Installation in New Construction
Installation in New Construction
Insulating the Wall Cavity
If feasible, fill the wall cavity with insula- tion at this point.
Mounting The New Construction Bracket
The hole saving bracket enables a faster and cleaner final installation of the speak- er. It forces the drywall installer to cut out the speaker hole for you and provides wire ties for the speaker wire, reducing the risks of accidental loss or movement of the wire. In addition, it enables you to align your speakers with other ceiling fixtures with great accuracy since you can really see exactly where the speaker will be.
To install the bracket, first attach the QuickSnap™ new construction wings to the bracket by snapping them into the sides of the bracket. The wings can be shortened by breaking them along the scored lines if the length will interfere with corner or eaves.
The wings and brackets have centering lines to simplify placement of the speakers.
Screw one side of the assembled bracket with wings to the joist using one of the supplied screws. Level the bracket. Screw the other side of the bracket/wing assem- bly to the joist. Two screws on each side make for a very secure installation. Secure the wire to the bracket using bracket’s wire tie. The drywall installers will cut the drywall to the exact size of the bracket.
(See Figure 12)
Concealing Speaker Wire for a Future Installation
Attach the speaker wire in a loop between the ceiling joists and carefully mark the exact location of the wire on a set of plans. Ask the general contractor to inform the drywall installers that the speaker wire loops are concealed for future installa- tions. (See Figure13)
Try to line the holes up perfectly, because it makes pulling the wire much easier. A good technique is to snap a chalk line across the face of the studs or against the bottom of the ceiling joists. Then work backward so that you can always see the holes you have already drilled. Paying careful attention to this will save you a lot of time later on!
Pulling the Cable
Pull the cable in sections (from the stereo to the volume control, from the volume control to the speaker). Start with the longest sections and use left over wire to complete the short sections. If you plan to pull many rooms at the same time through a central route, walk off the distance to each destination, add a generous fudge factor for turns and other obstacles, then cut off each section so that you have a bundle of wires you can pull at once.
Whenever you run the wire further than four and one half feet from a hole in a stud or joist (open attic space, going up walls, etc.), fasten the wire to the joists or studs using cable clamps or appropriately sized wire staples. The wire should not have large sags in it, nor should it be too tight. Try to protect the wire from being stepped
when you look at the painted wall board, plaster, or paneling is only the skin of the wall. Behind the skin is the skeleton; two-
Exterior walls are different. They must insulate the house from the heat and cold outside, so they are stuffed with insulation. The national building code requires that the hollow wall space in exterior walls be broken by a horizontal stud placed between the vertical studs. This “fire blocking” makes it very difficult to retrofit long lengths of wire. In some areas of the country the exterior walls are constructed of solid masonry, and have no hollow space for speakers or wires.
Start by examining all the possible routes you might take to run the speaker wire from the speaker to the volume control and back to the stereo. Use a stud sensor or other device to locate the internal struc- ture of the wall. You want to avoid all
Installation Fundamentals
Figure 12 |
Figure 13 |
on in attics or other unfinished crawl spaces. There are guard strips, raceways and conduits which can be used to protect the cable. Consult the local building code for special requirements in your area.
Concealing Speaker Wire
in Existing Walls
This is actually a fairly simple task if you restrict your choice of speaker locations and wire routes to the interior walls or ceilings of your home. Interior walls in almost all North American residences are
studs or joists. A typical route would be: from the speaker location in the ceiling, across the attic, then down through a top plate (the horizontal 2x4 or 2x6 laid across the vertical studs) to the volume control location, back up to the attic, across the attic, and finally down another wall plate to a
Identify where all of your electrical, phone, and TV wiring is likely to be and plan to route around it all. You can acci- dentally induce 60Hz hum on your speak-
The optional hole saving brackets are installed | The speaker wire is looped and hung on two |
and the speaker wire is attached to the bracket. | nail attached to the joists securing it for |
| future use. Make sure the location is noted |
| on house plans. |
hollow, so that it is easy to flush mount speakers into them and route new speaker cable around the house. What you see
ers if you run your speaker wire right beside electrical wire for more than a few feet. Try to keep speaker wire running par-
13 |
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