running speaker whires through a wall??

[Gone Sleddin]

trying to set up a surround sound system in my house. would like to hang the 2 rear speakers on the wall and run the wire down through the wall into the basement and then back up behind the tv where the cable comes up. any pointers on an easy way to do this? is it even possible?? was wanting to mount the speakers uptoward the ceiling. any help appreciated.
thanks

Tim

 

[ouch]

well get a case of beer, then decide if you really need to hide the wires.... with it in the basement open it shouldn't be to bad.. just measure twice maybe more and drill a hole up and get a fish tape and cut a hole as big as you can and that you can still hide, and fit your hand in and hopefully grab the wire.

 

[rkymtnrider]

im assuming your basement is unfinished.if you have carpet in the room then you can use long wood screws to mark your studbay.using a stud finder,locate the stud and zip a screw into the floor next to the baseboard and repeat for other stud.now you can go into the basement and locate the screws.depending on baseboard depth and drywall thickness u can then drill a hole into the studbay from the basement. if its an exterior wall then it will have instillation and you may want to get a set of "retro rods" long fiberglass rods to help "fish" the speaker wire up the wall.if there interior walls you may be able to use a coat hanger if it is long enough to reach speaker height. get some retro boxes from home depot (an outlet box that has wings that flip out and hold box in wall)cut the hole so the box slides in and retrieve the rod through the hole pull up cable through hole,route into the outlet box and insert the box into the hole. use a blank wallplate and drill a hole through it for speaker wire.mount your speaker bracket and your done. hopefully that made sense. if not pm me.

 

[Ridgerat]

Use a fiber glass pole about 8' long by 3/8"diameter (available at Lowes) and 2 installers. Drill the upper hole (~1" dia.) in wall at (under) the speaker location, then installer #1 go into the crawl space and drill into the bottom of the wall below the speaker location. Installer #1 push the flexible fiberglass pole in the bottom of the wall while installer #2 watches at the upper hole for the pole to show up. Installer #2 grabb the end of the pole with needlenose and pull a few inches of it thru the hole and securely tape the speaker wires to it. After the speaker wires are tapped, Installer #1 pull the pole and speaker wire back down and out the bottom hole into the crawl space. Repeat at other speaker and reciever locations.

 

[ouch]

what rkymtn...said.. Ive just had to many beers to fill in ALL the details...

 

[Bubba700]

What both of these guys are saying works great a few little tips since I fish a ton of wire doing security systems, Instead of a wood screw buy a 12in 1/8 bit ,use it to drill down at the base board on a 45 degree angle. This marks below where you need to drill up. Leaves a super small hole and you dont risk messing carpet up. All so they have whats called a chain and noodle. Cut aprox 12 to 18 in of chain and tape it to the end of the Glow rod ( fiberglass rods that you can buy at lowes or home depot) push the end of the rod with the chain up the wall then you use the "noodle" which has a magnet on the end of it to pull the chain out ( this method allows you to use a small hole in the dry wall) tape the wire to it and then repeat.

im assuming your basement is unfinished.if you have carpet in the room then you can use long wood screws to mark your studbay.using a stud finder,locate the stud and zip a screw into the floor next to the baseboard and repeat for other stud.now you can go into the basement and locate the screws.depending on baseboard depth and drywall thickness u can then drill a hole into the studbay from the basement. if its an exterior wall then it will have instillation and you may want to get a set of "retro rods" long fiberglass rods to help "fish" the speaker wire up the wall.if there interior walls you may be able to use a coat hanger if it is long enough to reach speaker height. get some retro boxes from home depot (an outlet box that has wings that flip out and hold box in wall)cut the hole so the box slides in and retrieve the rod through the hole pull up cable through hole,route into the outlet box and insert the box into the hole. use a blank wallplate and drill a hole through it for speaker wire.mount your speaker bracket and your done. hopefully that made sense. if not pm me.

Use a fiber glass pole about 8' long by 3/8"diameter (available at Lowes) and 2 installers. Drill the upper hole (~1" dia.) in wall at (under) the speaker location, then installer #1 go into the crawl space and drill into the bottom of the wall below the speaker location. Installer #1 push the flexible fiberglass pole in the bottom of the wall while installer #2 watches at the upper hole for the pole to show up. Installer #2 grabb the end of the pole with needlenose and pull a few inches of it thru the hole and securely tape the speaker wires to it. After the speaker wires are tapped, Installer #1 pull the pole and speaker wire back down and out the bottom hole into the crawl space. Repeat at other speaker and reciever locations.

 

[Ex-Member]

There's wire that can be taped to and painted onto the wall.... that's another, probably easier option...

 

[Fosgate]

Just goto the hardware store and ask for wall snake.

 

[hilinerider]

wireless???




problem solved

 

[BigTruck]

wireless???




problem solved

Wireless sucks!!!

You get static through the speakers.

 

[Ex-Member]

Wireless sucks!!!

You get static through the speakers.

Not if it's digital. Signal either gets there or it doesn't.

However, you still have to run a cable to an outlet to power the speaker(s)....

 

[Beels]

You still have to run a power cord to the wireless, so wireless is kind of an oxymoron.

 

[Zachcreek]

All good advice. Make sure you locate electrical!! Keep at least a foot away when running next to electrical. 90 degree crosses are fine. Use good 16/2 speaker wire not lamp cord stuff. Pro Connect, Monster etc.

I do home electronics/home theaters/ smart homes for a living. Make sure that the wall you are fishing does not have fire blocking. Stud finder with electrical sensor is also good.

Good luck! You will enjoy it if you set it up right. Rear speakers should be about 15 degres behind you and not at ceiling level. Depending on the size of the room I will set the rears at about 6 to 7 ft. Depends on your acoustics, space etc.

 

[HIGHMARK]

You can also buy REALLY long flexible spade drill bits made by Greenlee at Home Depot that are made just for doing what you are talking about. The end of the bit has a hole in it that you use to attach your wire to the bit then you pull it back out through the opening you have the drill bit in.