On Dec 4, 9:51 am, wrote:
Hello,
I purchased a new home (that was 95% completed when I bought it) that
was prewired for surround sound. I opened the plates where the
speakers are supposed to be attached on the walls, and found a (rather
low-quality) speaker wire there. There are four such plates. However,
the other end of the wire is not visible - no plates, exposed wires,
etc where I would expect to plug into my receiver.

The builder and electrician are completely unresponsive, so I can't
ask them for information. Is there any way to find out where the other
ends terminate?

Thanks for any help!

An RF wire (tone) tracer and a lot of patience. At Home Despot you
will find a couple of brands but the one with the gray box is the best
(the brand name escapes me but I think it begins with the letter P).
I have that one and I also have the Fluke wire tracer, but the one
with the gray square box seems to have a more sensitive and powerful
RF signal. You simply attach the transmitter alligator clips to the
speaker wire. This basically makes that whole wire into a big
transmitting antenna. You then walk around with your "sniffer" (its
an RF receiver tuned to your transmitter) until you hear the test
tone, then you know the wire continues in that direction in your
ceiling or wall. An RF tracer will be handy if you did not pre-wire
this house yourself and the owner did not label the wires at the
termination end.