surround sound pre-wired in an apartment...

Flipper · 20-05-2009 9:10pm #1

Hi, I've just moved into an apartment and the living room is pre-wired for surround sound... Problem is I don't really know what to do with it. All I have at the moment is a 46" Toshiba 46XV555D LCD, a sky+ box and and PS3.

On the wall scattered across the apartment, there are 4 small panels with one red and one black port - similiar to ports you would plug one of those yellow/red/white cables in to. Then in the middle of the room (where the TV is located, there is a panel the same size but this time, this has two reds and two blacks. Now my question is, what would be my best move be with regard to buying speakers (is there a particular type for this setup?), an amp (do I need one?) and getting my TV and PS3 also on the surround sound. I would also like to be able to plug my ipod into whatever amp (if I need one) that I buy. I would like to do it for about €1,000.

I'm sorry that I'm such a noob when it comes to this stuff but not really something I know much about. I appreciate any help you can offer.

akaSol · 21-05-2009 12:04am

Yes your going to need an AMP that supports surround sound via HDMI
ie if you want to watch a bluray through the surround sound. Every thing connects to that AMP
They start from about €300 up depending , speakees the same and most of the good manafactures make a IPOD dock to conect into their amps about €100.
Your speakers will need the normal speaker cable but on one end you need to fix on the RCA or phono plugs one for positive (RED) one for negative(Black) , find where they terminate and wire it back to the surround sound amp.
Easy.

>Sol

Flipper · 21-05-2009 9:09am

akaSol wrote: »

Yes your going to need an AMP that supports surround sound via HDMI
ie if you want to watch a bluray through the surround sound. Every thing connects to that AMP
They start from about €300 up depending , speakees the same and most of the good manafactures make a IPOD dock to conect into their amps about €100.
Your speakers will need the normal speaker cable but on one end you need to fix on the RCA or phono plugs one for positive (RED) one for negative(Black) , find where they terminate and wire it back to the surround sound amp.
Easy.

>Sol

Thanks Sol, can you point me in the direction of a suitable amp?

EDIT: would any of these do?

Idleater · 21-05-2009 10:27am

Flipper wrote: »

On the wall scattered across the apartment, there are 4 small panels with one red and one black port - similiar to ports you would plug one of those yellow/red/white cables in to. Then in the middle of the room (where the TV is located, there is a panel the same size but this time, this has two reds and two blacks.

Can you clarify something, because if those panels are RCA connectors (a la yellow/red/white) then they don't seem like speaker connectors, rather line level zone outputs.

Are they in "front left and right", "back left and right" locations?

You don't need to run surround sound from the ps3 over HDMI, only if you want to get access to HD audio. There is an optical output too.

The amps you linked to are all stereo amps, what you want to look at are AVRecievers or Surround Sound amplifiers. Google the "Onkyo 606" for an idea, but please clarify the "av wiring" above first so you get the correct (or more relevant) advice.

L.

Flipper · 21-05-2009 11:21am

nereid wrote: »

Can you clarify something, because if those panels are RCA connectors (a la yellow/red/white) then they don't seem like speaker connectors, rather line level zone outputs.

Are they in "front left and right", "back left and right" locations?

You don't need to run surround sound from the ps3 over HDMI, only if you want to get access to HD audio. There is an optical output too.

The amps you linked to are all stereo amps, what you want to look at are AVRecievers or Surround Sound amplifiers. Google the "Onkyo 606" for an idea, but please clarify the "av wiring" above first so you get the correct (or more relevant) advice.

L.

Yes, they are front left and right, back left and right. I'm going to take pictures and post them if that's ok...

Idleater · 21-05-2009 12:17pm

Flipper wrote: »

Yes, they are front left and right, back left and right. I'm going to take pictures and post them if that's ok...

cool,

Did you get the wiring done yourself or was it like that when you got it, or was it an optional extra?

The reason I ask, is, is there any wiring diagram, or system description of how it is "supposed" to work?

Flipper · 21-05-2009 1:02pm

nereid wrote: »

cool,

Did you get the wiring done yourself or was it like that when you got it, or was it an optional extra?

The reason I ask, is, is there any wiring diagram, or system description of how it is "supposed" to work?

The apartment came like this. I don't have any wiring diagrams for it but I could ask for it. Hopefully I'll get pictures up over the weekend. Thanks for the help so far.

Flipper · 27-05-2009 9:26pm

ok, I'm back with pictures in the hope that someone can shed some light on the setup and advise what my best move is. Ok the first pic of one of the wall sockets. There are 4 of these scattered across the apartment (2 on the facing wall with the TV and 2 on side walls).

The second and third pictures are of the two panels in the central position on the wall and the final picture is a wide angle so you can see where they are.

OK, my question is, what is the best setup for me? I have a Toshiba 46" LCD, a Sky+ box and a PS3. I want all this to be operated through the surround sound. What amp would you recommend? I was advised that these speakers are pretty good so was going to run with them. If needed, I can post a pic of the connections on my TV. I appreciate any advise on the best setup for about €1,000 total. Also, can this setup be ran through just the TV speakers as simply as just not turning on the amp? ie. do the speakers on the TV remain active all the time?

Also, can anyone point me in the direction of the correct cables for these connections? I had said in a previous post that I thought they were component connectors, but on closer inspection, it appears they are not.

Idleater · 28-05-2009 9:41am

Ok, can you try out a couple of things, because those are RCA connectors rather than speaker wire terminals.

Can you unscrew the rca face plates and tell us what kind of wire is hidden behind them? I.e. if it is screened co-axial cable or unshielded speaker wire?

If it is the former, then you have an unlikely but "interesting" wiring setup, and you can do another test by connecting an ipod or other player with audio output (rca or headphones to rca) to the input faceplate and testing if the signal comes out of the "remote" ones.

If you have the latter, you have an odd connector setup! Both situations have solutions, but they are different so please post back.

Neilw · 29-05-2009 10:05pm

nereid wrote: »

Ok, can you try out a couple of things, because those are RCA connectors rather than speaker wire terminals.

They are not RCA connectors, they are speaker terminal posts. They will unscrew to expose a hole in the threaded post where the speaker cable is pushed into or if no hole wrap the cable around the post, tighten the nut down to secure the cable, job done.
Pic here http://www.cnet.com/i/hlp/HT_speaker4.jpg

Judging by the first pic you may also be able to use banana plugs on the speaker cable which will just push into each post.
http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-cables/cambridge-audio/4mm-banana-plugs/gale-4mmbanana-gd

Idleater · 30-05-2009 5:15pm

With the greatest of respect, I think they are more like RCA connectors, because the gold grounding on the outside and insulated live inside as opposed to speaker binding posts (which you reference in your link) that are larger to accept the 4mm banana plug you reference in your second link.

I am however open to correction if the OP posts back. I merely stated that it would be unusual to use RCA connections for speaker level outputs.

Neilw · 30-05-2009 6:17pm

nereid wrote: »

With the greatest of respect, I think they are more like RCA connectors, because the gold grounding on the outside and insulated live inside as opposed to speaker binding posts (which you reference in your link) that are larger to accept the 4mm banana plug you reference in your second link.

I am however open to correction if the OP posts back. I merely stated that it would be unusual to use RCA connections for speaker level outputs.

99% sure they are not RCA connections, they seem too big to be RCA. I'd say they are a similar and maybe higher quality design to these.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SPEAKER-WALL-CABLE-PLATE-2-x-GOLD-BANANA-SPADE-NEW_W0QQitemZ350199935502QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item51898af20e&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

karltimber · 31-05-2009 6:55pm

Hi,

I will leave the speaker cabling to the lads.
But I just got this amp and speaker set - entry level unit- from Richer Sounds for €430 odd with cable.
I have a standard room size and I can only turn the volume up half way but it's a great unit for the price.
I have a popcorn-hour streamer connected and sky+ but there are plenty of connections for your other av items.

great buy indeed.

k

iseethelight · 31-05-2009 7:09pm

First things first. Your in an apartment so no need to go overboard on the sound system. I'm in apartment and have this

http://www.sight2sound.co.uk/91CC3DC2-D6E4-4907-9B89-88BF00336365_CFEAC25F-0C34-4757-BBF3-D3B04ABBF61C.htmlan
Very good sound for very reasonable money. They come in black aswell.

As for the ipod I have one of these working with an ipod classic

http://www.sight2sound.co.uk/91CC3DC2-D6E4-4907-9B89-88BF00336365_CFEAC25F-0C34-4757-BBF3-D3B04ABBF61C.htmlan

Their readily available on Ebay. I got mine from America on ebay,it cost €30 delivered. I highly recommend it. You will need to get an s video cable and european power cable.

Hifi Keith · 07-04-2010 10:57am

Certainly look like RCAs to me rather than speaker binding posts, would be interested to see the wiring diagrams as for speakers they wouldn't make sense in those positions for 5.1 anyway

Depending on where the wiring goes back to inwall speakers may be the way to go esp in an apartment

I bought a multiroom system recently from a supplier in Dublin, 2.5k all in for touch panels/speakers/central equipment. More than you are looking to spend but for my needs suited perfect

The Ritz · 07-04-2010 1:18pm

Hifi Keith,

You've answered a thread which is almost a year old - please don't resurrect old threads, its not particularly helpful.

Closed.

Ritz.

surround sound pre-wired in an apartment...

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