Running speaker wire

[commode air]

Looking to run speaker wire for a home theatre. Room is 24' by 15'. thinking about a 5.1 setup. My question is what guage speaker wire and how many conductor, 2 or 4? I thought speaker wire just had 2 wires but I saw some on monoprice that has 4. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Adam]

Hi. My personal favorite site for discussing what size of cable to run is the one linked here.

Four-conductor wire is just like having two two-conductor wires inside of the same outer sheath. Nothing special about it, except that it can be easier to run through walls or (in my case) under carpet because you are running one wire instead of two.

Most speakers have one set of binding posts, so you use two conductors to connect to them. Some speakers have two sets of binding posts (some even have more, but we'll ignore those for now) that allow you to power the cones separately - those speakers would use four conductors if you wanted to hook an amp up to both sets of posts.

I ran four-conductor wire under my carpet, but I'm using it for two rear speakers (two conductors for the left speaker, and the other two conductors for the right speaker).

 

[highfigh]

If you go to AV University on the home page, there's lots of info on cabling (whether big and expensive=better and if strand count matters) and all kinds of other things. One of hte biggest factors in what you need is in how you listen to what's playing. If you never think about the equipment when you're using it, don't get caught up in the debates and BS that flies around, about cabling, connectors and everything else. For a room of your size, 16 ga is fine. Don't worry about strands, price, brand, etc. If you want to make life easier for possible future needs, use 4 conductor. That way, if one conductor has a problem, you don't need to run new wires. 4 conductor also works for a single ceiling speaker that handles both channels. You should also use wires that are rated for in-wall use. This has a plastic jacket over the wires, not the stuff with the clear insulation.

If you aren't the type who gets all bunched up by minute details, who uses what and trying to keep up with the Jones's, don't worry about speaker wire. Also, the big name brands are often overpriced and selling the impossible. Parts Express, Monoprice and others sell at decent prices.

Do you have a basement, or do you plan to go in the attic? How old is the house? If it's old enough that it doesn't have plywook sub flooring, you'll be able to see where the wall framing is from underneath (provided you have a basement)

 

[BMXTRIX]

Looking to run speaker wire for a home theatre. Room is 24' by 15'. thinking about a 5.1 setup. My question is what guage speaker wire and how many conductor, 2 or 4? I thought speaker wire just had 2 wires but I saw some on monoprice that has 4. Thanks for the replies.

I would think you would be fine with some 14/2 wiring (CL3 rated) from Monoprice or one of the other etailers.

4-wire speaker wire is often used with distributed audio systems where you have speakers throughout your home and you run the wire to a stereo volume control. The 4-wires run into it, and then they come out of the volume control to 2 speakers in the room.

Likewise, some people choose to bi-amp, which is pretty 'audiophile'. If you just want standard good audio with a normal A/V receiver and pretty normal decent speakers, you have very little reason to run 4 conductor wiring unless you really REALY want to.

 

[Shock]

The only reason to use 4 conductor wire is if you plan on going with a 7.1 setup in the future. If you're already running wire through the walls you might as well go with the 4 conductor for the simple fact that if you want to go to 7.1, you can.

It's obviously more expensive, but no harder to run that 2 conductor. Personally I'd run 4 conductor to each wall for the rear channels, and 2 conductor to the front channels. That way you future proof your setup.
Front:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2816&seq=1&format=2

Back:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=4037&seq=1&format=2

Keystones Plate:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=105&cp_id=10517&cs_id=1051703&p_id=1101&seq=1&format=2

Keystone connectors:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10426&cs_id=1042603&p_id=2992&seq=1&format=2

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10426&cs_id=1042603&p_id=3405&seq=1&format=2

 

[commode air]

Thanks for all of your inputs. There's a lot of options out there, deciding which is best can be stressful. It's for my basement which I am now framing. The house is only one year old. I'm putting in a drop ceiling so I can eventually get at all of my stuff. I think I might go with 4 conductor to the rears and 2 conductor for the fronts. you guys rock thanks.

 

[ncstater]

Bigger (taller) problem

I am looking to run some wiring down a 14 foot wall. The house was built on a slab, so the basement or crawlspace are not options. I was actually able to contort myself and get to a place in the attic that I want to run the wiring. I know this is the right place, because I coax cable was already run. I drilled a fresh hole next to the coax and started to feed my wiring tape thinking I was home free. But, I hit a cross support (or I assume a cross support). The only solution I could come up with is to cut the drywall near about 8 feet up (after using a studfinder) to find the block point, run the wire, and then patch the wall. I really don't want to cut and patch the wall. Are there any other options. My constraints are there is no basement or crawlspace, and I don't want to go wireless (yet).

Any guidance is greatly appreciated...

 

[BMXTRIX]

You might buy a long flexible drill bit. But in my experience it is far easier to cut open the drywall instead.

 

[Rickster71]

You might buy a long flexible drill bit. But in my experience it is far easier to cut open the drywall instead.

I agree.
Those drill bits aren't cheap, and it sounds like you'd need an extension added to the 4ft long bit.

 

[highfigh]

The other issue with the long bit is, when the access hole is about 16" from the floor, you'll need the guide in order to get it to go where you want, it's hard to center the bit from that far and if it's not centered, it runs the risk of going through the drywall on one side or the other, always on the side that is the most important.

ncstater- what you're hitting is the top plate of the wall framing and it's probably doubled 2x unless your house was built using "balloon framing" (not too likely if it's fairly new). Your best bet will be to cut an access hole above or below (whichever will be harder to see after it has been patched) for feeding the wires.