Pre-wire help....what are the green and white wires for?

Question

We are trying to install our surround sound speakers and are confused about the cords that are coming out of the wall...intended to connect to the receiver. There are 2 black/red cables and 3 cables that have red/black/green/white. There is also one that has about 6 little cables of all different colors (pink, etc) How do we tell which wire is for what speaker and what are the green and white cords for?

Answer 1

The speaker runs that have 4 wires in them are known as 4 conductor (4-con)

red - positive

black - negative

white - positive

green - negative

Its for speakers with that can be (bi-amped) or connecting to 2 speakers instead of one.

You don't need all for wires for one speaker most of the time.

So just tie up one pair, (green/white) or the other.

The other wire lead sounds like a Cat-5 or Cat-6 connection used for many applications. I.E. Internet, phone, or certain HDMI adaptable accessories, etc

It could also be a (mini- coax) bundle for video runs.

Good luck.

More questions? Just e-mail me. I have owned a home theater business.

Answer 2

TWO-CONDUCTOR* loudspeaker cables generally contain one red insulated conductor and one black insulated conductor. The commonly accepted convention for connecting ‘passive’ loudspeakers to audio power amplifiers and amplifier outputs on audio receivers is to use red color-coded conductors to connect the positive (+) terminals and black color-coded conductors to connect the negative (-) terminals. For example, for the LEFT audio channel in a stereo configuration, use the black insulated wire to connect the (black) left-channel terminal on the receiver/amplifier to the black terminal on the left-channel loudspeaker and the red insulated wire to connect the (red) left-channel terminal on the receiver/amplifier to the red terminal on the same left-channel loudspeaker; repeat the process for the right channel.



A FOUR-CONDUCTOR unpaired loudspeaker cable achieves the same results as using two separate two-conductor speaker cables but is intended to simplify the connection process. Four-conductor unpaired loudspeaker cables generally contain one red, one black, one white and one green insulated conductor. For typical consumer audio applications the standard unpaired four-conductor color code designates that the red conductor is used to connect the RIGHT positive (+) terminals and the black conductor is used to connect the RIGHT negative (-) terminals on the right-channel. The white conductor is used to connect the LEFT positive (+) terminals and the green conductor is used to connect the LEFT negative (-) terminals on the left-channel. (Four-conductor speaker cable can also be used as a very convenient cabling solution when it comes to “bi-amplifying” bi-ampable loudspeakers or “bi-wiring” bi-wireable loudspeakers. However, when it comes to residential applications, bi-ampable and bi-wireable loudspeakers are very rarely used outside of stereo audio.)



The following is the latest industry standard color code for consumer, multi-channel analog audio connections. Though very common for line-level multi-channel analog audio applications it has yet to be widely adopted for connecting consumer-grade multi-channel loudspeaker systems. When working with multi-channel loudspeaker connections each conductor that conforms to the following color code is to be considered the positive (+) polarity connection:



     Front Right: ................ Red

     Front Left: .................. White

     Center Channel: .......... Green

     Side Surround Left: ..... Blue

     Side Surround Right: ... Gray

     Back Surround Left: .... Brown

     Back Surround Right: .. Tan



     Subwoofer (Line-Level) Output: Purple



Note: each of the multi-channel speaker connections above are paired with individual corresponding black-insulated conductors, which are ALWAYS used for the negative (-) polarity connection. When using this type of multi-channel speaker cabling it is best to permanently label both ends of each black conductor to specifically indicate each corresponding audio channel.



Example of color coded multi-channel amplifier outputs:

http://www.onkyousa.com/images/common/pr...



*One will frequently encounter the ubiquitous parallel “zip-cord” style speaker cable (not approved for in-wall use) often constructed with transparent PVC insulation/jacketing over one tinned conductor and one bare copper conductor. Traditionally the convention is to connect the tinned conductor to the negative (-) terminals and the bare copper conductor to the positive (+) terminals. You may also encounter similar parallel zip-cord style loudspeaker cable, with a clear or solid color PVC insulation, where both conductors are tinned (or in some specialty cases silver plated,) or simply bare copper. In this case you will need to look for distinct markings, colors, stripes, wording, grooves or ribs running along the length of one of the conductors' jacketing. The traditional convention with this type of cable construction is to connect the conductor with the marking or ribbing to the positive (+) terminals and the plain conductor to the negative (-) terminals.



As a general rule of thumb, ALWAYS be consistent when connecting speaker cables to the terminals or binding-posts on your audio equipment and loudspeakers. ALWAYS use the identical cable color, marking, or ribbing to designate the positive (+) polarity connection for each audio channel in your system.



Whichever is the most appropriate for your audio equipment and loudspeakers it is highly recommended that you always use heavy-duty spade connectors, banana plugs, or speaker pins to terminate your speaker cables.



######## RESOURCES ########



Follow the Rainbow: Color Codes to Help I.D. Speaker Channels

http://www.axiomaudio.com/tips_color_cod...



CEA-2030 (ANSI)

“Multi-Room Audio Cabling Standard”

http://www.ce.org/print/Standards/browse...

(See 4.3.2 Speaker Wire and Connector Color Codes)



CEA-863-A (ANSI)

“Connection Color Codes for Home Theater Systems”

http://www.ce.org/print/Standards/browse...



CEA Multiroom Audio Set

http://global.ihs.com/search_res.cfm?RID...

Includes: CEA-863-A, CEA-2030, and CEA-CEB17