Wiring a room for future surround sound

Blisterman

Doing a refurbishment job and a complete rewiring.

Would like to wire the living room so that in a couple years, I can install surround sound speakers to the TV. With mininal disruption and avoiding surface mounted cables.

What should I be asking the electrician for in order to do this? I'd like a relatively future proof way of doing it that the wiring will hopefully be good for decades to come.

Also, would typical TV surround sound speakers be heavy enough to require grounds in the plasterboard?

ScrubsfanChris

As for grounds you might as well, no use limiting yourself on size/weight of speakers. Just remember where they are :pac:

If you want to listen to Dolby Atmos/DTS X you'll need upward firing or ceiling speakers. The former usually just sit ontop of the your front or rear L and R speakers, the later is self explanatory.
Its usually 2 but I've seen 4 in "home cinema" type setups.



Certain new Pioneer/Onkyo/Denon receivers offer Dolby Atmos Virtualization and DTS:Virtual X which as the names sound create the same experience using a standard 5.1 setup.
Haven't yet heard that my myself.

Blisterman

Thanks. So should I be asking for two cables to be wired to the left and right front speakers?

I'm an absolute beginner here. So please bear with me.

What types of cables should be wired? And is it better to have a socket put where the speakers go, or is it fine to leave the wires trailing out the wall to be connected later?

Edit: And do the speakers need a separate power connection? Or can the the power be carried through the same cables as the signal?

ScrubsfanChris

If you're going for the up-firing speakers yes, ceiling speakers usually go about 2/3 the way between the front and your seating position in a 5.1.2 setup

This should be fine for your cabling or something similar.

Sockets would be an ascetic choice I suppose. You'd need something like these and some banana plugs. Or a simpler option

Your AV receiver will power your speakers and a passive sub woofer. More on the latter here

ScrubsfanChris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GMjnazQ81E

I'd skip the middle and just listen to his intro and conclusion.

Yellow_Fern

How did you get on with this project? I am hoping to do this myself too. I am trying to figure out if i want to wire the speakers to the corner of the room and put the AV receiver there or to wire to under the stairs and keepmy drawing room very neat and clear.