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Surround Sound Setup

AirWalke

AirWalke

Well-Known Member
Aug 7, 2006
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Des Moines
Trying to install speakers in the living room, but I'm having difficulties concealing the wire for the rear speakers. Conventional wisdom would be to tuck the wires under the base molding and the carpet... but on the right side of the TV the carpet ends where the kitchen/dining area tile begins. On the left side is a little easier, except for a gas fireplace feature that won't allow me to sneak any wire underneath.

My next thought would be to just run it under the carpet instead of going the long roundabout way, but I have no idea how to go about that except for tearing the carpet up. (Which would not be feasible to do at all at this point in time.)

Any suggestions?
 
brianhos said:
Quality
Click to expand...
Yeah, I could see quality or possible interference being a problem.
But, more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. :smile: However, to the average person who doesn't need surround sound every single night, is it that big of a difference? I wouldn't know since I have neither.
 
AirWalke said:
Trying to install speakers in the living room, but I'm having difficulties concealing the wire for the rear speakers. Conventional wisdom would be to tuck the wires under the base molding and the carpet... but on the right side of the TV the carpet ends where the kitchen/dining area tile begins. On the left side is a little easier, except for a gas fireplace feature that won't allow me to sneak any wire underneath.

My next thought would be to just run it under the carpet instead of going the long roundabout way, but I have no idea how to go about that except for tearing the carpet up. (Which would not be feasible to do at all at this point in time.)

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...


Pull the carpet back and pay an installer a few bucks to stretch it back in place.
 
Or... drill through the floor, run wire through the basement joist and drill from above where you want the speakers. :smile:
 
Would something like this work for your application?

Wiremold Low Voltage Surface Raceways for Home and Office

wiremold-raceway-graphic-m.jpg
 
cychhosis said:
Or... drill through the floor, run wire through the basement joist and drill from above where you want the speakers. :smile:
Click to expand...

I've done something similar but I went through the wall, down to the basement, and up through the wall. Not easy but it works.
 
I have a question. Are these soundbars I have seen very good? I was thinking about going that route but I wondered about quality.
 
AirWalke said:
Trying to install speakers in the living room, but I'm having difficulties concealing the wire for the rear speakers. Conventional wisdom would be to tuck the wires under the base molding and the carpet... but on the right side of the TV the carpet ends where the kitchen/dining area tile begins. On the left side is a little easier, except for a gas fireplace feature that won't allow me to sneak any wire underneath.

My next thought would be to just run it under the carpet instead of going the long roundabout way, but I have no idea how to go about that except for tearing the carpet up. (Which would not be feasible to do at all at this point in time.)

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
I'm probably going to get killed by audiophiles for saying this, but I've done a 180 on surround sound the last couple years. I don't think it adds anything to the viewing experience for me. Just that first five minutes of Saving Private Ryan you show to your friends to demo your system. On my most recent home theater install I didn't even bother to setup the center and surrounds. I have everything downmixed to 2-channel stereo with a sub and it sounds great.
 
Some cable manufacturers make a very thin/flat cable specifically for being run under carpet...Monster is one option. You can go to home depot or menards, etc and buy a cable fishing tool to help pull it under the carpet. They're only about $10, I think. You can use this combo without having to pull back the carpet, just make sure you go under the pad too & don't let the cable twist.

Klein Tools Depthfinder 25 ft. Steel Fish Tape - 56005 at The Home Depot

Amazon.com: Acoustic Research PR361 Speaker Cable, Flat 16 AWG, (50 ft spool): Electronics
 
ruxCYtable said:
I'm probably going to get killed by audiophiles for saying this, but I've done a 180 on surround sound the last couple years. I don't think it adds anything to the viewing experience for me. Just that first five minutes of Saving Private Ryan you show to your friends to demo your system. On my most recent home theater install I didn't even bother to setup the center and surrounds. I have everything downmixed to 2-channel stereo with a sub and it sounds great.
Click to expand...

I consider myself to be somewhat of an audiophile & have a fairly decent investment in my home theater system. Typically, I just say: "to each his own," but my guess is that you may never have had the chance to listen to a truley good quality system that is set up the right way. The set up is really important.....from proper speaker angles, to proper speaker/subwoofer crossover levels, etc. (and on and on)
 
yaman3 said:
I have a question. Are these soundbars I have seen very good? I was thinking about going that route but I wondered about quality.
Click to expand...


I have one in my living room because I didn't want any speakers but the TV's speakers were terrible. Mine is a cheap one compared to some of the other available options. For me it provides decent sound but is far from a good surround system like I have in my basement home theater. So to summarize, better than TV speakers or a Bose system and high on the wife acceptance factor.
 
ISU_phoria said:
I consider myself to be somewhat of an audiophiles & have a fairly decent investment in my home theater system. Typically, in just say: "to each his own," but my guess is that you may never have had the chance to listen to a truley good quality system that is set up the right way. The set up is really important.....from proper speaker angles, to proper speaker/subwoofer crossover levels, etc. (and on and on)
Click to expand...

Also depends on the movie and if the sound guys gave a crap. Its definitely an art.
 
yaman3 said:
I have a question. Are these soundbars I have seen very good? I was thinking about going that route but I wondered about quality.
Click to expand...
I got my son-in-law a Vizio soundbar for Christmas and he loves it. He hasn't added a subwoofer yet but told me the difference from just the tv speakers is amazing. It was about $100 at Walmart.com but you could spend a lot more for a Polk, etc at Crutchfield.
 
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I like listening to my music with 2.1 but everything else I like 5.1. I wired for 7.1 and have tried it out but it didn't so anything for me so i went back to 5.1. This may be because I have bi-pole type speakers for my surround.
 
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