjuku

jinjuku

Moderator
Just number the cables 1-11 as suggested. You could even get fancy and start a two column spread sheet.

1
Left Front
2
Center
3
Right Front
4
Right 1
5
Right 2
6
Right Rear
etc, etc, etc

<tbody>
</tbody>
 
gmichael

gmichael

Audioholic Spartan
I used masking tape and labeled as:

C: Center
RF: Right Front
LF: Left Front
RS: Right Surround
LS: Left Surround
RR: Right Rear
LR: Left Rear ........ You could add:

RP: Right Presence
LP: Left Presence
 
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