Four Holes in My Ceiling - HELP

[Rookie1]

Ok, I admit I'm a rookie, so don't laugh. I called myself installing in-wall speakers in my prewired ceiling. I decided to cut all four holes first then go back and install the speakers. I thought it would just be a wire cover with two smaller wires inside (now known as connectors). After cutting the holes, I went back to add the speakers only to find four smaller wires inside (red, black, green and white) (now known as 4 conductors).
I have two pair of yamaha two way speakers but there are just two jack things on the back, one red and one black, but my cable has black, red, white and green wires. What do I do with the white and green wires. Are they for the volume control switch thingy? If so how do I hook that up. What wire goes to what and where?

Thanks

 

[MDS]

You can use one wire with 4 conductors to wire 2 speakers. By convention, you would use red(+) and black(-) for one speaker and green(+) and white(-) for the other speaker. Then of course you match the other ends of the wires to the receiver - whichever color you used for positive goes to the positive speaker terminal on the receiver (which will always be colored red) and whichever color you used for negative goes to the negative speaker terminal on the receiver (which will always be colored black).

OR

If you have 4 speakers and 4 4-conductor wires then you can just use one pair of the conductors from each wire for each speaker and just cut or tape the ends of the others. Those extra wires not being used for speakers can be used for anything but won't be of much use unless the other 'thing' you want to use them for is nearby the speakers.

Incidentally, if those wires were run as part of a pre-wire in a new home, they are most likely 16/4 which means each conductor is 16 gauge and there are 4 of them (red, black, green, white). It's just wire and can be used for your speakers, security system, touch pads, remote control - whatever.

 

[Rookie1]

You can use one wire with 4 conductors to wire 2 speakers. By convention, you would use red(+) and black(-) for one speaker and green(+) and white(-) for the other speaker. Then of course you match the other ends of the wires to the receiver - whichever color you used for positive goes to the positive speaker terminal on the receiver (which will always be colored red) and whichever color you used for negative goes to the negative speaker terminal on the receiver (which will always be colored black).

OR

If you have 4 speakers and 4 4-conductor wires then you can just use one pair of the conductors from each wire for each speaker and just cut or tape the ends of the others. Those extra wires not being used for speakers can be used for anything but won't be of much use unless the other 'thing' you want to use them for is nearby the speakers.

Incidentally, if those wires were run as part of a pre-wire in a new home, they are most likely 16/4 which means each conductor is 16 gauge and there are 4 of them (red, black, green, white). It's just wire and can be used for your speakers, security system, touch pads, remote control - whatever.

Ok, I think I see what you are saying. This is a new homes and the pre-wire was put in by the builder, so I get a little confused.
The room I am installing in now will have four speakers, but there are only two wires. I suppose one wire for two speakers as you stated above. However, in another room there are four different wires with four conductors in each wire. Are you saying that I should only hook the black and red wires to each of the speakers and leave the others (green and white one) left alone?
Also, is it a good idea to install a volume control thing, if so how would I do that and what other wires would I need. Or should I just operate the volume off my audio equipment?

 

[MDS]

If you have 4 speakers but only 2 4-conductor wires, it may be tough to wire them simply because the 4 conductors are bound in the outer sheath (mine happens to be yellow). Unless the 2 speakers you want to wire are right next to each other, you will have to strip off the outer sheath to be able to reach each speaker.

In the room with 4 4-conductor wires, yes just use the red and black of each - that eliminates the problem as stated above whereby you would have to strip off a long portion of the outer sheath to be able to run the red/black pair to one speaker and the green/white pair to another speaker much further away.

For the speakers in the same room as the receiver, you just run the other end of the wire to the receiver's speaker terminals and the receiver will control their volume. If your intent is to be able have speakers all over the house controlled by one receiver that gets complicated real quick! A typical receiver cannot drive that many speakers - you would need impedance matching volume controls in each room and you still need to get the other end of the wire from each room to the receiver or a speaker selector switch.

If every wire from every room is run to one central location (in my case it's the living room) then it is a bit easier to deal with because that is where the receiver is located. As an example, the wires from my master bathroom also terminate in the living room - I can connect them to the zone 2 speaker terminals of the receiver and the rest to the normal speaker terminals. Any more than that and the need for impedance matching volume controls comes into play. You might want to search for 'whole house audio' for a better explanation.

 

[Rookie1]

If you have 4 speakers but only 2 4-conductor wires, it may be tough to wire them simply because the 4 conductors are bound in the outer sheath (mine happens to be yellow). Unless the 2 speakers you want to wire are right next to each other, you will have to strip off the outer sheath to be able to reach each speaker.

In the room with 4 4-conductor wires, yes just use the red and black of each - that eliminates the problem as stated above whereby you would have to strip off a long portion of the outer sheath to be able to run the red/black pair to one speaker and the green/white pair to another speaker much further away.

For the speakers in the same room as the receiver, you just run the other end of the wire to the receiver's speaker terminals and the receiver will control their volume. If your intent is to be able have speakers all over the house controlled by one receiver that gets complicated real quick! A typical receiver cannot drive that many speakers - you would need impedance matching volume controls in each room and you still need to get the other end of the wire from each room to the receiver or a speaker selector switch.

If every wire from every room is run to one central location (in my case it's the living room) then it is a bit easier to deal with because that is where the receiver is located. As an example, the wires from my master bathroom also terminate in the living room - I can connect them to the zone 2 speaker terminals of the receiver and the rest to the normal speaker terminals. Any more than that and the need for impedance matching volume controls comes into play. You might want to search for 'whole house audio' for a better explanation.

Thanks so much for your help MDS. The speakers with the 2 4-conductor wires are in the same room about six feet across from each other and are easily accessible. I actually just cut the wire so i could access the conductors inside so I could connect them to the other speaker. It worked.
Now, I think I can install speakers in the rest of the rooms. I have the media room, game room and family room left to do and they all have seperate wiring for each room, which should make it a little easier for me. I hope

Thanks so much for your help.