Wiring house for speakers

[OPM881]

I am in the process of doing a bit of home automation, and am getting to the point where I need to start looking at how I am going to do the audio side of it. Now I already now how I am wanting to control it all and such, its just the matter of hooking up speakers to the different "zones" in the house that I am having trouble with due to wanting it to look very neat without a bunch of cables all over the place, and some of the doors being a pain when it comes to where I can run cables through them. So what I am asking about is, I know with network cables you need to be a licenced cabler to install them in walls and such, but what about for audio? I would only be wiring up 3 or 4 rooms in total, with normally just 2 speakers in each of these rooms, but I still need to know what I can and cannot legally do when it comes to running the speaker wire through the roof. I dont really want to get a cabler in as that is a massive PITA due to work and it will cost more than I am wanting to spend for this section of the build.

[Pugs]

speakr cabling is fine.. just make sure you maintain some seperation from other services

[OPM881]

Originally Posted by Pugs

speakr cabling is fine.. just make sure you maintain some seperation from other services

Awesome. I was hoping this was the answer. Thanks heaps. Just out of curiosity, what makes speaker cable wiring different to ethernet cabling in regards to needing cablers licensing?

[Pugs]

Originally Posted by OPM881

Awesome. I was hoping this was the answer. Thanks heaps. Just out of curiosity, what makes speaker cable wiring different to ethernet cabling in regards to needing cablers licensing?

cause it can't be connected to a Carriers network unless you are really silly..

tho esp for new builds alot of people opt to use their cabler for such cabling cause we have the tools/ training / site access (including the premission from the builder/ Site Supervisor)

[OPM881]

Originally Posted by Pugs

cause it can't be connected to a Carriers network unless you are really silly..

tho esp for new bujilds alot of people opt to use their cabler for such cabling cause we have the tools/ training / site access (including the premission from the builder/ Site Supervisor)

Ahhh kk. Thanks again for the info

[Red Spade]

What are you like at plastering?

I ask because when you run speaker cables through existing walls, you end up having to cut holes in the plaster, then patch them up. It's a repair job.

So let's say you run cables through either the floor or the ceiling. That part is easy, but then let's say you want to run the cable to some wall plates. That's where the fun starts.

So you want to do some wall plates where the plate is low on the wall? Then if you can, you run the horizontals through the floor, then at the wall you find there is a bottom plate you have to drill through. So you drill through that a fairly generous hole, then from the inside you cut away the plaster where you install the speaker wall plate. In this case you don't have to repair any plaster, the trick is to attach the speaker cable with gaffer tape to some wire which you feed up from below, while a helper with a torch grabs it with pliers from inside. That is about as easy as it gets.

If you want a plate high up in the walls for surrounds, then it might be similar.

It becomes a pest when you have to go through a noggin, then you have to cut away plaster and make a mess. Hopefully you can avoid that.

[Pugs]

Originally Posted by Red Spade

It becomes a pest when you have to go through a noggin, then you have to cut away plaster and make a mess. Hopefully you can avoid that.

that is when i use the cavity... between the exterior wall and the frame.. much easier then loosing drill bits down the wall

[OPM881]

Originally Posted by Red Spade

What are you like at plastering?

I ask because when you run speaker cables through existing walls, you end up having to cut holes in the plaster, then patch them up. It's a repair job.

So let's say you run cables through either the floor or the ceiling. That part is easy, but then let's say you want to run the cable to some wall plates. That's where the fun starts.

So you want to do some wall plates where the plate is low on the wall? Then if you can, you run the horizontals through the floor, then at the wall you find there is a bottom plate you have to drill through. So you drill through that a fairly generous hole, then from the inside you cut away the plaster where you install the speaker wall plate. In this case you don't have to repair any plaster, the trick is to attach the speaker cable with gaffer tape to some wire which you feed up from below, while a helper with a torch grabs it with pliers from inside. That is about as easy as it gets.

If you want a plate high up in the walls for surrounds, then it might be similar.

It becomes a pest when you have to go through a noggin, then you have to cut away plaster and make a mess. Hopefully you can avoid that.

Originally Posted by Pugs

that is when i use the cavity... between the exterior wall and the frame.. much easier then loosing drill bits down the wall

The main area where it would be used would be to fix the issue of trying to get speakers into the bathroom, as the other zones of the house can be handled a bit easier, but even saying that will probably be done later. Anyway, the walls that would be cut into to add the wire are all bessa block with existing cavities in certain spots to allow for cabling, so plaster would not be an issue.