Speaker Wire - to cut or not to cut in wall for applications ?

[Halon451]

My point is, in a prewired ht, if aesthetics is such a huge issue, the wallplates would be obscure by design. You would'nt even see them for the surrounds...as they would be placed directly behind the speakers. And same with the fronts, but as the fronts are generally further from the walls, you may see the plate (at the lp)...you may not.

Yep - absolutely. For projects I worked on that required wall-mounted speakers, I rarely terminated them actually. I ran them through a plate (as you mentioned) and into the back of the speaker with a service loop tied off above the ceiling. But this was assuming that once the speakers were in place, they would not be moved again. Commercial A/V (as I did) differs from HT only in that rare was the case we actually installed a surround sound system. Most of it was either 70V distributed mono, or stereo, multi-zone.. more for presentations and large audience vocal reproduction, etc., and occasionally - as in the couple of auditoriums I did (full surround sound) PLUS overhead distributed system. Talk about a mess of wires...

It sounds like the OP is on the right track - if it is not to be a dedicated HT room with all gear/speakers in a permanent, fixed location, I would merely suggest keeping as much flexibility as possible to avoid headaches in the future.

 

[mtrycrafts]

So, do you think it makes any difference to terminate the wires using the in wall speaker terminals or letting the wire run 'whole' without being cut through an open wall port?
.

Using in wall terminals and plates just makes your installation look professional. It will not harm anything. Solder the wire to the back of the wall plate terminals, end of story, nothing to worry about.

 

[Polygon]

That would be a super price if I could find them in a store round here. With shipping they are about $4 less than monster, $13 less if off shelf. If I could find them local, at that price I would be tempted to replace all mine and sell my monster ones, I would have saved over $100. Those look good to. I used monster plugs on about 75% of the application. So I should bite the bullet and finish with them since $4 times what I need is not going to break me.

I got mine on eBay they were about $1 each. I can't seem to find any deals on them right now. I know a guy that might be able to get them cheap. Let me llok around and see what I can find.

 

[Johnd]

Using in wall terminals and plates just makes your installation look professional.

Another difference in opinion. Just understand that "looks" is purely subjective. I've stated my opinion, let it be known it's an opinion, and I stand by it. Every one else has there's, and the consensus here sees to be in favor of the plates.

I see a bunch of wall plates and I either think I'm in the office's computer room or the library...it does not look professional to me. Period. End of story. Just my $0.02...again.

 

[timetohunt]

Another difference in opinion. Just understand that "looks" is purely subjective. I've stated my opinion, let it be known it's an opinion, and I stand by it. Every one else has there's, and the consensus here sees to be in favor of the plates.

I see a bunch of wall plates and I either think I'm in the office's computer room or the library...it does not look professional to me. Period. End of story. Just my $0.02...again.

Johnd, I appeciate your input and it gives me another alternative to think about when I start a job of this sort again.

What it came down to for me was this. The room is rather large, kinda unusually setup, and has a wood stove to work around. You know how you see most HT setups. Two main speakers separated by an entertainment center with a tv in the middle, (actually way to sterile for my tastes, especially since I have come to know and love my current setup). Sort of looks like a hi-fi hippie put this room together.

Anyway, my main speakers are 22 feet apart with a woodstove in the middle along the same wall. My audio cabinet is on a completely different wall from the mains. There are 2 tvs and 1 monitor involved (2 in main room, 1 tv upstairs). There is a second zone with 2 speakers upstairs. And I wired for a potential third zone. Needless to say there was a lot of wire to account for the HT, and to that the existing cable/sat connections that had to be cared for, plus a CAT5e to get my receiver on our home network. There was no way I could think of to run wire in the room without it looking bad, being in the way, and in some cases too close to the wood stove.

It came down to cutting holes in the wall, running the wire above the drop ceiling and through walls. And if there are holes in the walls, plates were the only thing I could think of to look acceptable. All those little speaker terminal inserts really added up on the project bugdet too, which went over my intial estimates. I really don't know of any other way to have handled it. If there are any other suggestions I would surely listen, cuz I will be doing a similar job for a friend (or two).
thanks,
t

 

[Frugal]

recessed wall plate

So, do you think it makes any difference to terminate the wires using the in wall speaker terminals or letting the wire run 'whole' without being cut through an open wall port?

I think it's much tidier to run the wires in a bunch through a recessed wall plate and wrap or cable tie them. Leave enough wire to form a long "s" so you can pull the system out for cleaning.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=105&cp_id=10425&cs_id=1042505&p_id=3997&seq=1&format=2

 

[mtrycrafts]

Another difference in opinion. Just understand that "looks" is purely subjective. I've stated my opinion, let it be known it's an opinion, and I stand by it. Every one else has there's, and the consensus here sees to be in favor of the plates.

I see a bunch of wall plates and I either think I'm in the office's computer room or the library...it does not look professional to me. Period. End of story. Just my $0.02...again.

Sure it is an opinion of what looks professional. But wires hanging out of the wall looks more professional or more pleasing?

Also, if you go to a new house, empty, which looks better, wires hanging out of the wall or having wall plates there.