Hey guys

I am going to get an evo soon when my tax return and I have a Sony surround sound but I dont exacly know how to ceiling mount the projector and still hook the surround sound and various other componuts up to the projector. I either want to ceiling mount it or put it at the back on the room and I would like to have the wires hidden and non messy looking, if anyone has any expierence with this and would like to pass the knowledge on that would be cool.

Thanks

Rahimlee54

Your surround won't connect to the projector. The stereo will connect to the source like a dvd player/xbox360/etc. You will only have to run either a component or vga cable to the projector.

Do you have attic access?

I thought the projector had a stero out that I could connect to the pj then run eveything via the surround sound and such. This is my first apt that I am moving into soon and I am on the first floor so I dont have access to the attic. So my situation is kinda limited in that aspect I guess. But ya I have an amp to hook everything too just trying to not trip over wires here.

Thanks
Jared

Unless the projector has the DVD player built in you don't want to use the projectors sound outputs or inputs. They are for board room presentations were you hook up your laptop and don't have any other sound system. So you only need on cable from the projector. Two counting the power cord.

You have to go into the ceiling and wall and unless you have experience with this and understand the buildings framing you might get into trouble.

There are small metal chases you can mount on the exterior of the wall and paint the same color as the wall which works pretty good.

I figured my only option was to go into the wall and that is something that I didnt really want to do. I guess Ill have to either mount them or run them under the rug oh well. I just didnt know if anyone had any little tricks that I wasnt aware of, guess not.

Also I kinda didnt want a mess of cords maybe Ill go down to Lowes or something and think up something creative there.

i have done this before and found the best way to hide them was to go under the carpet. you have to pull it up around the edges and run it around the edge. when you need to go up the wall you can buy extension cord covers at a store like target. they are white and have doublesided tape on the back. they look best in a corner. they are not completely camoflauged but look way better than wires and most people dont even notice them. you will need to use more wire and run them in corners ,but it works and its easy without tearing up the walls or ceiling in your apartment.

As Hezz noted, go to Lowes or HD and ask for surface-mounted conduit. It's not expensive, can be cut to length and make corners. It comes in a few colors. Get the thinnest because all you'll need is power to the PJ and video signal back.

For surround speakers there is an easier way but it entails using a tall DIY or commercial speaker stand and hiding the wires in the stand and then tucking the wires underneath the baseboard between the carpet and the baseboard. The surrounds can get by with 16 or 18 gage wire for the rear surrounds and if you use the inexpensive zip cord type of wire it is relatively flat.

This way only a couple of inches of the speaker wire will show.

Great idea. I would go for really thin 18 gage wire and tuck it around the edge of the carpet. You can pull up the carper off the tack strip but it it is streached tight it might leave a small gap when you tuck it back in. Any thin piece of 1/8" wood will let you tuck the wire in and re tuck the carpet in.

The tack strip sits away from the wall about 3/8" so the carpet and a thin wire can tuck in and fit.

I have pulled up lots and lots of carpet don't be afraid.

Good ideas I can use, Ill go down to the local Lowes tomorrow and see what all they have. Should I try to buy any specific type of speaker wire or will any 18 Gauge do the trick?

Thanks for the help

Well,

Speaker wire is supposedly a bit higher quality wire than say lamp cord even though they look about the same. It uses a more purer type of copper.

Usually you wont have to pull up any of the carpet because the baseboard is installed about 3/8 - 1/5 inch above the floor to leave room for the carpet. The tack strip is out a little so there is a hidden gap inside there that will easily fit a standard grade speaker wire.

One thing that works really well is one of those mini flat crow bars or nail pullers. (Less than 5 bucks). You just need to dull the end a little with a file so it doesn't cut the speaker wire. You can use it to tuck in the wire underneath the basebaord. Generally the thicker the carpet is the harder it is but it also depends on the density of the carpet.

What are the best gauges to use 14, 12, 16?

I have always wondered and never found out for some reason.

I would try to stick with no smaller then 16 gage for the front and center channel speakers. 14 gage would be preferred for the front right and left.

I don't know how much you know about wire gages. But smaller number is larger. 18 gage should be fine for the rear surrounds in a 7.1 system and would probably be OK for the front surrounds in 7.1 (rear in a 5.1 setup). As long as your not running very long distances these rules of thumb should be OK.

The more bass information and dynamic energy the speakers are going to have the more important to use a large enough gage. Make sure you use speaker wire. Since it has a thinner insulation and one more suited to audio signals. The plastic type effects the speed of the expanding and collapsing AC audio signal.

Um... Specifying wire size without knowing what kind of system it's connected to is kind of like recommending tires when you don't know what kind of car they're going on.

Guessing from the fact that it's simply identified as a Sony unit, without any kind of model number or power factor specified, it's probably a pretty basic, consumer level receiver. Nothing wrong with that, lots of people find that it sounds good to them.

In that case, though, I'd be willing to bet that 18 AWG wire would be up to the task, and that there would be zero noticable difference going with more expensive and heavier wire. Certainly if this is going to be an investment and put into the walls of a house, it's worth spending a bit more so that you know that you have upgradability later, spend a bit on good wire. If this is going to be tucked under the baseboards for the current system, cheap works, and 18 AWG is a LOT easier to get under the baseboards than 14 AWG.

I mean it's his system, and he's gotta make the decision, but I don't think there's enough information here to make recommendations like that.

Ya,

For short runs with inexpensive systems 18 gage is generally OK. And most people wouldn't notice much difference. However, if you are using any high current amps for the fronts there is a lot of bass information there and a little bigger wire gage can sometimes increase the dynamic ease of the bass.

Generally however in an inexpensive system others things are the limiting factors.

Ya it was a cheap system my mom got for me while I was in college and now that I am out and have a job I am tryin to upgrade my gear for a nice little hometheatre. Its a low end system but it is a heck of alot better than not having anything at all. I am just trying to take in a bunch of info as I can so I can make an educated decision about which speakers to go with. I am pretty sure I am going to get the Panasonic SA-XR57S reciever since it has gotten good reviews and it has a HDMI. But thanks for the suggestions.

Use flat wire. I was at CES and there where so many people offering flat wire. It sounds the same and it can be glued to the floor under the carpet. You can even run it up the wall and then putty and paint it. I even found coax that was flat there. It was only stuck up about a millimeter and came in regular or component versions. There is foam around the coax so that it will work under the carpet without making it uncomfortable. I have one of the samples of flat wire I got at CES stuck to the side of my Nalgine water bottle. It seems to stay on quite well in the dishwasher. This is good for anyone who has a massive water prob. LOL

I found the company. They are called Taperwire. Thier site is http://www.taperwire.com/