Question about Home Audio Wiring

[kae006]

Our new house has speaker placeholders in several of the rooms. There are also blockoff plates in these rooms that appear to be the right height for volume controllers, however there are also rooms with blockoff plates in the same place that do not have the speaker housings. In the rooms with the speakers there are two speaker wires and a CAT 5 cable behind the plate, in the rooms without the speakers there is just a CAT5. Any idea why the original owner would have CAT5 wired to each room at shoulder height? Wondering if it’s related to the audio wiring or something completely separate. Need to find where the house is set up for the main receiver to be wired as well.

Room with 2 speakers:




Room with no speakers:

[jbhlsu]

For TV's? Run the Savant system????

[kae006]

For TV's? Run the Savant system????

Tv’s are located in different areas of the rooms as well as phone lines in some rooms. House was built in 1993 so I doubt they were considering automation??

[hntndawg]

I can't tell for sure on those pics, you sure its cat 5 and not stranded wire? If so, I would say might have wired for intercom in 93.

[kae006]

I can't tell for sure on those pics, you sure its cat 5 and not stranded wire? If so, I would say might have wired for intercom in 93.

Hmmm, there’s 8 wires so I assumed it was CAT5, but I don’t really know? It could definitely have been for the intercom as there was a system that’s since been removed. Not sure why it would be in the same location as the speaker wires, but would make sense. If that is what it was for, I wonder if I could make use of it somehow for home automation or some other purpose...

[hntndawg]

We used to prewire it just in a gang box so there wouldn't be a huge hole in the wall. Cat5 would be twisted pairs, those don't look to have much twist and look like heavier gauge.

[kae006]

We used to prewire it just in a gang box so there wouldn't be a huge hole in the wall. Cat5 would be twisted pairs, those don't look to have much twist and look like heavier gauge.

I’m confused by only two sets of speaker wires. Each room has spots for two speakers. I’d expect two sets of speaker wires in and two sets out to go from receiver to volume controller and controller to speakers. Unless one set splits in the ceiling and feeds both speakers? Wonder if these would even work for a whole home audio system or it was wired to specifically be used in conjunction with the intercom system.

[hntndawg]

Yes, if they were set up for volume controls, there should be a pair coming in and a pair going out. If a wire split and fed two speakers you couldn't get stereo sound so doubt that. It may be possible that they ran that other wire back to a receiver location, but that wouldn't really be the correct way to do it. Is there attic space where you can trace where the wires go to? Good chance the original owner had something else in mind here.

[kae006]

Yes, if they were set up for volume controls, there should be a pair coming in and a pair going out. If a wire split and fed two speakers you couldn't get stereo sound so doubt that. It may be possible that they ran that other wire back to a receiver location, but that wouldn't really be the correct way to do it. Is there attic space where you can trace where the wires go to? Good chance the original owner had something else in mind here.

Unfortunately no, all the speakers are on the first floor living areas and there’s another story above us. I do have all the original building blueprints, I’ll see if there’s something in there.

[mmoses]

My whole house(built in 97) was ran for an alarm system. One was never hooked up. Looked just like that.

[kae006]

My whole house(built in 97) was ran for an alarm system. One was never hooked up. Looked just like that.

Hmmm, I guess that could be it too except all the windows and doors are already wired for the alarm and there are motion sensors in some areas as well as a control panel near the garage. I guess the speakers could be for an intrusion alarm but I doubt it the way they’re setup and the rooms they’re in are entertaining rooms along with master bed and bath.

[kae006]

It’s worth mentioning that they wired the movie room for surround sound and the bar in the next room is also wired for speakers that go to the receiver in the movie room, so the original builders were definitely into that sort of thing and planned parts of the home around it.

[MadHatter]

Standard wiring for any type of smart home, or media system such as Control 4, Crestron, etc..
The single cat-5 at shoulder height are for control pads(tablets). You walk by swipe one off the wall, control the house.
The other boxes are your volume controls. The cat 5 is the data wire which ties the volume control and speakers into the system, which in turn allows the control panels to do what the do.
Some people staple the wire in the stud and sheetrock over it, some people mount a box and blank it.
It all runs back to a panel, where you will build a rack to do whatever you want.
Some people go all it, some people just use speakers in a few rooms, etc...but lots of builders nowadays just run all this stuff as part of a standard build, unless you specify otherwise. Been doing it for several in DFW for almost 20 yrs.
Generally speaking it's not middle class homes where you find this stuff. Buildouts can range from 50k to a million +

[kae006]

Standard wiring for any type of smart home, or media system such as Control 4, Crestron, etc..

The single cat-5 at shoulder height are for control pads(tablets). You walk by swipe one off the wall, control the house.

The other boxes are your volume controls. The cat 5 is the data wire which ties the volume control and speakers into the system, which in turn allows the control panels to do what the do.

Some people staple the wire in the stud and sheetrock over it, some people mount a box and blank it.

It all runs back to a panel, where you will build a rack to do whatever you want.

Some people go all it, some people just use speakers in a few rooms, etc...but lots of builders nowadays just run all this stuff as part of a standard build, unless you specify otherwise. Been doing it for several in DFW for almost 20 yrs.

Generally speaking it's not middle class homes where you find this stuff. Buildouts can range from 50k to a million +

Thanks, this is a high end custom home however it was built 26 years ago.

[hntndawg]

Main thing would be to find where the other end of those wires end up. Behind an entertainment system or in a media closet, they were for some home audio. If they all drop down in a central location like kitchen then I would say intercom. We were still putting in alot of intercoms in the mid 90s, I'm kinda leaning towards that. Home automation hadn't really taken off at that point. I dont remember an intercom system that used external speakers as well, so good chance that box is there for an either or situation. You can pick up a tonner pretty cheap and track them down if they dont come to a central box.