Home Theater Gurus?

[LuckyDeath]

Really appreciate all of the feedback. Thats why I still love to lurk this forum.

 

Spike is correct in that cash is tight (like Mikesnow mentioned, largest purchase of my life). Got a baby on the way as well, so I'm looking to keep the financial investment to a minimum.

 

I know that means sacrificing quality, but right now I just really want to do something about the mess in the living room corner. At the same time, I don't want to just discard all of these speakers if they are functional. The previous owners did say during negotiations that the setup is functional, but that I would need my own receiver. I think they were planning on doing their own system in their new house, and they were much more well off financially than I am so they didn't mind leaving these behind.

 

As for a schematic, I honestly don't have any idea which wires go to which without any stereo to test them out. I have seen one outside in the backyard, two up in the corners of the living room, and I think there is one in the bedroom also. Should there be 2 wires per speaker coming out of the wall?

 

@Waco, I figured as much about the switch-box. I didn't know I could get that kind of functionality in a moderately priced receiver or if the switch was necessary. Obviously I don't want every speaker to be on all the time.

 

The speakers themselves look to be all Sony, the switch is the only Radio Shack piece. I don't have an old boombox, but maybe I'll ask my brother if he has one lying around that I can mutilate.

 

Thanks for all the input... if there's anything else, feel free to let me know! I'll move ahead with trying to test these things out, and if they work I'll look at some reviews for receivers. Long term goal will be to have it all either re-wired or get a new system installed wirelessly (sounds like that will either sacrifice quality or will be expensive though, or else why do wired speakers still exist?).

[SpikeSoprano]

Yes Lucky, every speaker will have 2 wires running from the wall, good luck with them all sounding decent.

[Mikesnow]

to test to see if the speakers work grab a battery like a AA battery from a remote or flash light one thats not dead btw. and touch one wire to the positive and the other wire of that pair of wires to the neg side of the battery if they are any good at all "Useable" each speaker will make a pop noise at least confirming continuity across the pair of wires and speaker, you'll have to have some type of stereo or tone generator to actually test for acustic funcitionality however.

 

Also just as a FYI, just because something works, don't mean you should use it. The reason I recommend replacing the wireing and or starting over, is with that very small gauge wire that appears to be in the wall is developed for high impeadance telephone signals, and not large amounts of AC current you will see from most decent Recievers. Pumping that much current through that style wire makes the wire heat up, and not saying it will, but there is the potential there for fire.

 

My personal reccommendation, due to your entry level knowlege of the subject, would be to trim the wires up, coil them up and push them slightly into the wall and use a new blank out plat from home depot for a couple bucks to clean up the looks. Maybe stop buy a Best Buy or wal mart or target and pick up one of those like 150 to 300 dollar HT in a box units. Those are really easy to follow the wiring instructions on and hook up, and then you'll have some sound until at a later time you can afford to get a professional to come take a closer look at everything.

 

Thats what I reccommend. But at the same time the best way to learn how to do this kind of stuff is to dive right in and do some research on it, just remember theres always a cost to learning, thats why people like the geeksquad, and other service companys like them exsist.

[Stonerboy779]

+1 to everything Mike said his reasons and suggestions mirror my own. Do not go over a double a battery though because then there may be the possibility to damage the speaker if its low quality and low powered

[Hyper Threaded]

I've never seen wire that thin used for in the wall application, it needs to be 12-14 gauge. Since this is your first adventure into home audio, your best bet is go with an HTIB system. You can learn from that and decide where to go next. Systems from Onkyo have everything, except the cables and are reasonably priced. Wiring the speakers is pretty simple, just cut to length and strip both ends.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S3500-5-1-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B0077V88V8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353904047&sr=8-1&keywords=onkyo+home+theater