Identifying Surround Speakers

[fju914]

My builder had installed the wiring for my in-wall speakers however, what he failed to do was to label the wires as to which set was for the left, center or right surrounds. Now that my walls are completed, how do I go about identifying which set goes to whih soeaker location?

 

[markw]

The speakers are in already, right?

The simply send a tone, music whatever to each wire pair one at a time and mark it with whatever speaker it comes out of.

If the speakers aren't in yet, you could always hook up a small flashlight bulb to the ends and apply power to the other side of the sire and again, mark it wit hwhichever one lights.

Personally, I think using the speaker method is a little easier.

 

[peeebeee]

My builder had installed the wiring for my in-wall speakers however, what he failed to do was to label the wires as to which set was for the left, center or right surrounds. Now that my walls are completed, how do I go about identifying which set goes to whih soeaker location?

Most music stores sell test CD's or DVD's, that you can use to test your equipment. They drive speakers independently, so you can identify the various channels. They also run phase tests, so you can be sure to connect your speakers with the right "polarity".

 

[av_phile]

Most if not all HT receivers have individual test tones used to calibrate their channels' levels independently. So you can just use this to check which speaker gets which channel. Otherwise, there are DVD titles with the THX logo that has a THX audio test sequence for each channel. Or use a test DVD from Chesky or some other.

Using these test tones for each channel, some plugging and unplugging at the back of the receiver will have to be done on a process of elimination. If the receiver says "Left front" just connect the wires that will make the Left front speaker sound, so on and so forth. And label accordingly.