So… I’m building a house for this guy and he wants surround sound wiring installed. I had a company who did this, alarm systems, etc but I didn’t like the main guy’s bad-a-tude and they seemed a bit overpriced for what they delivered and I was basically supplying their service at cost.
So, I’m doing a “DIY”…. I went out and got some stuff from blowes including a spool of in-wall 14-2 wire and some wall plates and this. The only thing that was discussed with the home buyer was 5 speaker wires. I see that main plate I bought has a woofer connection… Question: is the wire (cable?) for the woofer a pre-made cable with an RCA jack on each end? I mean I don’t really have to supply it, but as long as the woofer connection is there I was thinking I might just install the required in-wall cable but just leave the rest of the cable in the crawl space so if he wanted to use it later it would be there. I would imagine an RCA cable like that could get a little expensive so I don’t really want to end up buying a 20′ one and then the wall plate and all that…. As far as I’m concerned, this aspect is a free-be to the customer…
A related question: What is surround sound 5.1? A brief explanation would do. 6.1? I did this on a home several months ago and the guy wanted 6 speaker wires (not including the center speaker). I’m guessing that is something different… 7.1?
My knowledge of this stuff is more or less confined to what I have done in my own home – although in a previous career I used to be an electronics repair man so I do have a good handle on basic electronics concepts.
Replies
I'm not sure I understand your question re: the woofer (probably a subwoofer actually) but I'll try. Most, but not all subwoofers have a female RCA jack on the back. Most recievers also have an RCA jack for the subwoofer output. You need only run standard speaker wire in the wall to your wallplate. Does this answer? If not, let me know.
The surround specs represent the number of channels, and the presence of a subwoofer. E.g: 7.1 means 7 audio channels: 2 front, 2 suround, 2 rear surround, 1 center and the .1 means it supports a subwoofer.
HTH
PaulB
Thanks for the concise answer.
Although I bought all the stuff needed for the job I didn't want to open any of the other packages because I didn't want to loose any loose parts as the face plates won't be installed for about a month - wiring is in now... I think I just need to do that... so I can see what the back of the (sub) woofer jack looks like. That connection diagram on their web site is clear as mud - with respect to the woofer connection.
I guess I didn't know if the sub woofer cable had to be a coax which I guess is what an RCA jack insinuates.... Maybe not?
No, you don't have to run coax for your speakers at all... although shielding isn't a bad idea if it's a long run.
Type F connectors (IIRC) just the threaded VHF connector style you're undoubtedly familiar with.
I just looked at the website, and it looks like all the speaker connections, other than the subwoofer are banana jacks? That being the case, the owner shouldn't need anything more than speaker (or zip) cord to make his connections.
Any other Q, fire away...PaulB
So, I'll use RG-6 for the sub woofer?
Well... if it's a type F connector I suppose that makes the most sense. Although I've neverrrrrrrr seen sucha connector used for an audio connection. Is that in fact what's on the jack panel?PaulB
OK - I opened the package - there are some tiny gold screws rolloing around in there.... anyway, next question - what is an "F-connector"? It has an "RCA to F-connector". Looks like a connector for a regular RG-6 I guess.... I think I've got it now... although any other comments are welcome.
Edited 7/19/2008 9:28 am ET by Matt
Dolby 5.1 is basically Dolby Pro-Logic with one enhancement. There are 5 speakers R, L, and Center in the Front and R , L in the rear. the .1 of the 5.1 comes in because instead of sending bass signals (I forget the mhz threshold) to the front R and L speakers, the bass signals are filtered out and send directly to the subwoofer. The theory is that bass soundwaves aren't directional, so the ear cannot discern where they come from. That said, The 5 Pro-logic speakers are wired in the traditional fashion and the subwoofer is usually placed somewhere inconspicuous.
Matt, be careful with this. It sounds like this may be new territory for you. There are alot of ways to screw this up. I'd hate for you to get a call back once the DW is up.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Not new territory for me. Been messing with stereo stuff on and off for 40 years or so... Not what I do for a living but I got it covered. I used 14-2 speaker wire rated for in-wall use. The materials alone for the 5 speaker hookup cost over $200. Sure I could get better wire but this is not a $1000 install. I have enough wire left over to do another house or 2 though. All the connectors are gold plated.
I think you might be mistaken about RCA jacks being for smaller gauge wire. They are for coax. If you read the above posts, coax is indicated for the sub woofer hookup. That is the whole topic of this thread is.
5.1 means one center, two fronts, two rears, and .1 the subwoofer. How any of the speakers are connected depends on the manufacturer. Most that i've seen have the binding posts these days.
RCA jack are generally used with smaller guage wire. I hope you didnt skimp one the in wall wire. All the theater type guys say bigger is better and I have actually seen in person where undersized wire caused major signal distortion.
The vast majority of power subwoofers take line-level inputs. Those are electrically different than speaker-level inputs, and require a good-quality coaxial cable to limit any interference.
This is typically a coaxial cable designed for audio, but there's no reason you can't use a coaxial cable like RG6 to run that signal, and that looks like what they're doing with that box. The user then uses screw on converters that convert from the F connector to the standard RCA connector, and everything works great. This is exactly the same kind of cable that you'd use for cable or satellite TV. It's not typically done because RG cables are much less flexible than most audio coaxial cables and therefore a pain to deal with when connecting components.
Hooking things up is pretty straightforward, but it takes a bit of care to get the coaxial cable connectors crimped on correctly, and you need a good crimping tool. Don't use the screw-on F connectors - they don't hold up well in the long term.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks for the info - pretty much what I needed. Yes - I've been through it with the substandard F-connectors before so know about the pitfals of that... but as you say - RG for audio is pretty foriegn to me too.
Edited 7/19/2008 10:47 pm ET by Matt
Just to close the loop, as the solution I went to blowes and got a 25' (shortest they had) Pre-made-up RG6 cable with F-connectors on each end and installed that in the wall from the main box to just hanging down in the crawl space.
Also need to be advised that if you're installing wire in the walls, you'd better go ahead and install speaker wire for a 7.1 setup, as that is what is considered normal these days.
7.1 is 1 center, 1 left and 1 right front, 1 left and 1 right side, and 1 left and 1 right rear speaker.
Much easier to install wire now with the walls open.
Also, run one RCA cable and a speaker wire to the subwoofer location. Put 'em both in and you'll be good.
7.1 was not what I agreed to provide to the customer for the price. As it is the Sub connectivity is a free-bee. I'm done with it now.
Hi,
I scanned through the thread and thought this might help.
I have a powered sub using RCA for the signal from the amp/reciever which I located in a corner of my living room. Between the amp/reciever and the sub was a 7' doorway. All of my other speaker wire was in wall and I wanted the sub wired in wall as well.
So,
I went to a local audiophile store and purchased a couple 2' RCA cables and 1 16' cable.
I then used a standard coax plate and unscrewed the coax fiting and replaced with similar RCA fittings front and back. These I then located in the wall both behind the amp/reciever and behind the subwoofer.
The short cables get me from the components to the wall, and the long cable gets me from the backside of the plate in the wall, through the basement, and back to the backside of the other plate.
Its worked great for years.
Hope this helps... it was the simplest and cheapest solution I could come up with.