I am going to run my rear surround speaker wires thru the walls (I will have access to the studs, paneling is being replaced by drywall). Can I run the speaker wires thru the same stud holes as the AC wiring or will that induce hum?

I suppose since this is the 'Audio Theory' forum;

The oscillation of AC power in close proximity can induce noise in your speaker wires if niether one is shielded.

In practice you may not experience [much] interference this way. It may vary with current draw, as well. If the electrical lines you're referring to are running the dishwasher while you're listening, you might detect a hum.

Best practice says avoid that scenario where possible.

Though, you may have shielded romex.

I would avoid this. It is possible you will not notice any hum, depending on the length of run, sensitivity of your speakers and the power you toss down the speaker wire, but at least 12" (30cm) of separation is nice to have.

Look at it this way - you'll never induce more hum by running the speaker wire separately. Plus, if you ever need to re-run either set of wiring, the other set won't get in the way.

IMHO,

shinksma

It's not recommended for safty reasons, but it won't induce hum into such a low impedance circuit.

it's not always easy to have wires avoid each other, but it's better to have them cross paths perpendicular than to run them parallel...