Can't Figure out audio system in home I just bought

[Joe8186]

First and foremost, I apologize to everyone. I am completely new to the audio world, my knowledge doesn’t extend much past being able to hook a speaker to a receiver.


I just bought a home that has been pre-wired with speakers. There are three areas with 2 speakers each, so a total of 6 speakers. In each area there is an audio volume knob on the wall, then all of the wires run back to a central location in my bedroom closet.

This is where I get lost. So in my bedroom closet there are three sets of wires, each set containing 4 wires (Red, Black, Green, White). I have never seen green and white speaker wires but my assumption is that red/black and green/white are just the +/- for each speaker in each room.

My end goal is to have all of the speakers hooked up to something that I can control via Bluetooth or wifi, I probably do not need different sources of music playing at the same time.

So my questions is what do I need to buy to hook up to these 12 wires to get the audio functioning? Do I need an Amp, receiver, sonos etc. Any recommendations or help would be much appreciated.

 

[CB22]

First and foremost, I apologize to everyone. I am completely new to the audio world, my knowledge doesn’t extend much past being able to hook a speaker to a receiver.


I just bought a home that has been pre-wired with speakers. There are three areas with 2 speakers each, so a total of 6 speakers. In each area there is an audio volume knob on the wall, then all of the wires run back to a central location in my bedroom closet.

This is where I get lost. So in my bedroom closet there are three sets of wires, each set containing 4 wires (Red, Black, Green, White). I have never seen green and white speaker wires but my assumption is that red/black and green/white are just the +/- for each speaker in each room.

My end goal is to have all of the speakers hooked up to something that I can control via Bluetooth or wifi, I probably do not need different sources of music playing at the same time.

So my questions is what do I need to buy to hook up to these 12 wires to get the audio functioning? Do I need an Amp, receiver, sonos etc. Any recommendations or help would be much appreciated.

"In each area there is an audio volume knob on the wall, then all of the wires run back to a central location in my bedroom closet." - can you send a picture? I've never heard of that before - A volume know on the wall. Interesting. I'd be curious to know how the previous guy set that up.

An AVR would be just fine to play music, tv, etc... If there's 6 speakers their should be six wires.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hard to know what the previous guy's hardware was. 6 speakers would be 6 pair of wires (+/- for each) so 12 wires, depending how you counted, is okay. That they used something like CL-4 inwall wiring doesn't really let you assume how it's connected. I'd pull a speaker out and look. Maybe pull one of the volume adjuster wall units, too (but knowing me I'd look at each speaker, see what they are for make/model/impedance, as well as look at how each of the volume adjustors are wired).

You could use an avr for this, and manage over your network with a phone or tablet using a multi-zone receiver....but that may not have been the original setup. Any way of contacting the previous owner?

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Sounds like you have three 4-conductor speaker cables in the closet. There is no official standard for wiring, but the protocol used by most installers is:

Left speaker – black (-), red (+)
Right speaker – green (-), white (+)

The volume knob is where things can get tricky. I’d suggest pulling one out of the wall. If the four speaker wires are connected to it (red, black, white, green), then it is a common stereo L-pad. If there is some other wiring connected to it, then game over, I’m lost.

If the volume knob is an L-pad, all you have to do is connect your speaker wires to your amplifier and everything will work fine.

To operate this system in the manner you’re describing, you will need an AVR with Bluetooth capability. They’re pretty common these days. It will also require RCA outputs for either the main L/R channels, or a second zone. These jacks are needed in order to get a signal to the multi-channel amplifier you will need for the 6 speakers. Six-channel amps appear to be rare; 8 or 12 channel are more common.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[highfigh]

The conventional color code used by MOST custom integrators and most installers is:

Right channel- Red is +, Black is -
Left channel- White is +, Green is -

This is typical for in-wall rated speaker cable- it may have some kind of marking on the jacket- if you can read (or photograph) this, maybe you can post it. It will have a brand (Honeywell, Coleman, West Penn, Belden, etc), part number (Honeywell 5254 or something else), CL rating, foot marker and a series of letters and numbers, which are used for designating the cable to where it goes. Many people use labels, instead.

Red/White has been used for RCA jacks to mark the Right/Left channels for decades- they wouldn't change that for speaker wire markings.

"4.3.2 Speaker Wire and Connector Color Codes
All speaker cable conductors should be color coded, or distinctively marked to ensure proper polarity.
Two conductor cables generally contain a red and a black insulated conductor. The red conductor
shall be used for the positive terminals and the black conductor shall be used for the negative
terminals. Four conductor-unpaired cables generally contain red, black, white, and green conductors.
Red and black shall be positive and negative respectively, for the right speaker in each zone. White shall be used for positive and green shall be used for negative to connect the left speaker. Other colors may be used, but all connections must be consistent.
Speaker terminals shall be color coded in accordance with the color-coding scheme in CEA-863-A.
Special considerations should be taken for active speakers; follow manufacturer‘s instructions."

Turn the volume control fully clockwise and connect one of the wires in the red/black pair to a AA battery and tap the other wire on the other end- have someone go to the area that may be marked on the cable to listen- they should hear a scratchy tapping sound. Repeat this with the other pairs. If you don't hear anything, try holding one wire on the end of the battery and tap each of the other wires on the other battery terminal- it's possible that whoever installed it didn't use the conventional colors. If they hear nothing, make sure the speakers are still there.

I wouldn't use Bluetooth if this bedroom is far from where you want the music to play- I would recommend something that uses WiFi because the range is far greater.