b.
Select your speaker wire and purchase the proper lengths.
Now that you know the speaker locations
and have a wire-routing plan, the wire lengths you’ll need can be estimated.
A good guide is to use 18 gauge wire for runs less of than 75 feet, 16 gauge wire for runs of 75 to 150 feet and 14
gauge wire for runs over 150 feet (the speaker terminals will accommodate 14-gauge speaker wire). Behind-the-
wall wire runs should use UL Class 2 or 3 approved cable to ensure compliance with local building codes (it will be
marked CL2 or CL3).
c.
Route speaker wires away from household wiring because electrical lines will interfere with your
speaker signal.
Avoid the temptation to “piggyback” and use existing holes in the studs where electrical
wiring runs. And, when possible, keep speaker wires more than 18” away from electrical wiring. If you
need to cross electrical wiring, go directly across at a 90° angle.
•
Many distributed sound systems feature individual in-room volume controls. This means you will need additional
wire runs from the control to the speaker so be sure to account for these when planning your wire runs.
•
If you plan to use more than two sets of speakers, be sure they don’t present an unsafe load to your electronics.
There are two ways to deal with this potential problem:
1)
Buy a distributed audio amplifier with one channel for each speaker (best option).
2)
Buy an inexpensive speaker selector (works, but is not the optimal solution).
Speaker selectors are usually not recommended because they can greatly degrade the speakers’ sound quality (by
wiring your speakers in a series with one another other or by placing a resistor in series with them).
e
xTRa
T
iPs
f
oR
d
isTRiBuTed
s
ound
12
