pre wire new house

[lectric101]

Hi Im new here hoping to get help prewiring my new house for audio. I am an electrician with many years of residential experience. I am building my personal house right now and it is time for the wiring. I have done structured wiring but never any audio,I dont even know exactly what type of equipment I will be getting. My main concern is getting the wires where I need them. I have spent hours researching this online so I have some ideas of what to do but have become confused.I plan on attending training classes soon but my house cant wait. Can anyone direct me to a good wiring diagram? I have looked in houses that are prewired it looks like maybe a 14-4 wire with a piggyback cable to each zone ,(wall volume control) and then to each speaker with 2 conductor wire. I guess the piggyback is for control. Ive also read of systems using just cat5 for audio. As I said just want to get as many wires AS I can in now. I do plan on putting in conduits in house for future. Please help, Thanks Perry

 

[Audioholics]

Looks like you had some trouble posting (this was triple-posted) or you fell asleep with your head on the enter key!

You really need to have some idea of what you are putting in to avoid going nuts. Some things you may consider:

- 14/2 (or 12/2) to each speaker location (wire for 7.1 whenever possible)
- Two to four runs of RJ45 to each room (think wall controls, computer networking, IP-addressable speakers)
- If you are doing IP-addressable speakers, then you'd need a couple RJ45 cables to each speaker location (in-ceiling, in-wall)
- Don't forget the subwoofers, either coax or speaker lines depending upon what you are doing (in-walls or powered boxes)
- Run RG6 quad-shield (or equivalent) for your cable TV lines and don't forget to prewire for a terrestrial HDTV antenna and/or satellite systems
- IR and 12VDC trigger lines
- HDMI and component for projectors (must be terminated cables - watch those lengths as you may need boosters or spend additional for fiber optic)
- Dedicated 20A power service (many forget this)
- Power filters for projector and equipment

Are we there yet?

Anyone else feel free to jump in and continue...

 

[lectric101]

thanks

Thanks Clint, Maybe a little over my head here,but am very ready to learn as it will enhance my business( and I am getting forced into it.) I will look into your suggestions although dont know anything about some of them(Im real good at the 20 amp circuit part!) I really dont know much about audio systems at all but maybe I can get enough info here to nurse me through this one.ANY wiring will be better than none so maybe I can get some basics in place to start. I will be putting in astructured wiring system (2 RG6,2CAT5)to each room for data,phone and tv.should I be thinking about any audio with that or is the audio a seperate thing altogether? Sorry about my ignorance on this but thanks very much for your help.
Yea I did have some trouble posting it kept telling me I wasnt logged in yet but apparently I was.BIg suprise........I dont do computers to well either.

 

[Bryce_H]

Here is what I did just for my HT. I have 2" conduit running to all the 7 speaker locations. I also have an insane amount of low-watt wiring terminating in my component closet. Here is the breakdown

- 4 coax in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 Cat 5e in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 coax out to potential sub locations (L/R main, right wall 1/3 way back, left wall 2/3 way back)
- 2 coax out to the front screen wall
- 2 Cat 5e out to the front screen wall
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire out to front screen wall for IR and other future control needs (drop down screen)
- 2 coax out to front of second row riser
- 2 cat 5e out to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to main light switch box

The coax can be used for sub, cable, or sat systems. Cat5e is for networking or control needs. The 22ga shielded is strickly for control needs.

also don't forget to run some wires to a potential front projector location (electrical and video).

When we had the house built we had structured wiring put in every room (but no audio). Every room has a 4 jack plate with 2 RG6 F-connectors and 2 Cat5e jacks. The office actually has 2 of these. I also got the living room pre-wired for a 5.1 in-ceiling to set up as a second system for casual viewing in the future. Just some ideas of what I have done.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

 

[lectric101]

thanks

thanks for the help.. still wondering if there is anything BASIC I can do, like maybe something for a spec house that I could offer to my builders.

 

[lectric101]

yipes

Does this make any sense? Im not really trying to set up home theater rather I just want to be able to play music throughout house. From a central location (for amp, cd player)run a 14-4 and a cat5 to a single box on wall near light switches in each room I would like speakers. Then run 14-2 to each speaker in each location(from my wall box)I know there is MUCH more to this than I can learn overnight but is this a decent start? the only other thing I may want to do is a surround sound in one room and I will have a plasma tv that I will need to get wiring to and from in that room. I appreciate your help and maybe youve already given me everything I need and I just need to study it more (I dont know what ip adressable is, 7.1,rj45,etc..)Also I need a place to buy cable if any suggestions (mainly the speaker wire) Have plenty of cat5 and rg6. THANK YOU Perry

 

[Frugal]

pre wire

Just add a couple of things. Our codes here call for 14-2 f-rated (fire rated) speaker wire. Also try to use cat 6 ethernet wire. It's the same as cat 5 and 5e (enhanced) but designed for higher frequencies, use it for telephone as well, the color coding is the same as cat 3. Leviton quick port is an easy way to terminate and you can put coax, telephone and even speaker terminals in the same electrical box. http://www.levitonvoicedata.com/support/documents/instructionsheets/41108xx5.pdf
Run all the speaker wire, cat 6 and RG6 coax from each room back to a common point in the basement. Your high speed modem and router can be hooked in there. Each room in the house should have 2 speaker connections (14-2x2 f rated), 1 telephone(cat6), 1 ethernet (cat6) and 1 RG6 coax. By canging connections in the basement you can send a speaker signal to any room you want. In the future hi-fi multi channel signals can be sent via cat 6. When handling cat 6 and coax be careful not to kink it. When terminating cat 6 there are 2 color code choices, make them all the same (568a). Hope this helps.

 

[lectric101]

thanks

Thanks, your advice is very helpful