Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation 1 Dec 21, 2011 8:27 am I have decided to mount some speakers in my outdoor alfresco area, and the best solution I have come up with is to get a speaker switch box on my amp and run speakers through the roof to ourdoor speakers mounted in the eaves. My main question is what is the best method to do this? I was thinking I would need to install a speaker wall plate where the amp is and run a small patch cable from the switch box to the wall plate, then from the wall plate up the wall, through the roof to outside. What is the best/easiest method for installing these types of wall plates (in particular dropping the cable down the walls to find the right spot for the wall plate. I am by no means a 'Handyman", but always like to give things a go myself before paying professionals to take over. Also what are the best types of wall plates (ir banana plugs, wire directly in etc). If anyone has any suggestions on how best to do this it would be much appreciated. Re: Running speaker wire in the roof 2Dec 22, 2011 11:26 pm Noggins.....Noggins....It's always about the noggins !! When we built our existing home (near 25 years ago) I could see that getting the antenna to the (26-inch Phillips colour TV) was going to be an issue as it was an internal wall, so before the gyprock went on I drilled (about) a 25mm hole in the frame top-plate and the nogging and fitted a drawstring. For an established home there's a couple of options to get your speaker cable down from the roof, the easiest is to hope that we're talking external wall !! Failing that, depending on how keen you are, Bunnings actually sell multi-part drill bits that are long enough to go from your frames top-plate down as far as the nogging......... Assuming of course you don't have insulation in the internal wall ??? When you're in the ceiling you'll be able to see by the timbers where the corner of your (lounge ??) room is, then it's simply a matter of measuring in the room how far from the corner you want to be and drilling down through the top-plate and nogging ùsing your "best estimate". Odds are you'll be 100-200mm out, but you'll have punched a (largish) hole in the lounge wall already, have the missus shine a torch through there and hopefully you'll get a good idea from the ceiling where the hole is. Then it's simply a matter of dropping a weighted string or similar through the holes in the top-plate, down through the nogging and having the Missus "fish it out" with a straightened out coat-hanger or similar. IMHO, By reading your post, you know what you want to do, you've come up with a way to do it, you'll be smart enuff to actually install the wires !! HTH, P_D . Block settled 07 June 2011 Our little piece of the Interwebs on HomeOne....... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=48577&start=0 Re: Running speaker wire in the roof 3Dec 23, 2011 9:34 pm the noggins are narrower than the studs so u can usually squeeze the speaker wire between the plaster and the noggins... ask at bunnings for some yellow tongue which makes the job much easier! Measure in from the nearest wall from where the wall plate is and drill a hole (25mm) in the top plate as close to this as you can (when in the roof you can easily see the room outlines). Cut out the hole for the wall plate and have fun fishing! Its definitely a two person job A second hole away from the first in the top plate (between the same two studs) can help so you can shine a torch down to see. I wired directly from the amp to the speakers and used a bullnose type plate on the wall instead of having an additional join (theres a lot of other cables running through also). It is the same size as a standard wall plate so you could change it out at a later date if you wanted. If it is exposed (ie. not hidden by an entertainment unit) you could go for a more elegant solution however. Do some youtubing also! Re: Running speaker wire in the roof 4Dec 24, 2011 12:20 am Sierra the noggins are narrower than the studs so u can usually squeeze the speaker wire between the plaster and the noggins...... Warning..This is NOT a recommended procedure......unless the person "fishing" for you is your best mate ! If it's your S.O doing the fishing there's a fair chance "words will be exchanged" Yellow-tongue is great..........if it works. Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes, not so much ! If you do go the Yellow-tongue route, maybe try tying 6 inches of string and weight on the end to make the fishing easier. (Your Yellow-tongue may come with a small hole pre-drilled for this ......) I guess we're trying to say, go for it, just realise that you're gonna need to be making some of it up as you go along !!! Cheers, P_D P_D . Block settled 07 June 2011 Our little piece of the Interwebs on HomeOne....... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=48577&start=0 Re: Running speaker wire in the roof 5Dec 24, 2011 10:31 am Pepsi_Drinker Warning..This is NOT a recommended procedure......unless the person "fishing" for you is your best mate ! If it's your S.O doing the fishing there's a fair chance "words will be exchanged" haha this is very true! We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16287 2 6196 Hi all I am looking to run a water line under my concrete footpath which is directly next to my home, was seeing if this is possible without cutting the entire section… 0 20189 |