I have a USTec panel and I would like to wire my house for sound. I have seen others use cat 5 cable for the wire, I don't think that would be good for the AMP and speakers. I know that I would go from the amp the the block, but I'm not sure if I would go from the block to the volume control or to the speakers. wouldent is over load the amp if all the speakers are on the same line. or would the volume control even the load. sorry if I'm not very clear, But I'm not sure what I'm talking about.

:-(

Hire a professional. it will be cheaper in the long run.

That is true. In addition to being cheaper in the long run, a professional will give you options that you probably didn't even know exist. You will end up with a better system and hopefully not have to open up your walls later to run wires.

Good luck!

Where are you located?

He's in Weston, FL, according to his "view profile" link.

(feeling silly)

How much do think a pro would charge me for the instalation?? I have a four bed room home, not very big (2,000sq).

approx $65 for each phone and cable jack
$165 to prewire for VC and speakers with cat5 and 16/4
$85 for each ethernet jack
couple hundred to trim the panel.
Prices are approximate but will get you close

it is possible to run audio on cat 5 with systems that use "abus" technology. this can cary the signal from the equiptment location to the keypad control location.from there you still need to run speaker wire to the speakers. the keypad actually takes the low voltage signal and converts it to about 7-12 watts of speaker level audio. Russound makes several different abus systems. it is out of the question to use a conventional amp and use cat 5 as speaker wire. if you were looking to do your own system you should run cat 5 and 16/4 speaker wire to all your volume control locations.this will give you maximum flexibility in the future in the type of systems and controls you can have. if you have an electrician already working for you you can probably get him to run everything for you.

1 cat5 and 16/4 should be a MINIMUM. future stuff may need a net connection too. yamaha's musiccast needs 2 cat5, 16/2 for power and a 16/4 to splice speakers if its wired that way

your best bet may be to run 1" carlon pipe to the crawl at each VC too plus a piece of 2" atthe head end

Be sure that each speaker location has a run to a local wall position for a volume control and then a run to the main system location. DO NOT daisy-chain anything, even phone wire any more!

Sorry, thought that was understood in this day and age. MY BAD!

Thanks so much guys.

If you are feeling ambitious, then run 16 gauge speaker wire to each speaker location in each room. Loop the wires first to a suitable volume control location in each of the rooms and run the wires back to where your equipment will be located. Also run two CAT5E wires to each of these same volume control locations in each of the rooms. This will cover all of your basic multiroom sound options (to a large degree). From there you can do more digging and select the equipment you feel best suites your needs. OR,,, you can hire a pro as suggested, and spend your valuable time doing other things. Who knows, maybe you will enjoy the task. It's not rocket science. Good luck

I am a picky SOB when it comes to describing technical things. For instance, I NEVER talk about running wire from the speaker to the amp, as it keeps my head clear to describe things in the same direction as the flow of the signal.

I say that because the above quote tells him to run wire to each speaker location, but first loop it to a volume control location, then run it back to the equipment. Read it again. It really does.

If he is running it TO the speakers, but going to a volume control first, doesn't that mean he is coming FROM the equipment? Then why would it go back to the equipment after that?

I know what you mean, but maybe the guy whose FIRST POST you are answering actually does exactly what you say! That is the worst example I have ever seen of fuzzy description. If you limited yourself to describing the wiring in the direction that the signal flows, this would not have happened.


This is totally right. If you can, run these wires to locations where you could put a two-gang opening. You might want a one-gang opening now, but need to do some wall surgery and increase it to two gangs later. If you stick that plate between two studs that are three inches apart, you won't have that option.


The thing about hiring a pro is that the person wiring will not be the one asking how it's done or what the options are, but will be the person who has let you select the option that made the most sense to you. This is very valuable because we are looking ahead to the next things and will have a sense of how to plan for technology that hasn't even happened yet.