[Stephen Sutton]


I just went to a audio place that is not a chain. It was impressive with 5-6 different rooms that were complete theatre rooms and they had a good amount of high end speakers, receivers, and tv's there.

 

I am about to buy some bowers and wilkins 600 series speakers soon and asked the guy if I wanted someone to come into my house to wire everything up and set it all up, how much does that cost? I told him I got a 20x20 room that is finished so hiding the wires etc would be needed. He told me that they charge bascially by the hour and that its 190 a hour. They would do a consulting visit first then wire and calibrate the speakers and set all my devices up on a remote type thing. He estimated the job to take at least one full day 1500 bucks or maybe longer.

 

Is this guy full of it or is that the going rate for this type of service? I am new to the audio thing and have done my research on here and at places like best buy and I know what I want, now I need to know how to get everything up and running once I got it all purchased. Have a specialist do it and do it right with all the fancy calibrations and remote for everything or maybe ust hire a handyman that knows his wiring. All feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[J_Palmer_Cass]

$190 per hour for what size crew?


You are vague on wiring requirements. Retrofit in wall wiring can get expensive depending on you house construction.

 

[Stephen Sutton]

I'm vague because I don't know much about wiring myself. I just told the guy I have a 20x20 room it was constructed in 2007. I am installing bowers and Wilkins 600 series into it. Looking to hide the wires , get the speakers calibrated etc. guy said it is 190 an hour and usually takes one full day or a bit more. He would estimate the cost around 1500 dollars.

 

[J_Palmer_Cass]

Do you have an existing system, or are you starting from scratch? If you have existing equipment, what do you own. If buying equipment, what are you buying. You know, details like you are buying 2 speakers or a 7.1 speaker setup. New receiver, old receiver, etc.


Also, are you the clueless type that has no idea on how to do anything and needs extensive hand holding all the way though the setup? Or are you the type of person who likes to spend some time and figure out how to do things?


Saying that you want to hide wires means nothing. You have to get wires from the receiver to the speakers, the receiver to the TV, bluray player, cable, whatever you use. You (AKA installer) may have to make holes in walls and ceilings that need to be repaired in order to "hide" the wires.


If you are not capable of DIY, then you are going to have to pay up forever.

 

[Stephen Sutton]



Quote:
Originally Posted by J_Palmer_Cass  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up#post_24509504


Do you have an existing system, or are you starting from scratch? If you have existing equipment, what do you own. If buying equipment, what are you buying. You know, details like you are buying 2 speakers or a 7.1 speaker setup. New receiver, old receiver, etc.


Also, are you the clueless type that has no idea on how to do anything and needs extensive hand holding all the way though the setup? Or are you the type of person who likes to spend some time and figure out how to do things?


Saying that you want to hide wires means nothing. You have to get wires from the receiver to the speakers, the receiver to the TV, bluray player, cable, whatever you use. You (AKA installer) may have to make holes in walls and ceilings that need to be repaired in order to "hide" the wires.


If you are not capable of DIY, then you are going to have to pay up forever.

I have a bose 3-2-1 so I am basically starting from scratch

 

Buying bowers and wilkins 683 S1 or S2 front speakers

Prob htm1 center speaker

685's for the surrounds

and 1-2 subs since I have a square 20x20 room

receiver I am looking at is the denon x-4000

 

I am no pro thats why I am hiring someone, but its 7 speakers and a receiver in a room, so I am not counting on paying up forever. Just wondering if it takes a day and a half like this guy indicated and if 190 an hour is too much.

 

[67jason]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen Sutton  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up/0_100#post_24510314

Quote:
Originally Posted by J_Palmer_Cass  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up#post_24509504


Do you have an existing system, or are you starting from scratch? If you have existing equipment, what do you own. If buying equipment, what are you buying. You know, details like you are buying 2 speakers or a 7.1 speaker setup. New receiver, old receiver, etc.



Also, are you the clueless type that has no idea on how to do anything and needs extensive hand holding all the way though the setup? Or are you the type of person who likes to spend some time and figure out how to do things?



Saying that you want to hide wires means nothing. You have to get wires from the receiver to the speakers, the receiver to the TV, bluray player, cable, whatever you use. You (AKA installer) may have to make holes in walls and ceilings that need to be repaired in order to "hide" the wires.



If you are not capable of DIY, then you are going to have to pay up forever.

I have a bose 3-2-1 so I am basically starting from scratch


Buying bowers and wilkins 683 S1 or S2 front speakers

Prob htm1 center speaker

685's for the surrounds

and 1-2 subs since I have a square 20x20 room

receiver I am looking at is the denon x-4000


I am no pro thats why I am hiring someone, but its 7 speakers and a receiver in a room, so I am not counting on paying up forever. Just wondering if it takes a day and a half like this guy indicated and if 190 an hour is too much.

check your local craigslist. look for the "services" area and search for electrical/wiring/handyman postings. contact a few of them for quotes. then you'd know if the quote from the dealer is out of line or not.

 

[Stephen Sutton]

Solid idea thanks. I hit the internet too find local guys that do thid type of work; got a fee emails back yesterday on it. I am going to have two of them come out and maybe a third from craigslist then i should know whats up. Thanks

 

[J_Palmer_Cass]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen Sutton  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up#post_24510314

Quote:
Originally Posted by J_Palmer_Cass  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up#post_24509504


Do you have an existing system, or are you starting from scratch? If you have existing equipment, what do you own. If buying equipment, what are you buying. You know, details like you are buying 2 speakers or a 7.1 speaker setup. New receiver, old receiver, etc.



Also, are you the clueless type that has no idea on how to do anything and needs extensive hand holding all the way though the setup? Or are you the type of person who likes to spend some time and figure out how to do things?



Saying that you want to hide wires means nothing. You have to get wires from the receiver to the speakers, the receiver to the TV, bluray player, cable, whatever you use. You (AKA installer) may have to make holes in walls and ceilings that need to be repaired in order to "hide" the wires.



If you are not capable of DIY, then you are going to have to pay up forever.

I have a bose 3-2-1 so I am basically starting from scratch


Buying bowers and wilkins 683 S1 or S2 front speakers

Prob htm1 center speaker

685's for the surrounds

and 1-2 subs since I have a square 20x20 room

receiver I am looking at is the denon x-4000


I am no pro thats why I am hiring someone, but its 7 speakers and a receiver in a room, so I am not counting on paying up forever. Just wondering if it takes a day and a half like this guy indicated and if 190 an hour is too much.

You have to break things down.


1. Delivery of equipment.


2. Setup and connections of equipment. You can do this yourself, but some people want to have nothing to do with this. Once you learn how to do the setup, you can easily make changes to your system. If you do not learn how to do the system setup, then you have to pay for others to do it for you. A local wiring installer will not know how do do this properly in a reasonable amount of time.


3. Wiring: This can be done with a local wiring installer if you need to "hide" the wires in the walls.


(a) In a typical installation, your AVR and front speakers are setup near the TV in the front of the room. So all wiring is exposed which is no big deal.


(b) Your surround speakers need to have cables run to the various surround speaker locations. If you need to "hider" the wiring by running the cable through the ceiling / floor / walls to an individual outlet for each surround speaker, then the hours add up. It may not even be possible to "hide" the wires without damage to the walls / ceiling. I only ran wires for 2 surround speakers. I had to pull cables from the room front through the wall outlet through the floor to the basement to the surround speaker wall to the surround speaker outlet. Is that the type of "hide the wires" you are talking about?


(c) You might consider only going 5.1 with 2 surround speakers. I had to do that because there was no place to locate the other surround speakers. I also think that the additional rear surround speakers are overkill, but that is just my opinion.


(d) Wall mount or stand mount for speakers.




As for the $190 per hour labor cost, is that the cost for an installation crew or for 1 person? How much travel time is involved for the installers? Where are you located? The labor cost in let's say New York City will be a lot higher than in a suburban location.


You have to figure out what you want others to do, and then you should get a firm price to do the work that you can not or will not do yourself.

 

[Stephen Sutton]


Yeah its going to be a 5.1 or 5.2 system (5.2 if I go with 2 subwoofers) Just the 685's acting as surrounds and they would be the only wires that I would like to hide.

 

I live 20 min north of NYC in the burbs. It is what most would call an expensive area to live.

 

If I could do the set up I wouldn't have someone else doing it, thats why I am hiring someone.

 

I will prob put the 685 surrounds on a stand towards the back of the room.

                                 

                               20x20 Room

 

                             Front of Room

                 683     Center Speaker    683        Subwoofer

                             Denon X-4000

 

                

                 685                                   685

                              Back of Room           

 

[J_Palmer_Cass]

OK. Let's talk in general about hidden wires in wall.


Does your room have an attic above the room or an unfinished basement below the room? Are the outlets to be mounted on outdoor facing walls, or in interior facing walls (AKA not outside wall)? The cable installer needs access pull in surround wires. Otherwise, they have to punch holes in ceilings and you have to get the holes patched. I do not allow that procedure in my home, but that all depends on how fancy your ceiling is (AKA smooth or textured, plaster of sheetrock, etc.).


In general, the basic equipment setup is pretty easy. You should be able to have the equipment delivered and setup for a known fixed cost reasonable amount.


The special items that are expensive are things like If you are buying a special remote control, then programming the remote control can get very expensive due to the unknown amount of time involved.


The hidden wiring installation can also be quite costly, and will be a custom price. Could be a local installer, but then that is up to you to find one that will give you a price.



The $190 per hour price just does not feel right to me because I do not have a good handle on what that means. Is that an hourly charge for an installation crew, or per person?

 

[kjfalls]

You really should have di-pole surrounds for the side speakers. I see a lot of B&W D6 surrounds on ebay which are supposed to be pretty good. They would provide a more diffuse surround effect when listening to music, or with other derived (two channel to 5.1) surround formats. Rear speakers are especially good if you're into SACD or other full-range multi-channel formats. Square rooms are notorious for standing waves. I think having two subs would make it worse, but I haven't had the experience. Someone else may want to chime in. Check out the THX specs for speaker placement to use as your guide. Have an electrician run your cables. It shouldn't cost anyway near $190/hr. Once the hardware is setup, then bring in your calibrator to perform just the setup. Many ISF calibrators can perform audio setup as well as video. Being in NYC you should have a choice of several good ISF calibrators. They have a website you can google.

 

[Stephen Sutton]



Quote:
Originally Posted by kjfalls  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up#post_24511270


You really should have di-pole surrounds for the side speakers. I see a lot of B&W D6 surrounds on ebay which are supposed to be pretty good. They would provide a more diffuse surround effect when listening to music, or with other derived (two channel to 5.1) surround formats. Rear speakers are especially good if you're into SACD or other full-range multi-channel formats. Square rooms are notorious for standing waves. I think having two subs would make it worse, but I haven't had the experience. Someone else may want to chime in. Check out the THX specs for speaker placement to use as your guide. Have an electrician run your cables. It shouldn't cost anyway near $190/hr. Once the hardware is setup, then bring in your calibrator to perform just the setup. Many ISF calibrators can perform audio setup as well as video. Being in NYC you should have a choice of several good ISF calibrators. They have a website you can google.

OK so you don't recommend getting the 685's for the surrounds. Thanks will have to look into that! Someone recently told me I would need two subs because of the sqaure room so i'm confused no with that and will need to investigate that a bit more too. Thanks for your help!

 

[Stephen Sutton]



Quote:
Originally Posted by J_Palmer_Cass  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up#post_24511224


OK. Let's talk in general about hidden wires in wall.


Does your room have an attic above the room or an unfinished basement below the room? Are the outlets to be mounted on outdoor facing walls, or in interior facing walls (AKA not outside wall)? The cable installer needs access pull in surround wires. Otherwise, they have to punch holes in ceilings and you have to get the holes patched. I do not allow that procedure in my home, but that all depends on how fancy your ceiling is (AKA smooth or textured, plaster of sheetrock, etc.).


In general, the basic equipment setup is pretty easy. You should be able to have the equipment delivered and setup for a known fixed cost reasonable amount.


The special items that are expensive are things like If you are buying a special remote control, then programming the remote control can get very expensive due to the unknown amount of time involved.


The hidden wiring installation can also be quite costly, and will be a custom price. Could be a local installer, but then that is up to you to find one that will give you a price.



The $190 per hour price just does not feel right to me because I do not have a good handle on what that means. Is that an hourly charge for an installation crew, or per person?
My room has nothing above it. It used to be a 20x20 porch that was connected off the kitchen and I made it into a room since it already had a nice foundation underneath. It has cathedral ceilings, there are 2 ceiling speakers in place because I have a whole house system where I have several speakers in each room of the house, these aren't being used for the TV though, but I guess they could help maybe in terms of the wiring? Not sure though as they were put in while the room was being constructed back in 2007. The receiver for the whole house audio is in another room.

 

[J_Palmer_Cass]

Well, then you can't go up with the cables.


Is the floor on a slab, or do you have a crawl space? If you have a crawl space, then you can go through the floor with your surround cables. As an alternative, you can have the baseboards removed and go around the room with cable placed behind the baseboard. If you have radiators going around the room perimeter you can work the cables into the forced hot water radiator covers.

 

[Stephen Sutton]



Quote:
Originally Posted by J_Palmer_Cass  /t/1523371/labor-cost-per-hour-for-installing-calibrating-new-speaker-set-up#post_24513959


Well, then you can't go up with the cables.


Is the floor on a slab, or do you have a crawl space? If you have a crawl space, then you can go through the floor with your surround cables. As an alternative, you can have the baseboards removed and go around the room with cable placed behind the baseboard. If you have radiators going around the room perimeter you can work the cables into the forced hot water radiator covers.

I have a crawl space then a slab below that. Some  plastic fencing type arrangement along the bottom trim of the outside of the room/house. One side of the room I have bookselves and fireplace (no radiators) on the other side is just wall and an opening to the room. If I can hide the wires by just having them around the trim of the room somehow I am ok with it, doesnt have to be hiden 100%. Here are a few pics of my room that currently has the 52 inch sharp and the bose 321

 

 

 



 

 

[J_Palmer_Cass]

I most likely would have a small hole drilled through the floor and have cable pulled across the room in the crawl space below the floor. As long as the crawl space has a reasonable height to work in (say 4 feet from slab to floor above) that would be easy for the installer.



A carpenter type of handy man could also pull off the moldings on the right side of the room and hide the cables behind those white moldings. The cable could go under the FHW Heat radiators for the balance of the run.



I would take those pictures and a picture of the crawl area access to the place that you are getting your prices from. That will give them a pretty good idea on what they need to do for the surround install.

 

[Stephen Sutton]

Sounds good. I would say the crawl space is just that though... A crawl space lol. Just enough room to get around. I wil take a pic of it today and the outside if the room too.

 

[Stephen Sutton]


outside of room/crawl space..

 

 



 

 

[tshep]

Yes, way too much per hour, and way too few hours

It's basic apprentice wiring skills, but done neatly and hidden will take quite a while, and no cal. can start until completely finished.

Then 1 man job slowly tweaking.


I think you have wrong contractor, and will get rushed, messy wiring, and then a quickie cal at preemo price.


Get a knowledgeable kid/apprentice to pull the wires with you, and learn to do the cal. I bet your rec. will help you!

 

[Stephen Sutton]

Calibrate I wouldn't know where to begin. Do I shake them? Lol such a newbie