This is a case of improper planning causing an interesting retrofit issue:
I have run Belden 5T000UP 10AWG for all of my speakers (HT and Audio). The idea was to have ceiling mounted speakers in three remote rooms each with it's own volume control on the wall. Walls and ceiling are all finished and painted....
I have two pair from a 100W Niles amp to a mechanical room. I have three rooms wired from ceiling boxes to 1 or 2 gang wall boxes and back to the mechanical room.
I purchased: one Niles VCS-HUB8 to break out the run from the amp, and three Leviton SGVSM-W 100W volume controls.
The dilema is both the Niles and Leviton devices will accept max 14AWG wire. I could get by with a combination of straight and 45 degree pin connectors on the Niles hub (not a good looking solution but okay for the mechanical room). Unfortunately the lack of space with the wall boxes (even cutting them open) and the Leviton volume control wiring block will most likely eliminate them from the system.
It has been suggested that I pare down the number of strands in each of the 10AWG Belden leads, heat shrink tube the wire ends and use the existing tie down block on the components. I will keep this as the less than optimal last resort fall back option.
Internet searches have only come up with in-wall volume controls that accept a max of 14AWG wire.
Questions:
1. Does anyone know of one that accepts 10AWG wire? I would prefer one that comes in Ivory for color.
2. Fallback volume control solution - What would you recommend for a central / 3 room 100W RMS capable volume control I can put in my mechanical room? I would need to also have suggestions on low resistance small format connectors to "join" the speaker cables in the wall boxes as I would eliminate the three individual wall mount volume controls.
3. Any ideas on the mechanical room hub (one that accepts 10AWG) would be welcome also. (This would not be needed with the above mechanical room volume control)
Any ideas are welcome (other than turning back time ... )
Thanks, Dave
