Speaker Wire Through Drywall - No Wall Plate

This is another request for my 'half gang' wall plate that I dreamed up, that nobody makes.

No small wall plates are commercially available. Make one.

If you asked this question in the theater construction sub forum you'd get several replies and probably a picture or two.
Many people just poke a hole in the wall and are done with it.
A few have found 'inserts' (rubber, plastic, designed for computer cables, etc) to make it look a little more finished. That's where you'd get pictures.
You could even get a plain wall plate with a single hole in it (typical cable style) and just attach it to the wall w/o any box behind it, over the small hole you made. But there again you have a full sized plate even if there was only a small hole behind it.

Paul

Just make a small hole big enough for the wire.

You could modify some type of grommet, for drywall. Something like a desk grommet.

How about a Wall Feedthrough Bushing

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103565

I used 1-gang rework boxes. You don;t need to terminate the wire at the box. I left a enough in the box then bought a coax cable plate which has a hole in the center to feed it through. In the future if someone wants to terminate it they can.

I just poked the wire through the drywall and used a single gang wall plate screwed directly into the drywall with a center hole drilled out for the wire. The only disturbance to the drywall is the wire hole and the 2 screw holes.

This is what I will use - sure a box behind etc but it will look nice

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I am using the same stuff in the HT closet to keep all the cables looking good

With cables for 7.1 audio, HDMI for projector, Cat5 to HDMI for tv, component to other tv, audio cables to zone 2 and 3 it will be a freaking mess if I don't use wall plates for everything.

So yeah if you only have one cable poke a hole, but I think there is some value to just make it look nice. You can always poke a hole now and get the wall plate and put it in later

As others have suggested.. make a hole in the drywall thats the same size as the speaker cable. I usually put it right where the speaker bracket will go. This way the wire comes across the wall a long side the mount making it less noticeable.

The more important issue is to make sure you use "in wall" rated speaker wire.

Personally, I just use a blank wall plate with a hole drilled in it, then a rubber grommet.

-Suntan

Can you hide the hole behind the speaker mount plate, if the speaker is hanging on a wall? If the speaker is on a stand/pedestal, just use a single gang wall plate - it's as inconspicuous as a 1-gang outlet.

I drilled a small hole into my speaker mount itself, then put black split loom on the speaker wire that ran from the wall to the terminals. Its difficult to distinguish unless you know its there.

I have been looking around for on-wall speaker mounts that are hollow so you can bring the wire thru it like you can with some CCTV cameras but i haven't found anything. Seems like this product should exist.

thanks for mentioning this, i almost bought the wrong stuff.

Why "in-wall" wire over regular speaker wire? Details please.

If you dont use inwall rated wire, which I believe is "CL2" rated wire, and you have a fire, even though it wasnt the cause, it could be the blame. Even if it wasnt the blame a insurance company can weasel out of paying. Highly unlikely, but do you really want to chance it? They will know and they will find it. Pay the extra money for in wall rated cabling.

As for the speaker wire and wall mounting. You could always use one of these:



Single gags are available.

http://cableorganizer.com/arlington-...l?=recommended

you can get bushings that just slip in to the wall most cable guys will use them.

Uh, maybe because it is required by law.

I know this is an old thread, but I think this question still applies today. If I already have regular speaker wire installed through the wall do you think it would be worth the hassle to replace it with in wall rated? Thanks

Yes. It is required by code.

And just to underscore that point: The extra few bucks to build to code will be cheap compared to running into issues fighting the insurance company if there is a fire or the people you sell your house to.

Do the job, once. Do it right.

Now is it measure once and cut twice or...?

I would think so. I'm using an orange dual-voltage box from the Big Box store that's a regular single-gang box plus a second, open-backed, low-voltage box attached. Or you can use one of these:

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/carlon-...es-292315.html

Arlington, and others, make dual voltage double gang old work boxes.

A plate for "F" type connectors (IE RG6 wire) and a grommet, slip your speaker wire through the grommet, grommet into the ~3/8 inch hole in plate. Get 'em well under a buck at Home Depot or off Amazon. Use screws to attach to your drywall.

Heck, if you're gonna do the job, do it right the first time.

Looking for this?

i've been looking for the same thing (mini wall plates for speaker wire), and finally found a vendor (in the UK).

http://www.av4home.co.uk/acatalog/AV4-AMBA-AR_Compact_Single_Speaker_Wall_Plate.html

Knowing that these mini plates do exist, I think i'll continue searching to see who else makes/sells them.

Please share if you find other vendors as well. Thanks!

i am mounting a jamo 5.1 set at the moment. they sit quite close to the wall so have done as others suggested and brought the cable straight out of the plasterboard

i used these paintable wall grommets, made for rg6 so they needed drilling out a bit



secured it to a nog with a pin clip (same nog the speaker will mount on)



end result



wall with L/R and sonance sa3 centre

@lnong wrote: Looking for this?

i've been looking for the same thing (mini wall plates for speaker wire), and finally found a vendor (in the UK).

http://www.av4home.co.uk/acatalog/AV4-AMBA-AR_Compact_Single_Speaker_Wall_Plate.html

Knowing that these mini plates do exist, I think i'll continue searching to see who else makes/sells them.

Please share if you find other vendors as well. Thanks!

At 18 pounds sterling, roughly $27 US, hopefully there are other vendors!

I have been looking for these for a while, as I had used them in the past for CL3 XPHP Monster Cable. They worked great, but I couldn't figure out where the original installer found them. Everyone I had asked didn't have a clue. Chupacabra found! thanks.

Now, do you happen to have to leads for me regarding wall pass-through for lots of cable. Here's what I am after. I want a rack either inside the room or through the wall. If I do it in the room, then I need a pass-through that is somewhat sealed that goes in to the adjacent walk-in attic (non-conditioned space). I was thinking I would put the power strips, and all the bulk in the attic, but just pass it all (speaker wires, power cords, HDMI, etc.) through the wall to the rack. The next option, which I can't seem to locate either, is a system that has cooling that I can put in the walk-in attic and only has a glass or ?? door in the room. Don't really need a large rack, really just looking for 3-4 shelves. Receiver/amp/preamp on bottom, sources like BDPs, processors, etc., then one for whatever other sources that I can't fit reasonably on those due to heat/ventilation. Do you happen to have some places or searches that might work?

Thanks,
tbaudoin