Problem: Our house is on a slab so I can't go under the floor. It's a 2 story home and the family room is on the first floor so I can't go through the attic. Can't around the base boards because there are stairs on one side, and 2 door ways on the other side of the tv. I'm racking my brain here and can't think of a way to get the wires from the TV to behind the couch on the opposite side of the room. :confused:

A picture of the room might help

Do you have crown molding?

Here is some pics (little blurry)

http://i1.tinypic.com/2h353si.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/2r750rd.jpg

Have you considered wireless surrounds? -- like this, for example (sorry about the cheesy website and pop-ups -- I googled "wireless surround speaker system" and found this site):
http://www.x10.com/products/x10_vk59a.htm

yes, I have considered them and that is an option. Would definitely be much easier. But I am concerned about the sound quality.

yes, I have considered them and that is an option. Would definitely be much easier. But I am concerned about the sound quality.

I am in no way endorsing the particular product or website, but for $40 it seems worth taking a chance to find out if the quality is sufficient.

Might consider flat speaker wire running along the molding at the wall/ceiling edge. Wiremold would work, too, but it wouldn't be as pretty. Run both surrounds to the left where it goes above the staircase and around to the back, as you have a continuous mold run there.

An alternative would be to run it by the edge of the carpet.

I've never liked wireless speakers, but if you don't like the idea of running some wires and fabricating stuff, it may be your only choice.

Pull the crown molding down and run the wire behind it. You could run your wires inside the wall up to the molding, bring it out, then run it back down to a new box you install. Its a little bit of work but will look nicer than having wires hanging around.

Wireless would be the easiest to do but I have never been found of their performance. It also limits you from the quality of the speakers you can find (since there is a smaller selection).

If you are mounting the surrounds up high then deffinately go up the wall and behind the crown molding. If they will be low sitting on stands then just pull up the carpet and run to the locations and re-stretch the carpet back into place.

Lots of good ideas. Speakers will probably be on stands (low) since the sofa is up against the rear wall. If I went with under the carpet, would I go below the carpet pad or in between the carpet and the pad ?? And how would I go about pulling the wire from one side to the other under the carpet ??

I have decided against the wireless rears. I am going to get some of the flat speaker wire. I didn't realize how thin it is. I am wondering how noticeable it would be if I ran it around the top just below the crown molding. You can paint the wire too .

Just a suggestion how about in the ceiling. I use to run the wire into another room and then back to the wall but my brother in law was putting recessed lighting in for me and he had to make holes in the ceiling for the lighting so I asked him if he can run the speaker wire in my ceiling before he patched up and repainted he said no problem. I did buy 12g speaker wire from MonoPrice which were rated for in wall use.


Rob

I have decided against the wireless rears. I am going to get some of the flat speaker wire. I didn't realize how thin it is. I am wondering how noticeable it would be if I ran it around the top just below the crown molding. You can paint the wire too .

Probably not a whole lot unless you're really looking for it if you do a good job of laying it down.

And truth be told, people don't really notice the wire molding I used, and that's about as obtrusive as it gets. :D

i just installed the flatwire for my rears yesterday. ran regular "round wire" between baseboard and carpet. then used terminator blocks to connect flatwire to round. then ran the wire up from baseboards against the wall to the rears about 7' high. for me this was the easiest way.

the wire performs great. looks good after i painted it but, still faintly noticeable in daylight hours. but i think i will spackle it to even it out. after a spackle it should be totally invisible. just a heads up. depends on the wall color too i would think. so you could slap some paint on it to test the results for personal preferance. and then spackle if you wish. depends on how invisible you want it to be.

the only issue i find is that is is tough to bend to conform to certain angles. if you're just doing bends to conform to corners in the room should be a cake walk. if you're trying to do say an "L" type bend is when it can get tough. all in all though very happy with it. a very clean look. i had no way to run behind walls or baseboards myself either. i would try to use regular wire as far as you can and then terminate it when the regular wire becomes just too obvious. i think you will be pleased in the end. i am.

i just installed the flatwire for my rears yesterday. ran regular "round wire" between baseboard and carpet. then used terminator blocks to connect flatwire to round. then ran the wire up from baseboards against the wall to the rears about 7' high. for me this was the easiest way.

the wire performs great. looks good after i painted it but, still faintly noticeable in daylight hours. but i think i will spackle it to even it out. after a spackle it should be totally invisible. just a heads up. depends on the wall color too i would think. so you could slap some paint on it to test the results for personal preferance. and then spackle if you wish. depends on how invisible you want it to be.

the only issue i find is that is is tough to bend to conform to certain angles. if you're just doing bends to conform to corners in the room should be a cake walk. if you're trying to do say an "L" type bend is when it can get tough. all in all though very happy with it. a very clean look. i had no way to run behind walls or baseboards myself either. i would try to use regular wire as far as you can and then terminate it when the regular wire becomes just too obvious. i think you will be pleased in the end. i am.

thanks. I was concerned about making an "L" bend too.