Surround Sound

[mkgrady]

I have a customer that wants to wire for future surround sound. I know little about it so please go easy on me.

Are there typically five speakers? I'm thinking front laft and right and the same for rear. That adds up to four. Where does the fifth on go? Is that the woofer that hides in a cabinet or behind a piece of furniture?

He wants to put the speakers in the suspended ceiling. I told him I thought the walls would be better as sound should be coming across a space not down from above. He said he has ceiling mounted speakers with surround speakers in a different room. Is it better to have them on the wall?

Do you agree that some of the large guage wire sold for speakers is a waste. I'm inclined to use #16.

Thanks in advance, Mike

 

[fishin' electrician]

#5 is the center channel and can be either above or below the screen. Installations with a perforated screen can have the center speaker behind it. The sub woofer is the .1 in 5.1 surround.

I prefer the speakers in/on the wall as opposed to the ceiling.

16 AWG will be fine, unless this is high power equipment.

FWIW, I pre-wired for a friend a while back, and of course come install time he chose a bose setup where all there speaker wires terminate at the sub woofer, which his significant other decided looked better on the other side of the room.:roll:

 

[mkgrady]

#5 is the center channel and can be either above or below the screen. Installations with a perforated screen can have the center speaker behind it. The sub woofer is the .1 in 5.1 surround.

I prefer the speakers in/on the wall as opposed to the ceiling.

16 AWG will be fine, unless this is high power equipment.

FWIW, I pre-wired for a friend a while back, and of course come install time he chose a bose setup where all there speaker wires terminate at the sub woofer, which his significant other decided looked better on the other side of the room.:roll:

Thanks. Is it fair to say that the best sound would be surface speakers that can be pointed, then in-wall and last would be ceiling mount?

 

[George Stolz]

I've come to the conclusion that the best prewire is a single-gang mud ring at receptacle height (fed from above), 14-2 speaker cable, and leaving plenty of slack in case they want to go in-wall.

I hate prewiring in-wall for speakers, as real people have real furniture that really sits in front of the speakers at optimum listening height. It just seems dumb to me.

Putting speakers in the ceiling is neat and all, I guess, but the optimum listening is lost a bit for surround sound.

Most rooms aren't built in the proper dimensions for optimum sound anyway, so it really becomes a crap shoot. Better to keep it simple and move along, IMO.

Generally, the sub can be sitting next to the entertainment center and doesn't require effort. Sometimes, the HO will have a special place picked out, and a subwoofer cable can be installed.

 

[LarryFine]

I have a customer that wants to wire for future surround sound. I know little about it so please go easy on me.

Mike, this would take about 1/10 as much time to talk about as it would to type back and forth.

You're welcome to call me, up till 10pm any day or night. (804) ELECTRIc (353-2874).

 

[mcclary's electrical]

Mike, this would take about 1/10 as much time to talk about as it would to type back and forth.

You're welcome to call me, up till 10pm any day or night. (804) ELECTRIc (353-2874).

Mike, you're welcome to call Larry, but don't copy his set-up,,,,you don't have a license to build a drive up theatre:grin:

 

[mkgrady]

Mike, this would take about 1/10 as much time to talk about as it would to type back and forth.

You're welcome to call me, up till 10pm any day or night. (804) ELECTRIc (353-2874).

Thanks Larry, You made that offer a couple of years ago on some other matter. I took you up on it and I remember you were very helpful on the phone. It's a little embarrassing that I can't remember the subject though.

I'll let this post play out for me and other posters that might be interested in the subject and I will plan on calling you next week after talking some more with the customer.

 

[mkgrady]

Mike, you're welcome to call Larry, but don't copy his set-up,,,,you don't have a license to build a drive up theatre:grin:

You mean like a drive-in theater? With a giant outdoor screen? There were lots of those around when I was a kid. Hardly any now.

 

[mcclary's electrical]

You mean like a drive-in theater? With a giant outdoor screen? There were lots of those around when I was a kid. Hardly any now.

Yes,,,,LArry's is about that impressive from what I hear:grin:

There were two of those in my town when I grew up,one was an ADULT theatre, so the screen faced away from the road. The other theatre had the screen set 90 degrees to the road. I remember riding by and seeing "The jungle book" playing as we rode by. You don't see those places anymore.

 

[cadpoint]

Don't the speakers come with directional placement...

 

[George Stolz]

You don't see those places anymore.

There's still one in Fort Collins.

 

[c2500]

Make sure you use speaker wire rated for in-wall use! I have seen alot that were done with the clear jacketed junk.

I personally ran 14 gauge wire, and will concede it was overkill ( I will never publicly admit that detail)...but it sure does sound nice.

c2500

 

[LarryFine]

Hey, my screen is only 10' diagonal. :roll:

(We real HT guys measure our screen in feet, not inches. )

I'll let this post play out for me and other posters that might be interested in the subject and I will plan on calling you next week after talking some more with the customer.

Okie-dokie!