Is it possible to wire with ROMEX???

[Garrett Cross]

My mother, poor thing, had the entire house wired for a house stereo system when our house was built. She had it wired with Romex because she didnt know any better. Everything is wired, even the volume control panels for each room are wired. The only thing left to be done now is install the volume control panels, speakers, amp, and reciever. It has been an un-touched project for years now, and i finally decided to buy her all the components to finish it, and it would be a HUGE ache off my back if i dont have to re-wire the WHOLE FREAKIN HOUSE! Any thoughts on using romex as my wiring? Will it really make a HUGE difference. We dont need anything great, so honestly, just give me some opinions please! THX

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

If I understand correctly, "Romex" is used anymore to refer to any sort of plastic sheathed cable. Because you are talking about high-level speaker connections, metal shielding of the cables is not that important. Therefore, I'd say that you are probably just fine. One thing that I will ask is this - do you know what gauge of wire is in the walls?

 

[Garrett Cross]

im not sure what the gauge is... I live about 9 hours from her house and decided to try and plan it all and make a weekend trip up to complete it... As i remember, it seemed like standard Full house electronic wiring, the Big White wiring that is wired to all your house lights, electronics, and outlets. I talked to a guy face to face that was a somewhat beginner installer, and he claimed i was probably going to get a lot of interference without the metal shielding... A little i can handle.

 

[cl35m]

Some ppl like me prefer the sound of 10-12 ga solid core romex over stranded wire and some don't. It will definitely do the job.

Unless she is a hardcore audiophile or a hip hop mogul , whatever she had installed will carry the signal unless it's made of plastic like fiber optic stuff.

 

[Adam]

I could see interference if you were running line-level audio or video signals (like a subwoofer connection), but speaker-level connections should be high enough power that you won't get much interference. As far as I know, a lot of in-wall speaker wire isn't shielded.

I think that you'll be fine.

 

[Garrett Cross]

Could a thicker gauge wire be a bad thing? I would look into the gauge more specifically if it is bad. I know its thick, just how thick im unsure....

 

[businessjeff]

its either going to be 10, 12 or 14, most likely 14. 14 gauge supports enough current for wall plugs and lighting. 12 and 10 used for appliances. Thats very interesting that someone would actually wire speakers with wire like that. That kind of wire would be the last thing I would naturally think of to use, but from the peps are saying, it works alright.

Im sure gauge will have nothing to do with abilities, except to allow more current pass, which I dont think even with 14 gauge you will be coming close to what it can handle.

So looks like you dodged a bullet.

Oh, you could always go get some 14-2 wire and try it out, see how it sounds. Heck you could just get a 50ft roll for $30 and try the whole roll, see if its getting interference from that length and from it being all coiled up in a roll, if not then I think it will be able to do what yo want with not worries at all.

 

[Adam]

Thicker gauge isn't going to be a problem for you, not in the gauges that Jeff mentioned. People use 10-14 gauge wires all of the time to hook up speakers. You might have some extra work with trying to get really thick wire into the connections for the volume controls - I only mention that as something to consider, not as something that you will definitely encounter.

 

[Cavediver]

Depending on when the house was built, if the outer sheath of the romex is white, then the wire is 14 ga. If the outer sheath is yellow, then the wire is 12 ga. Most likely, the wire is 14 ga.

 

[highfigh]

Welcome to the forum!

If I understand correctly, "Romex" is used anymore to refer to any sort of plastic sheathed cable. Because you are talking about high-level speaker connections, metal shielding of the cables is not that important. Therefore, I'd say that you are probably just fine. One thing that I will ask is this - do you know what gauge of wire is in the walls?

Plastic sheathed cable may be called 'Romex' but not by anyone who knows what the hell they're talking about. If they call coax, speaker cable, Cat5/6/7, fiber or anything else 'Romex', they have a slim chance of using the right type, for any application.

Romex is for electric power, period. What do these people call coax with it's metallic braid, 'BX'?

 

[highfigh]

Could a thicker gauge wire be a bad thing? I would look into the gauge more specifically if it is bad. I know its thick, just how thick im unsure....

This will probably add to is the difficulty in getting the volume controls into the boxes, unless rough-in rings were used. The wire will work as conductors for speaker level audio but if the house has a basement, running new shouldn't be that bad. Chances are, the Romex was stapled to the studs but at least the holes are already there.

FYI- if they didn't run two wires to the volume control locations, most amplifiers can still be used because the L and R speaker negatives are common (connected internally), so you can use black for one channel +, white for the other + and plain copper for negative. It's hardly the best way, but it will work unless it's a tube amp with separate output transformers or some other type, where the two channels need to remain separate.

The person who wired this should be beaten, IMO. Why not just string up a garden hose for the plumbing? That's about as close to correct as this. It works, but is hardly the right way to go about it. The customer shouldn't need to know which material is correct but the installer should.

 

[majorloser]

Plastic sheathed cable may be called 'Romex' but not by anyone who knows what the hell they're talking about. If they call coax, speaker cable, Cat5/6/7, fiber or anything else 'Romex', they have a slim chance of using the right type, for any application.

Romex is for electric power, period. What do these people call coax with it's metallic braid, 'BX'?

I'm leaning more to say they probably installed Cat5. This is commonly installed for low voltage systems.

I would think the electrical inspector would have a fit if Romex was pulled throughout the house for low voltage. They could pull them all together in one bundle without separation inside the walls.

This is Romex NM:

This is Cat5:

Cat5 is actually quite easy to work with. There are also many balums that can be used to convert to audio/video connections and signals.
http://www.svideo.com/videobalun1.html

 

[allargon]

Cat5 is actually quite easy to work with. There are also many balums that can be used to convert to audio/video connections and signals.
http://www.svideo.com/videobalun1.html

Cat5 is very easy to work with. Normally I would wonder if it could handle the high currents of speakers until I remembered, "Duh! It's phone wire!"

 

[Exit]

Solid core cable electrical house wire may be a real pain when you try to connect to a 5.1 or 7.1 receiver. It is difficult to get the wires routed at the back of the receiver and in the connectors. It is tough to move your receiver in and out of the cabinet to connect anything. You may want to solder on stranded wire at the cable ends for ease of hookup if this is the situation you face.

 

[Rickster71]

This sounds like a 'wait and see' type of situation.
Give the OP a chance to see majorloser's pictures and see what he really has.

Romex is perfectly legal to run in wall for low voltage, it's just over kill and harder to work with, than stranded wire.
You can always go above and beyond what the NEC calls for, not below. Though it's the wrong application for this type of wire.

Since it's already in. He could wire to in-wall speaker plates, then use stranded speaker wire to the amp and to each speaker.

 

[highfigh]

"I'm leaning more to say they probably installed Cat5. This is commonly installed for low voltage systems."

Not for speaker runs. If it is, the installer needs to be clubbed. Even in the muting volume controls, Cat5e only supplies B+ and the audio feed is speaker cable. Cat5s should only be used for control and data, never for speaker runs with any kind of decent power levels and no, I don't want to get into the whole "I braided a bunch of Cat5e and it sounds heavenly" debate.

"I would think the electrical inspector would have a fit if Romex was pulled throughout the house for low voltage. They could pull them all together in one bundle without separation inside the walls. "

That is, assuming it was inspected. If the speaker runs were installed after the electrical inspection, they would never know what was used.

This is Romex NM:

This is Cat5:

Cat5 is actually quite easy to work with. There are also many baluns that can be used to convert to audio/video connections and signals.
http://www.svideo.com/videobalun1.html[/QUOTE]

I use this kind of cabling all the time, which is why people who charge for this kind of work, but use the wrong materials pisses me off. There are right ways and wrong ways- this is the wrong way.

 

[highfigh]

Solid core cable electrical house wire may be a real pain when you try to connect to a 5.1 or 7.1 receiver. It is difficult to get the wires routed at the back of the receiver and in the connectors. It is tough to move your receiver in and out of the cabinet to connect anything. You may want to solder on stranded wire at the cable ends for ease of hookup if this is the situation you face.

If it wasn't stubbed out of a J Box, I think the best way to terminate the speaker wires is to use a surface mount box, a nose plate and splice speaker wire onto each run.

OTOH, it would be kind of cool to bundle the Romex together and have them support the equipment, so it looks like it's floating.

 

[Alex2507]

OTOH, it would be kind of cool to bundle the Romex together and have them support the equipment, so it looks like it's floating.

You could market it as gravity free wireless from just the right angle.

 

[Rickster71]

"I'm leaning more to say they probably installed Cat5. This is commonly installed for low voltage systems."

I agree, me thinks the OP just didn't know what he really had.

"
Cat5s should only be used for control and data, never for speaker runs with any kind of decent power levels and no, I don't want to get into the whole "I braided a bunch of Cat5e and it sounds heavenly" debate.

Here is a cable shoot out from Audioholics, with some Cat5. If anyone's so inclined.
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/diy-speaker-cable-faceoff/
I had so many spools of Cat 5 & 6 left over from jobs, I was almost tempted to braid some after reading about the cable shoot out. I'm a sucker for DIY stuff, I guess it's a sickness...

That is, assuming it was inspected. If the speaker runs were installed after the electrical inspection, they would never know what was used.

I use this kind of cabling all the time, which is why people who charge for this kind of work, but use the wrong materials pisses me off. There are right ways and wrong ways- this is the wrong way.

Amen brother, ain't it the truth!

 

[Midcow2]

Bigger gauge not a problem; even smallest Romex is okay

Could a thicker gauge wire be a bad thing? I would look into the gauge more specifically if it is bad. I know its thick, just how thick im unsure....

No thicker gauge is not a problem. The only downside is that it costs more $$$$. Even the smallest Romex, probably 12 is more than sufficient. I would almost bet it is 12 gauge on not the larger 10. Even as small as 14 gauge is not a problem unless you are looking at very long runs , i.e over 50 feet.

Many, many people over spec their wire gauge anyway

Happy New Year,

MidCow2