Desperately need help

[jlaffey]

So, I just purchased my first surround sound system...didn't have much money and my place is real small so I bought an "in the box" system I read the reviews and the sound was nice on the display so we'll see ...

My issue is with the house I just bought it is already prewired. There are two places in the back wall that have wires coming out and behind the TV there is an area where wires are coming out. I've already figured out that the wires behind the TV are for the two in the back and the two "in ceiling" speakers on the back porch.

The problem is that the pre wired wires are a larger guage than the wires attached to the rear speakers. So now what?

Also - in the "instructions" it shows wires attached to the back speakers running to the dvd / tuner / player box ....that have "prongs" that plug in to the box ....if I am able to use these rear speakers how do I attach the "prongs" to the wires behind the TV?

Don't laugh .....I should tell you that yes I'm a woman before you wonder why some guy is writing this !! ha ha ha ha

I have friends that I can ask to help but I want to be sure this can be done or if I have to take the system back.

Thanks !!

I should add that the system is a Philips Home Theater Audio System w/ Upconverting DVD Player & iPod Dock, HTS3565D/37

 

[Adam]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Don't worry about the existing wires being larger. That shouldn't present a problem at all.

You also can use the pre-wiring in conjunction with those speaker connections. If you have friends that are good with this stuff, it might be best to have them help. It's not too difficult, though. The speakers have cables with two wires coming out of them. Those two wires are then terminated in those connectors that plug into the main unit. The easiest way to do it would be to cut the wires, leaving you with two bare wires coming out of the speaker, and two bare wires with a connector on the other end. You'd plug the connector into the main unit and connect the two bare wires to the pre-wired cables on the TV side, then connect the speaker ends to the pre-wired cables on the back wall.

You could certainly get a different system, but if you're happy with what you have, you can definitely make it work with the pre-wiring.

 

[jlaffey]

Adam - thank you for your quick reply. Just so I'm clear ....it' doesn't matter if the wires connected to the speakers are a smaller guage than the ones prewired in the wall ???? I can just connect them as usual?

 

[Adam]

Adam - thank you for your quick reply. Just so I'm clear ....it' doesn't matter if the wires connected to the speakers are a smaller guage than the ones prewired in the wall ???? I can just connect them as usual?

No, it doesn't matter that the sizes of the wires are different. It's actually a good thing that the wires in the wall are larger because they are longer.

As for connecting them, do you just have bare wire coming out of the walls, or are there wall plates that have speaker connections?

 

[jlaffey]

it's just bare wires coming out of the wall.

And thanks again ...you've been a huge help !!

 

[jlaffey]

oh ...one other thing ....someone told me that they tried to cut / splice their wires to add to existing wires in the wall and that the sound didn't work, that they had ruined their speakers. Does this mean they didn't crimp or solder them correctly or maybe hooked the wrong wires up?

 

[mtrycrafts]

oh ...one other thing ....someone told me that they tried to cut / splice their wires to add to existing wires in the wall and that the sound didn't work, that they had ruined their speakers. Does this mean they didn't crimp or solder them correctly or maybe hooked the wrong wires up?

Yes, either of those two possibilities could have happened. Or, the wrong connections at the other end? Or, the system was not properly set up in the receiver?
The wiring needs to be traced.

 

[jlaffey]

okay, I'll do a search on this website for the proper procedure to trace a wire, but if anyone reads this faster, maybe you could explain.

Thanks,

 

[Adam]

okay, I'll do a search on this website for the proper procedure to trace a wire, but if anyone reads this faster, maybe you could explain.

Thanks,

Do the wires in the wall have markings on the cables that allow you to tell the difference between them? Some in-wall cables use different color sheaths for the cables, some will have writing on one cable but not on the other, and some other ways.

If you can tell the difference between cables for the in-walls, then you're set. Before you cut the cables attached to your rear speakers (if you decide to do that), mark one of the cables somehow (perhaps with a marker) where you plan to cut the wire so that after you cut it, that mark is on both sides of the cut. That way, you can tell which wires match up on the cables that you cut.

If the cables get switched somewhere along the way, you won't break anything - but your speakers will be out of phase. Some systems can check for that automatically, and you can also use test discs to check that. In other words, if you lose track of which cable is which, it's not the end of the world.

We can help you with any of that if/when you'd like to do it.