Home Theater Prewire Basics - Introduction

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
Pre-wiring homes for today’s complex home theater systems can often times be a very frustrating task even for the highly skilled A/V professional. There are many factors that need to be considered before a home is wired for video and sound. This basic tech tip article may help guide you through the rigorous process, thus turning this project from daunting to fun and educational.




Discuss "Home Theater Prewire Basics - Introduction" here. Read the article.
 
P

phand

Audiophyte
I am very disturbed by this statement "I prefer the romex staples because they are faster to install".

Electrical staples are sharp, can tear the sheath and possibly cut through to the conductor. I don't care how 'lightly' you staple them. Pull on one end of the cable a little too much and you cut it.

Get an Arrow T59 with insulated staples. If multiple cables are in the same run, use a zip tie through the staple and bundle them 'lightly'.

Just please don't ever use something that will cut the very wire you are trying to secure.

You will find it is much faster to use a stapler instead of hammering in an electrical staple.
 
All Romex staples I've ever used are large, thick, and typically insulated. They are very safe to use and protect against typical friction. You can get them at Home Depot or Lowes and they are very inexpensive.

Since you have to hammer them in, the depth is up to you, but at most they will only "crush" the cable - and that's if you simply keep hitting it down after it's already secured.

You must have used a very different kind of staple than what Ray is describing.
 
P

phand

Audiophyte
Thanks for the clarification.

This is a common electrical staple used in all electrical around here. No insulation. You can buy them with insulation but I've never seen an electrican around here use them.

 
RLA

RLA

Audioholic Chief
use a zip tie through the staple and bundle them 'lightly'.
The use of zip ties in the stud cavity is not code and they can fall apart over time in a hot attic. Romex staples either insulated or not are very effective if installed as outlined in the article. I have been using them for the last 18 or so years with no trouble at all. Another alternative is to use a cable tacker but this is more time consuming. Click on the photos of the wire runs to see an enlarged photo of the correct way to use Romex staples.

Electrical staples are sharp, can tear the sheath and possibly cut through to the conductor.

I am not sure how to respond to this statement. This can happen, it can also happen with romex and cause a short to ground in 15 and 20 amp electrical circuits but that doest stop electricians from using romex staples to secure romex you just have to know how to use them.
 
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P

phand

Audiophyte
Thanks. I guess the difference depends on where you are.

No insulated staples here, but use zip ties.

Insulated staples there, but don't use zip ties.

I recently saw another installers work where he had an RG6, cat5e and cat6 all suffed together under uninsulated s1 roomex staples, tight. That's all I could think of when I read the article.
 
C

clthoma2

Audioholic Intern
Projector Power

In the article, there is an outlet above where the projector will be mounted. Assuming that you don't want the projector plugged directly into the wall, will you be using some sort of surge protection on it? If so, how?

I guess one way would be to terminate the romex near the equipment rack and put a plug on that end that could be plugged into a surge protector? That would make it look clean from the projector to the outlet on the ceiling. Would that be acceptible?
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
I like the alternative idea of hanging the cables with additional wire fastened to some kind of support instead of staples.

The reason I'm thinking that would be better is that in my house I had one CAT5 wire that was dead and the installers that were suffering in the hot attic told me that it was punctured by a staple. They pullled a new cable but could not get the old one out. I know it really doesn't matter but I don't like the idea of having wires that are unuseable hanging out inside the walls and attic.
 
RLA

RLA

Audioholic Chief
In the article, there is an outlet above where the projector will be mounted. Assuming that you don't want the projector plugged directly into the wall, will you be using some sort of surge protection on it? If so, how?
If you want to keep it clean then terminate the rack end side of the romex with a heavy duty grounded plug. This can get plugged directly into a rack mounted line conditioner or suppressor. Another alternative is to use something like the Furman AC-215 mounted in close proximity to the projector.
http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=01&id=AC-215_PRO
 
RLA

RLA

Audioholic Chief
I know it really doesn't matter but I don't like the idea of having wires that are unuseable hanging out inside the walls and attic.
This is a very common scenario when builders use so called "low voltage specialists" to install complex wiring in today’s multi-media homes. I get many calls a year from frustrated home owners complaining about wire that was installed in correctly, wire in the wrong locations or the wrong wire installed. Unfortunately once the sheet rock goes up its hard to fix mistakes. All wiring should be tested before sheetrock is installed. Cat 5 wiring if fairly delicate because it is high gauge and is a solid core, even introducing a sharp 90-degree bend in the cable can break a conductor. If you have just one or two conductors that are dead in the CAT-5 wire the other conductors can still be used for audio transmission, video transmission up to 75- feet if shielded or trigger wire. If you read the article it will guide you through the wire install process. Installation of conduit in the stud bay is very cheap insurance, but many builders will scoff at this idea because they haven’t a clue about pre-wire.
 
G

griffit5

Audiophyte
Should speaker cables be routed separately from all other cables? Or is it OK to run them side by side with RG6, HDMI, and data lines?
 
O

oasis

Audiophyte
hello all,

searched forum and think this probably as good a thread as any to ask some questions about something i'm trying to accomplish. my house was wired when built in '97' running RG-6 from different originating points for both SAT and cable and terminating in livingroom. RG-6 was then run throughout for distribution to different areas of house including an outside pool area.
i recently installed outdoor antenae for OTA HD reception and use the pool area RG-6 to bring HD signal to the reciever. but now i can't watch TV by pool because i use that line to bring HD signal in. I can either watch HD inside or TV outside. when i want to watch TVoutside i have to disconnect and reconnect a bunch of wires which is a pain.
i don't want run a seperate dedicated wire (bust out walls) from antenae unless absolutely necessary. here's my question. is a device (or other solution) which would allow OTA HD signal to be carried into the house and SAT signal out to pool TV simultaneously using the same RG-6? in other words can RG-6 be used to send seperate signal simultaneously and in opposing directions (like fiber optic)? thx.
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
I am actually building a 7.2 theater at my parents place right now, and what we finished today is something a lot of people don't think about, conduit. When HDMI standards change, I have 3 inch PVC pipe routed from the TV to behind the AV rack so I can easily pull a new cord through. I will admit I skimmed the article, but you should really add this in. A friend of mine brought this to my attention before the installation, as his parents have a full RCA system in their house and no way to upgrade it without cutting holes.

SheepStar
 
smurphy522

smurphy522

Full Audioholic
Conduit virtually eliminates many of the issues of pre-wiring

I too could only think "why not run a conduit" (like a 3" PVC) instead of worrying about dedicated flavor of the year wiring at the time of building. I see others have mentioned this as a suggestion. I would revise the article accordingly or suggest writing a part 2. A conduit virtually eliminates you being left to a wire out of date.

I have a dedicated media room. Unfortunately the house was already built an dI had no say in how the room was pre-wired or electrically run. They did provide a dedicated 20amp circuit but the idiots ran it in the ceiling position for the projector. They totally did not understand the concept of a higher powered circuit and where it would be needed. I mean how many projectors would require a 20 amp service? Oh well, 1st world problems I suppose.
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
I too could only think "why not run a conduit" (like a 3" PVC) instead of worrying about dedicated flavor of the year wiring at the time of building. I see others have mentioned this as a suggestion. I would revise the article accordingly or suggest writing a part 2. A conduit virtually eliminates you being left to a wire out of date.

I have a dedicated media room. Unfortunately the house was already built an dI had no say in how the room was pre-wired or electrically run. They did provide a dedicated 20amp circuit but the idiots ran it in the ceiling position for the projector. They totally did not understand the concept of a higher powered circuit and where it would be needed. I mean how many projectors would require a 20 amp service? Oh well, 1st world problems I suppose.
The article is 7 years old. I simply reposted to frame around our video. I will see if we can make the change however as I agree.
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
I too could only think "why not run a conduit" (like a 3" PVC) instead of worrying about dedicated flavor of the year wiring at the time of building. I see others have mentioned this as a suggestion. I would revise the article accordingly or suggest writing a part 2. A conduit virtually eliminates you being left to a wire out of date.

I have a dedicated media room. Unfortunately the house was already built an dI had no say in how the room was pre-wired or electrically run. They did provide a dedicated 20amp circuit but the idiots ran it in the ceiling position for the projector. They totally did not understand the concept of a higher powered circuit and where it would be needed. I mean how many projectors would require a 20 amp service? Oh well, 1st world problems I suppose.
If you consider how much you spend on equipment, pulling the drywall and re wiring and insulating (with the best sound isolating stuff you can get your hands on) would be a worthy expense and offer a noticeable upgrade to any theater. We are running in ceiling rear speakers in the setup I'm currently building (I was given 2 RBHs A650s, and we bought 2 more Yamaha angled speakers with the same size drivers and driver material to run as back surround). My parents were just going to run wires to the spot and then cut the hole, but I built a box into the joist and sealed it with acoustic sealant around the edges and insulated it on all the walls with 3 inch Roxull insulation for each speaker. Small things you can do that cost little but will make a huge difference in the end product. After going through all this it's funny how little people pay attention to the room. I'm not talking about the acoustic treatments, but the whole setup, wiring, and construction. If you're going to deem a room to be your HT room, you might as well gut it first and do it properly. I will admit we did drop the ball with the speaker wire, as my parents didn't want to fork out for 12 ga CL2 rated in wall wire.

SheepStar
 
R

Reorx

Full Audioholic
After your room’s construction is completed, it’s time to terminate your system’s components. Many installers like to use wall plates with binding posts for a clean look. I don’t like this approach because it adds four more termination points for the speaker wire.
What's wrong with having the additional termination points?
Signal degradation or power loss concerns?
Have you tested it with your tester, and have you heard a difference? or is it just a personal preference?

I have seen it done with all types of cables numerous times, and everything works and sounds just fine.

Thanks.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Signal degradation or power loss concerns?
There is always signal/power loss when A/V is run through a junction point. It is measurable, and it tend to be 'consistent' so that you have expected and repeatable results.

Now, is the amount of loss noticeable? Of course that depends on the original signal, the number of junctions and the quality which the final device is capable of reproducing.

More and more in our digital world, the junction points are not as significant as they used to be, but also can be far more significant. A long run HDMI cable, for example, really needs a point to point connection for best results. A HDMI coupler at the wall with a lower quality cable outside the wall can often destroy a connection. So, it is important for people to be well aware of this fact. I personally tend to run wiring directly through the wall to my speakers if I can make it work aesthetically. In my family room, for example, I cut a slit in my carpet and ran the speaker wire directly into the speaker connection on the bottom of the speaker. No visible wires.

But, this isn't always feasible, or convenient for many, and there is a good chance that if the signal makes it to the final destination point, that it will look and sound just great.

In a GOOD dedicated space, I would almost always run wiring straight to components just to ensure that there is zero added loss into the audio or video pathways.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
CONDUIT IS YOUR FRIEND!

Yes, any article, even one 7 years old, should be discussing conduit. The component to DVI to HDMI changeover has definitely shown that conduit is about the most important thing that can be run in a theater. You don't need to run 2-3 HDMI cables, you run 1 HDMI cable, perhaps a couple of pieces of cat-5e/6 cable, and power to a display, and CONDUIT and you are set for the next 20 years.

I would not use PVC pipe, but instead use Carlon Resi-gard (or similar). The flexible duct is available from .5" to 2" diameters. I generally use 1.25" conduit to video locations. This gives me enough room to run a new HDMI cable (or two) if needed, or any other cable that I may find necessary. Basement to attic runs for 'whole house' distribution I typically do at the 2" size. This gives a pathway for speaker wires, coax, networking, etc.

But, this stuff is the bomb! It's easy(ish) to work with, and can be run through ceilings and walls without much difficulty. Rigid PVC pipe has some real limitations on how it can be run and often must use hard elbows which can be tough to get wiring through.

 
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