I will be adding two stereo in-ceiling speakers on Friday to my dining room. I also will be adding a volume control in the wall and routing the wires through the crawlspace. I'm kind of nervous as I have been up to me attic crawlspace, and it's nothing but 15-22 inches of blown in insulation up there. I have no idea how I'm going to get from one end of the house to the other. I already have the volume control cutout made in the dining room. I bought fishtape to fish the four-conductor wire from the volume control to the ceiling. I think I may be hitting a fireblock or endcap too because the fishtape won't go any higher. I'm having some people coming over to help me tomorrow. Pics coming tomorrow!

 

Stay on the rafters!!
Don't fall through the ceiling. :wink:

 

You don't think the sheetrock will support the weight of a human?

 

Well I know that, but trying to find the rafters in some cases is harder than it looks. The insulation thick up there it is!

 

My wife would divorce me faster than Michael Jackson can snatch a boy!

 

Roof rafters should be 24" on center.

 

You mean 24" apart from one to the other?

 

center to center.

 

Rog.

Ugh. Trying to dig around up there while balancing myself and looking for another rafter to squat on is not going to be fun. Add in the trouble of trying to climb over AC vents and hoses only adds to the confusion.

 

My parents just had in-ceiling speakers mounted as a part of their surround sound system in the family room.

They used the SpeakerCraft Aim8 series.

Went with an Aim8 Three for the center channel and two Aim8 One's for the rear surround. Sounds amazing.

 

Why don't you go wireless just to minimize what you have to do in the attic?

 

Wireless sucks. The sound quality is subpar in my opinion.

 

That sounds awesome.

I want sound in my dining room so that we can listen to gentle background music every time we have a formal dinner. Nothing harsh, but something that is built into the house that we can control the volume on.

If I ever did surround sound speakers, I would put them into the wall instead of the ceiling. The sound dispersion with the speakers in the ceiling doesn't sound as great.

 

 

who told you about me!

 

OK, so I got started a little early tonight. I haven't cut the speaker cutouts in the ceiling yet, as it's night and my pregnant wife needs to sleep. No need to wake the beast!


This is where my (motha friggin' small-ass) TV resides. I have a 7.1 Surround Sound Onkyo receiver under the TV. I plan on routing the speaker wire from behind the receiver, up through the wall, torwards where I am currently standing (in the ceiling), and to the dining room. Picture was taken from the dining room.


Where one of the speakers will go (in between the lights)...


Where the other speaker will go (in between the farthest set of lights)...


Where the volume control will go. I wanted to mount this close to a light switch, but far enough (12 inches away from the power source) to avoid interference.


Close-up of the volume control location...


Really close-up of the cutout for the volume control...


Test fitting the junction box...


More detailed pictures tomorrow of the speakers, guys at work, pictures of the attic, and the final pictures!

 

I would suggest going with a low voltage ring and not a regular old work box. Volume controls are typically pretty deep. The wires will be at an extreme angle and you may have a wire or two pop out. It is MUCH easier to get a the volume control in a low voltage ring. Crawling around in a small attic is a pain, but a necessary evil when you are doing this kinda work. You don't want to think about some of the ones I have been in. Is this the only zone outside of your home theater area?

 

The Aim series speakers are a great speaker indeed. Expensive. Even the cost on them is pretty high. They can actually be tricky to install. The arms that tighten up againt the ceiling are a lot longer then just about any other speaker. So with minimal effort, you can overtighten resulting in a "sheetrock bubble" (where the sheetrock starts to pop). What kind of receiver do your parents have?

 

It's a Denon. I'm not sure which model.

I need to go by the house in the next few days anyways so I'll check out all the specs.

It's a pretty sweet setup.

 

:ibpicoffootthroughtheceiling:

 

I friggin' discovered this last night. I tried to put the volume control in the J-box and it did not work. I had to dremel out a loarge portion of "stuff" that was in there. I finally got it to fit though. Dremel FTW!

I plan on adding speakers to the garage and other rooms, and possibly outdoors. This is just phase I.

 

If you are not sure when you will add these other zones, you may want to run tails to the basement, attic, or garage that you will run to the speakers later. You will only have to get behind the equipment once this way, and it makes things easier a lot of the time in the long run. Good job though, you look like you are going at everything the right way.

 

Thanks. I'm all done. It sounds fantastic! I'm so excited!

I took pictures of the finished setup, but I can't upload them from this computer. The volume is not what I'd like it to be, but whatever. I'm happy.

 

How can I increase the volume going to the speakers without increasing the volume of the receiver the speakers are connected to?

I am happy with this setup, however, I would like to increase the volume a little.

 

final pics?

 

Blah. They're on my camera at home. I will try to get them uploaded today after work.

 

^^ Cool!

Don't foget the pic of your foot sticking through the ceiling:wink:

 

LOL, I did not go into the attic crawlspace, thank God.

 

Not the final pictures, but closer...

 

An easy way to do a wall fish in case anyone is doing one in the future...

Cut your hole in the wall and if you don't think you can estimate close enough in the attic where you will drill into the top plate between the walls, stick something skinny up through the ceiling directly above the hole and find it. (I use coax cable, since that is always what I am fishing). It only needs to be close enough so that the wire drops in between the same studs as the hole is cut.

Get a piece of thin chain about 8 inches long or so from home depot or whatever for about $.50. Attach it to the end of the wire you need to fish and drop it through the hole in the top plate until it hits the floor.

Go down to your hole and stick a snake magnet in there and there you have it.


I'm sure people have easier ways of doing them, but just thought I'd throw in a tip for anyone who has had problems with wall fishes. My hands are too big to stick through the hole to get the wire so I have found this to be the easiest way for me.

 

What I typically use is what we call a "feeler bit". It is just a metal insulation hanger you find in your basement. You can drill through sheetrock, plaster, or wood with that. The hole is so small that the tiniest amount of caulk fills it nicely and you will never know you drilled through there. Locate the feeler bit in the attic or basement, and drill accordingly. When you drill, you drill the feeler bit at an angle, so when you locate it on the other side, you can get your bearings in case you get turned around. Some people need to do this, if you have experience, you won't need too. In many cases I don't need a feeler bit or anything, I can locate the correct spot without help. I also use fiberglass glow sticks to fish my lines. A chain can work, but if there is anything blocking you will not be able to use a chain (such as insulation). There are many tips I am sure I could give, I just can't think of them right now. After work, I turn the brain off.

 

That is a good tip, but I have no idea what you are talking about.

So I am bidding on a pair of 8" in-wall speakers for my main home theater system. As you can see, I want to get rid of the medium front speakers that I have on speaker stands right now and put the sound into the wall. Here is my plan of action:

1.)Go into the attic crawlspace and drill into the header above where the speaker wire should go.

2.) Use fishtape from the attic and have someone else grab the fishtape.

3.) Use electrical tape to attach the fish tape to the speaker wire. I then pull up on the fishtape and I have the speaker wire.

4.) Do the same with the other side of the TV.

5.) When I have both sets of speaker wire, drill another hole in the header behind the TV.

6.) Cut out a square to grab the speaker wire. When I fish both sets of speaker wire down behind the TV, have someone grab them.

7.) Connect and enjoy!

 

Final Pics ???