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Need help mounting heavy speakers on a plaster wall

1994 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by BoomieMCT, Oct 3, 2006

sofakng

Discussion Starter · Oct 3, 2006

I'm looking to 2x Athena AS-B1's on my wall using Crutchfield wall-mounts. I think the speakers weigh about 15 lbs and the mounts probably the same (maybe less?).

The manual for the mounts say to NEVER use these on a plaster wall unless you attach them directly to a stud.

Well, the studs are not in ideal places where I'd like to mount my speakers so I'm wondering if it's safe to use molly bolts (or something else?) to attach my speaker mounts + speakers to the wall.

Second part of the question: (maybe I should start a new thread for this?)

What's the best way to run wires from wall-mounted speakers (eg. the ones going on my plaster wall) to the floor? I'd like to run them through the wall but since they are plaster I was told this is nearly impossible (unless I want to tear out a large section of the wall and then replace it with dry wall [which will look ugly])

Any advice would be appriciated!

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mderka

· #2 · Oct 3, 2006

I personally would hang them using a properly labelled (for weight) molly bolt type thing, but if you really want strength and no worries you should get a nice peice of wood that you can paint or stain, run it horizontally between two studs, and then you can hang your speaker and mount anywhere along the new support beam.

As far as the second question, it depends on how far you want to go. You can get some relatively low key housing to mount to the wall, or you can cut out a couple holes in the wall, one at the speaker level, one down by the baseboard. Then run the wire along the baseboard. Of course if you don't have baseboard this can get tricky....

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sofakng

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 3, 2006

To get a proper weight molly bolt, how do I figure out what I need? Do I just add the weight of the speaker and the mount together?

I was told that because my speaker mount extends out from the wall, that the weight is multiplied.

Code:

Code:

Side view of speaker mount:
(on the left is the where the speaker goes, on the right is where it attaches to the wall)

       |
       |
_     |
-      |  
====

Also, if ran a board horizontally, I would only be able to attach one or two screws into it, right? The speaker mount is vertical (the part that attaches to the wall) and is about 1 - 1.5 feet tall. If I wanted to use a board like you mentioned I'd think I would need a very wide board... (and it might look strange)

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BoomieMCT

· #4 · Oct 3, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by sofakng
If I wanted to use a board like you mentioned I'd think I would need a very wide board... (and it might look strange)

Yes, it might. That is why you have to use the best solution for your given problem.

All that being said, I do not see why running wires through a plaster wall would be any harder then any other wall. Also, I don't see why cutting a section of the wall out and replacing with drywall would look any worse. Certainly it would be a pain, but anyone with a little bit of DIY skill should be able to make it look just like it did before.

That is, of course, assuming you want to go through that much effort. If you really wanted a slick solution, remove a section of the wall, put new studs in or a backing board between two studs, then put the wall up over that. This way you won't see anything!

Or, you can just buy stands and be done with it.

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