I recently bought some of this to wire my house for surround sound home
cinema:
http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...GALE-XL315CABL

I didn't realise that good grade speaker wiring would be so thick and
therefore putting it under my laminate flooring is now out of the question.

I had a friend come round and give me some advice on how I would get the
wiring from one end of the room to another without the wiring trailing the
floor etc.

Both wires have to go down the same walls as the room is L shaped and taking
one set of wires down the L shape would make the route very long and have to
pass over the main door. However, taking both thick wires down the other
side makes it very difficult to hide or put under the beading.

My friend suggested drilling a hole out the building and passing the wiring
around the building and drilling another hole to get it passed back in.
This seems like a good idea.

Just want to ask a few questions though....

1) I assume I need to have some additional outer cable holder to protect the
stereo wiring as it is passed outside the house? What is this called? Will
I be able to find one to hold the 8 shaped wire above? Will I be able to
find one that holds 2 stereo wires at the same time or should I be looking
to protect the seperately?

2) Will there be any problems with passing stereo wires outside of the
house?

3) Is there anything else I should be aware of or buy to ensure this goes
smoothly?

Thanx

AMO

AMO wrote:

1) I assume I need to have some additional outer cable holder to protect the
stereo wiring as it is passed outside the house? What is this called? Will

Trunking or conduit. Conduiit tends to be round in section and
completely sealed, so you need to feed the wire through it. Trunking
usually has a detachable top that makes for easier wire feeding, but
less protection from moisture ingress. Having said that as long as the
cables are protected from sunlight, they won't care about getting wet.


I be able to find one to hold the 8 shaped wire above? Will I be
able to
find one that holds 2 stereo wires at the same time or should I be
looking
to protect the seperately?


Mini trunking is available in a wide range of sizes:

Diddy:
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSea...p?SKU=CBBR7912

Getting bigger:
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSea...p?SKU=CBBR7904

Silly:
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSea...p?SKU=CBBR7908


If you wanted to run the wires internally, there are also more
decorative trunking solutions:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...All/index.html


Conduit is more weatherproof but available in a smaller range of sizes.
However the largest is 1" diameter so ought to do what you need:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...dex/index.html


2) Will there be any problems with passing stereo wires outside of the
house?

Not especially.

Have you looked at other options though? If you have susspended (i.e.
wood) floors, you may find it simpler to drop the wire into the voide
under floor and resurface at the other end of the room.

The other more disruptive way would be to chase the wires into the
plasterwork.

3) Is there anything else I should be aware of or buy to ensure this goes
smoothly?

Make sure you don't create any route for water to get in. Drill holes at
a downward angle etc. Use a "drip" shape where cables go through the
wall to make sure the cable will not channel water in. Avoid close
proximity to mains wiring if you want to avoid picking up hum on the audio.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

I didn't realise that good grade speaker wiring would be so thick and
therefore putting it under my laminate flooring is now out of the
question.

315 strand OFC copper cable is well overspecced for surround sound purposes
unless you are actually aiming for an ASBO. Buy the 105 strand. You won't
notice the difference in terms of performance in this application. It will
be much easier to conceal. Save your 315 strand for the front speakers.

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:
I didn't realise that good grade speaker wiring would be so thick and
therefore putting it under my laminate flooring is now out of the
question.

315 strand OFC copper cable is well overspecced for surround sound
purposes unless you are actually aiming for an ASBO. Buy the 105
strand. You won't notice the difference in terms of performance in
this application. It will be much easier to conceal. Save your 315
strand for the front speakers.

Christian.

even then there are some far thinner and better cables out there.
chord rumour speaker cables are only 5mm thick, for example.

the stuff from richer sounds is kak, imo.

I think I agree with Christian - speaker cable this fat isn't really
that suited to surrounds.

Two things I have done in the past a
1) If its ground floor and you have concrete floors - use an angle
grinder to cut a channel in the concrete and put the wire in there.
2) Get some really flat speaker cable. I bought some years ago from
CPC. It is wide, but flat - about 1mm high, no more. It has a self
adhesive backing which you can choose to leave on or not. You can't
feel it under carpet, and probably not under laminate providing you
have underlay.

Marc


I recently bought some of this to wire my house for surround sound home
cinema:
http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...GALE-XL315CABL

I didn't realise that good grade speaker wiring would be so thick and
therefore putting it under my laminate flooring is now out of the question.

I had a friend come round and give me some advice on how I would get the
wiring from one end of the room to another without the wiring trailing the
floor etc.

Both wires have to go down the same walls as the room is L shaped and taking
one set of wires down the L shape would make the route very long and have to
pass over the main door. However, taking both thick wires down the other
side makes it very difficult to hide or put under the beading.

My friend suggested drilling a hole out the building and passing the wiring
around the building and drilling another hole to get it passed back in.
This seems like a good idea.

Just want to ask a few questions though....

1) I assume I need to have some additional outer cable holder to protect the
stereo wiring as it is passed outside the house? What is this called? Will
I be able to find one to hold the 8 shaped wire above? Will I be able to
find one that holds 2 stereo wires at the same time or should I be looking
to protect the seperately?

2) Will there be any problems with passing stereo wires outside of the
house?

3) Is there anything else I should be aware of or buy to ensure this goes
smoothly?

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Make sure you don't create any route for water to get in. Drill holes at a
downward angle etc. Use a "drip" shape where cables go through the wall to
make sure the cable will not channel water in. Avoid close proximity to
mains wiring if you want to avoid picking up hum on the audio.
Cheers,
John.

Hi John,

Thanx for all the info and links. Really appreciated!

AMO

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
.. .
315 strand OFC copper cable is well overspecced for surround sound
purposes unless you are actually aiming for an ASBO. Buy the 105 strand.
You won't notice the difference in terms of performance in this
application. It will be much easier to conceal. Save your 315 strand for
the front speakers.

Christian.

Never considered this possibility. Thanx.

AMO

"." [email protected] wrote in message
...
even then there are some far thinner and better cables out there.
chord rumour speaker cables are only 5mm thick, for example.

the stuff from richer sounds is kak, imo.

Thanx for that. Could you point me to some recommended cables please (and
links) ? The Gale XL 315 cables are 15mm wide by 7mm thick.

Thanx.

AMO

"marc_ely" wrote in message
ups.com...
I think I agree with Christian - speaker cable this fat isn't really
that suited to surrounds.

Two things I have done in the past a
1) If its ground floor and you have concrete floors - use an angle
grinder to cut a channel in the concrete and put the wire in there.
2) Get some really flat speaker cable. I bought some years ago from
CPC. It is wide, but flat - about 1mm high, no more. It has a self
adhesive backing which you can choose to leave on or not. You can't
feel it under carpet, and probably not under laminate providing you
have underlay.

Marc

Thanx for that advice Marc. That's really useful.

Could you please provide an exact link to the recommended products on the
CPC website?

AMO

Also, what's people's recommendation on the positioning of the sub-woofer.
My sub-woofer has to be at least 2 foot away from any other electronics to
be on the safe side. Most people recommend putting it in the front half of
the room somewhere. Where's the best place? I assume that if I am going to
put cheaper wiring for the surround sound speakers, that all other speakers
should have the good stuff?

Thanx

AMO

Also, what's people's recommendation on the positioning of the sub-woofer.
My sub-woofer has to be at least 2 foot away from any other electronics to
be on the safe side.

Put it wherever you feel like. At subwoofer frequencies, your ear
fundamentally can't tell where it is coming from but will guess instead,
based on where the high frequencies are located. Therefore, choose a
location where (a) it won't cause things to vibrate and (b) looks good.

Christian.

AMO wrote:
"." [email protected] wrote in message
...
even then there are some far thinner and better cables out there.
chord rumour speaker cables are only 5mm thick, for example.

the stuff from richer sounds is kak, imo.

Thanx for that. Could you point me to some recommended cables please
(and links) ? The Gale XL 315 cables are 15mm wide by 7mm thick.

Thanx.

AMO

http://snipurl.com/wuk2

hth

AMO wrote:

Also, what's people's recommendation on the positioning of the sub-woofer.
My sub-woofer has to be at least 2 foot away from any other electronics to
be on the safe side. Most people recommend putting it in the front half of
the room somewhere. Where's the best place? I assume that if I am going to
put cheaper wiring for the surround sound speakers, that all other speakers
should have the good stuff?

Placement of a sub is not critical - there is no stereo info down at
those frequencies as such, but it is nice to get good dispersion around
the room, so central placemeny may be better (either that or use two!)
If it is a side facing unit then it may benefit from being placed close
to a wall - firing at it. This will aid dispersion and add a little bass
reinforcement. Regarding walls - preferably not a party one! For a
downward facing unit even that does not matter much.

I have mine to the side of the couch under a coffee table facing a wall
- not an ideal location, but dictated by the room layout. Seems to
work well enough though.

The only way to really work out what sounds best with your system and
room is to try various arrangements until you find one that works.

Regarding cables, the main left and right demand the best cable, with
the centre not far behind.

Rear effects have far less stringent requirements. Something like
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...No=49&doy=22m9

would be more than adequate.

The sub (assuming it is an active unit) only needs a reasonable quality
screened phono to phono lead.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
.. .
Put it wherever you feel like. At subwoofer frequencies, your ear
fundamentally can't tell where it is coming from but will guess instead,
based on where the high frequencies are located. Therefore, choose a
location where (a) it won't cause things to vibrate and (b) looks good.
Christian.

Thanx Christian.

AMO

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Placement of a sub is not critical - there is no stereo info down at those
frequencies as such, but it is nice to get good dispersion around the
room, so central placemeny may be better (either that or use two!) If it
is a side facing unit then it may benefit from being placed close to a
wall - firing at it. This will aid dispersion and add a little bass
reinforcement. Regarding walls - preferably not a party one! For a
downward facing unit even that does not matter much.

That's good to know - thanx!

Rear effects have far less stringent requirements. Something like
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...No=49&doy=22m9
would be more than adequate.

Thanx for that. There are so many different types of cable and I am not
such a big sound fan that it helps greatly when people provide exact links
to recommendations. Thanks!

Cheers,
John.

AMO

"." [email protected] wrote in message
...
http://snipurl.com/wuk2

hth


Thanx. What exactly is Chord Rumour cable? Is it a standard of cable, a
brand or a specific cable for a specific type of connection?

Thanx.

AMO

AMO wrote:
"." [email protected] wrote in message
...
http://snipurl.com/wuk2

hth


Thanx. What exactly is Chord Rumour cable?

it's a /banana/ obviously !

Is it a standard of cable, a brand or a specific cable for a
specific type of connection?

click some links, ffs LOL

The message
from "AMO" contains these words:

What exactly is Chord Rumour cable?

Something that only allows you to hear a rumour of the chords the
musicians were playing instead of the real thing?

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Hi,

Carpet will improve the top end far more than £££ speaker cable and
laminate floor I'd have thought.

Looks like the Gale cable is 1.5mm2, wonder if it sounds different to
13A mains cable...

IME with subs it's trial and error and personal preference.

cheers,
Pete.

In message , Christian
McArdle writes
I didn't realise that good grade speaker wiring would be so thick and
therefore putting it under my laminate flooring is now out of the
question.

315 strand OFC copper cable is well overspecced for surround sound purposes
unless you are actually aiming for an ASBO. Buy the 105 strand.

About £20 / 100m roll from CPC ATM

You won't
notice the difference in terms of performance in this application. It will
be much easier to conceal. Save your 315 strand for the front speakers.

Christian.



--
geoff

Pete C wrote:

Looks like the Gale cable is 1.5mm2, wonder if it sounds different to
13A mains cable...

Of course not. The only thing that matters with speaker leads is the
resistance and a good rule of thumb is that this shouldn't exceed 5% of
the nominal speaker impedance. With 8 ohm speakers and 1.5 mm^2 wire
that allows you about a 15 metre run.

--
Andy

In message , AMO
writes
Also, what's people's recommendation on the positioning of the sub-woofer.
My sub-woofer has to be at least 2 foot away from any other electronics to
be on the safe side. Most people recommend putting it in the front half of
the room somewhere. Where's the best place?

Wherever you want, it doesn't matter

--
geoff

"AMO" wrote in message
...

Thanx. What exactly is Chord Rumour cable? Is it a standard of cable, a
brand or a specific cable for a specific type of connection?

At a guess, it's an overpriced 'audiophile' cable. Whatever you do, don't
pay more than you did for your fat gale cable.

(for an extreme example, try Russ Andrews :-) )

cheers,
clive

"Clive George" wrote in message
...
At a guess, it's an overpriced 'audiophile' cable. Whatever you do, don't
pay more than you did for your fat gale cable.

(for an extreme example, try Russ Andrews :-) )

cheers,
clive


Thanx for that clive and to all else who replied! ;0)

AMO

Clive George wrote:
"AMO" wrote in message
...

Thanx. What exactly is Chord Rumour cable? Is it a standard of
cable, a brand or a specific cable for a specific type of connection?

At a guess, it's an overpriced 'audiophile' cable.

LOL hardly audiophile, certainly not expensive.

Whatever you do,
don't pay more than you did for your fat gale cable.

he really ought to but I suppose it depends what's being driven, by what.

Owain wrote:
AMO wrote:
The Gale XL 315 cables are 15mm wide by 7mm thick.

Jaysus, I've seen electric showers run on thinner wire than that!

Owain

prolly sounded better, too ;-)

John Rumm wrote:

If you wanted to run the wires internally, there are also more
decorative trunking solutions:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...All/index.html

Thanks for that link John, useful range of stuff TLC have - and a branch
only a mile away! I've ordered a catalouge.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257