Just moved to a new home. Have built-in speakers with Gr/Rd/Wh/Bk wires? How do I connect to my receiver?

Question

I've been able to connect the CD/DVD player to play through my TV. I have also connected my Rotel amplifier to the system (had marked all ends of all the wires and units prior to moving). Should the speakers connect to the Rotel or the receiver? I have four sets of speaker wires for different rooms in the house. Should I combine all the same colored wires? Really confused as to where to go from this point.

Answer 1

You cannot combine all the same colored wires and run them off a single amplifier because you will damage your amp. You need to buy a speaker selector which will correct the impedance drop caused by running multiple speakers. Niles makes a nice one, so does Speaker Craft. You will put your wires from wall into your new speaker selector, then connect your speaker selector to your amplifier.

Correct color code:

red: right channel possitive

black: right channel negative

white: left channel positive

green: left channel negative

If the house was professionally wired, that's how you are set up, but there's no guaranty. There's no shortage of amatures passing themselves off as home theater experts and wiring for unsuspecting home owners.

If the wires aren't marked, you can use the battery "pop" test to find out which wire goes to which speaker. After the test, be sure to touch the two wires together that you tested to remove any built up capasitance in the speaker's crossover network.

Answer 2

You should run all your components through the receiver, then run a video out from your receiver to your TV.  The speaker wires should be connected to the receiver, then you will be able to toggle through inputs on your receiver, which makes switching from DVD/CD/Cable very easy.  If your receiver has Zone 2 capabilities, you can also connect the speaker wires that go to different rooms to your receiver.  To find out which wires go to which speakers, take a simple battery and touch each speaker wire to the +/- terminals on the battery.  You should hear static, or a popping noise coming from the speaker.  Red is positive, black is negative.  Green is most often negative, but when coupled with white, green can be positive.  Just keep switching the +/- when touching to the battery until you get a noise.