I need help installing a whole house audio system

[A_LAN]

I have never done this before but I want to learn. I have a single story home. I want to put speakers in my living room, T.V. room, & kitchen. I do not want to spend a lot of money. I want the speaker wires to be inside the walls and speakers mounted on the walls. I would like the speaker wires to end up in the back bedroom hooked up to my computer (if that is possible) or my stereo system. This is not for home theater, it is just to have sound in those rooms so we can listen to our cd's, talk radio, and on line music. The house has an attic but I have not crawled through the whole thing to see what kind of access I will have. The living room is about 30 yds away, the tv room is about 20 yds away and the kitchen about 25 yds away from where I want everything connected. I hope you can guide me or tell me if there a good book or video on doing this kind of installation.

 

[BMXTRIX]

It really is quite simple: You need to determine what sort of access you have to get the wires where you need them and you need to determine how you will power those speakers.

Typical setup:
1. A volume control in each room with speaker wire running through it by the entry way to that room.
2. A pair of speakers in each room with speaker wire running from the speakers, through the volume control, and back to the head end.
3. An impedence matching speaker selector box at the head end with all the rooms tied into it.
4. A decent amplifier in front of the speaker selector box to put out some power for all the speakers.
5. A source, or A/V receiver, tied into the amplifier. That's what that 'zone 2' or 'zone 3' output is for on A/V receivers!

How hard is it? Well, it is 100% dependent on your access! If you have an attic overhead and can just cut some round speakers into your ceiling, lay the wires across your attic space and drop the wire through the speaker hole you cut, connect it to a speaker, then put the speaker in the ceiling, it is likely a good weekend project - start to finish. You won't really need to snake wires all over your home or deal with patching a bunch of holes in your drywall.

If you opt to not use volume controls in each room, but put volume control at the head end, that simplifies things even further since you don't need to run the speaker wire down into an existing wall and find where the right studs are.

Electrical books can often help you find info on running wires since they are so readily available at your local hardware store. The main thing you need to do is run the wires. Cutting drywall and connecting the equipment is easy.

 

[JohnA]

For more info on running wires check out Labor Saving Devices site:

http://www.lsdinc.com/cgi-local/loadpage.cgi?user_id=id&file=applications2.html

It gives you tons of tips on fishing wire through walls, floors, and other places!

 

[ncapobia]

Install costs for multi room audio system....

I am in a similar situation but have a 5 or 6 zones system. i was going to pay an installer to do the work for me. how much should i reasonably expect to pay for the labor itself? Obviously I will have some costs for cabling and speaker wire but am I looking at an additional $1000/1500/2000/more for labor? I am out of my element a bit and don't want to get taken advantage of.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[MDS]

I am in a similar situation but have a 5 or 6 zones system. i was going to pay an installer to do the work for me. how much should i reasonably expect to pay for the labor itself? Obviously I will have some costs for cabling and speaker wire but am I looking at an additional $1000/1500/2000/more for labor? I am out of my element a bit and don't want to get taken advantage of.

Thanks,

Nick

My house was pre-wired but not adequate for my needs and I paid to have addtional speaker wire and CAT5 runs. They charge $75 per hour but you need two guys to fish the wire through the walls (one in the attic and one inside the house). So $150/hour * 6 hours is what it cost me.

You can do it yourself but there are always problems and the installers face them every day and have good solutions for getting around the problems. I've been in my attic and I'm glad I paid someone else to deal with it.

 

[bandphan]

type of construction and access will dictate man hours. From there if you have "the plan" for what you need including materials, finding someone to do the grunt work can be easy(you still pay for what you get, a smarter installer will have the right tools for the job and will be more efficent with his time, leave less holes allowing for less expensive "button up"). Things like fire stops, and floor plates can be removed without damage to the structure, ceiling joists cant, fire walls need foam fill if drilled thru. I wouldnt expect to come away with a inexpensive install and have it be of quality work and safe. If your paying someone to run wires, future proof and run extra, the materials cost more but the labor shouldnt. There are alot of variables plan carefully... ask for references talk to your neighbors ect.. good luck

 

[jcPanny]

Whole House Audio System

I installed a budget whole house audio system last year with speakers in the kitchen, study, garage, Master bedroom, and Master bathroom and impedance matching VCs in each room. Check out this review of the speakers and VCs I used:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34083&highlight=phoenix+gold

I ordered the 14/2 and 16/4 speaker wire from Westlake Electronic supply and power the system off of 2 channels of my Emotiva amp. If you are handy with tools, you can install this system yourself. If you go this route, DON'T do it in the summer when the attic can get to 120+ degrees!