How should speaker wire be placed in wall studs for in wall speakers?

Question

I'm building a house and am wiring for surround sound. I would like to place speakers in the walls and in the ceiling. How should the speaker wire be placed so I can add speakers after drywall is up and the speaker wire is hidden so it is easy to access and not impacted when they put up the drywall.

Answer 1

There are some rules to fallow when you are running low voltage inside walls or anywhere.  

First you need to make sure that the line is not running parallel alongside any high voltage power (eg outlets, lights).  I would put it on the mirrored side from the power.  A little bit of paralleling is ok but don't exceed 2ft.

Second if you are in an open space like an attic or drop ceiling the cable cannot lay on any lights and in a drop ceiling it cannot lay on the tiles.  

If the walls are open you can use the proper staples found in the electric section of your home depot generally found near the low voltage supplies.  However, you don't necessarily need to use staples.  You can use pretty much anything that will keep it away from the drywall install.

If you are using metal studs, which are common now, I would look for Tie Wrap mounts.  They have a sticky back but I would get some small self tapping s***w because the sticky foam doesn't last long especially with temperature change, and handling abuse.  You will also need plenty of zip ties.  The sell the mounts at the Depot in the electrician section near the Zip Ties.

When using a box for a wall plate, make sure you use a low voltage type.  There are several types to choose from.  If the walls are open you can get one that mounts to the stud, but a cheaper and easier option is using a Charlton.  They are orange and are also sold at the depot.  These are nice because you don't need a stud to mount it to so you can place it pretty much anywhere just as long as the latches can swivel and catch the drywall.  

Make sure that you pull enough cable!  I always pull 6-12 feet more than what I think i'll need on each end.  Because things change and it is always better to look at it than for it.  Also you can stuff the excess back in the hole, as long as the insulation allows it.  

At the speaker end I would suggest to leave enough cable loosely coiled above the speaker so that it can be taken down and rest on the top of a ladder.  Plus it is always easier to terminate the speaker the closer to the ground it is.  This also allows for servicing later.

Answer 2

I think it depends on the speaker, but I think that either the right or left side would be hammered to a stud (like outlet/switch boxes), but it may come with a twist rod (similar to those shower curtain rods), with claws on each end that you twist to extend until it grips into the studs, or there may be some that are light enough that instead of connecting to a stud, may just s***w into the drywall

Oh, you mean the cable, sorry, I would say, if going vertical just hammer it to a stud using hammer-in staples, for going horizontal, either drill holes in the studs or run everything overhead

Answer 3

I think you would run it pretty much like electrical is run only with obviously different connectors on the edison box covers...like maybe rca jacks... Here's a link to a place I found that sells the wire, wall plates and inserts. Hope it helps.

http://www.cyberxlink.com/index.php/cPat...

Be sure to keep it up to code. Some info here

http://www.smartbuyspeakers.com/speaker_...

And more info

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/genericCo...