Wire Running Part II

[ivseenbetter]

I didn't want to hijack the other persons thread about running wires so I am starting my own.

Is it necessary to run speaker wire through conduit if I am installing in the wall or in the attic? I can buy the in-wall rated speaker wire but I am unclear if you should still use conduit if you do that.

Also, I have a projector and screen mounted and I want to run the power cords for each of these through the ceiling and then plug them into an outlet I have hanging from one of my rafter in the attic. Is there any safety concerns with that? I figure the power outlet is up there so it must be ok to use it and I can seal up the hole in the ceiling around where the cord will go through. This kind of stuff makes me nervous so I want to err on the side of safety. I will probably need to use an extension cord to get the power cable to reach the outlet though.

 

[MDS]

In-wall rated speaker wire (CL2/3, CM, or higher) is required by code but conduit is only a convenience to make it easier to run new wires or replace existing wires. I wish the builders of my house had run conduit because when the wires are draped over and around studs you cannot simply pull them through to run a new wire.

 

[ivseenbetter]

Ok, well, I only have one spot that this might be an issue and I don't think I will worry about buying conduit if it isn't required. I haven't looked at prices though and I guess I wouldn't mind doing it if it doesn't cost much ($20 - $40).

What about the power cords from my projector and screen? Should I be concerned about any of my plans to run that?

 

[TLS Guy]

Ok, well, I only have one spot that this might be an issue and I don't think I will worry about buying conduit if it isn't required. I haven't looked at prices though and I guess I wouldn't mind doing it if it doesn't cost much ($20 - $40).

What about the power cords from my projector and screen? Should I be concerned about any of my plans to run that?

How long will we be using the current speaker wires? Not a lot longer I hope. Putting ALL wires in conduit is the best and first step to future proofing your installation.

 

[ivseenbetter]

I haven't bought the speaker wire but once I do I intended to keep it for a pretty long time. Even if I were to get different speakers down the road I would expect to use the same speaker wire. I planned on putting a lot of extra slack so I had room to play with different speaker placement.

I guess I need to go ahead and look at some conduit though. Better safe than sorry and that was really the point of the post.

 

[TLS Guy]

I haven't bought the speaker wire but once I do I intended to keep it for a pretty long time. Even if I were to get different speakers down the road I would expect to use the same speaker wire. I planned on putting a lot of extra slack so I had room to play with different speaker placement.

I guess I need to go ahead and look at some conduit though. Better safe than sorry and that was really the point of the post.

The reason I bring this up, is that the next gains in speaker performance, will come about by designing powered speakers with active digital crossovers. These current ubiquitous receivers are already well past their sell by date, or should be.
The best candidate for speaker connection for this environment is optical, to avoid ground loops.

 

[ivseenbetter]

Ok. Well, that makes sense. I'm all for that type of improvement. I haven't even heard anything about that before. Hopefully it will happen though. Thanks. The first post makes more sense to me now.