Monday, May 17, 2010

Hook Up A Sound System Through Walls

You have a cool home stereo system that you want to enjoy from any room in your house. The solution is to buy additional speakers and run wires through the walls to place the sound where you want it. This just takes a few hand tools and some time.


Instructions








1. Plan your installation so you can hide the wires for the speakers behind baseboards, door or window frames, or just run wire close to the trim boards to help conceal it.








2. Determine the path for the sound system wire. The best choice is to run the wire down into an unfinished basement or crawl space, or up into the attic. Get it as near the termination point as possible before re-emerging into the living space.


3. Ensure that there are no existing high voltage wires, plumbing or gas lines near where you are going to drill. In addition to danger from drilling into these systems, placing your audio wire too close to high voltage house wiring will cause interference.


4. Run the sound wire straight through a wall, if that is most expedient. Remove a piece of baseboard at the starting point on both sides of the wall using a flat pry bar.


5. Place a long, slim drill bit in your electric or hand drill brace. It should be just a little larger in diameter than the thickness of the wire you are using and long enough to pierce through the entire thickness of the wall.


6. Drill through the wall slowly and carefully about an inch above the floor.


7. Cut extra audio wire to be sure you have enough, then push the speaker wire through the hole in the wall.


8. Run the wire along the midpoint where the baseboard was until it is near the termination point. Normally, there is an indent on the back side of the baseboard that will accommodate a small, flat wire. Replace the baseboard by hammering it back in place.


9. Remove the casing around a door or window as an alternative, and then drill a hole through the wall, concealing the wire behind the casement.

Tags: through wall, audio wire, door window, high voltage, near termination, near termination point, termination point