How to Set Up Surround Sound Speaker Wires
Use speaker wire to connect speakers to the surround sound receiver. Most surround sound units come with five speakers and an optional subwoofer. Speaker wire and wire strippers are available from your local electronic supply retailer. Consider the best methods to secure and hide the speaker wire during setup.
Items Needed:
- Speaker wire
- Stereo Receiver
- Five speakers
- Subwoofer
- Wire stripper
- Measuring tape
- Separate each speaker based on where it belongs in the room. The majority of surround sound speakers consist of two front speakers, two rear speakers, one center speaker and an optional subwoofer.
- Measure the distance between each speaker and the audio receiver. Take into consideration how long each speaker wire needs to be in order to conceal the wires, or the length necessary to hide them behind the walls.
- Cut the speaker wire using a wire stripper. Cut the wire length longer than you think you may need because you can always cut more off later. This allows you to position the wire out of the way of traffic in your living room and gives you plenty of stripped wire for creating connections.
- Split the wire down the middle so the positive and neutral wires can be identified then hooked up to the stereo receiver and the speakers. Split down about two inches from the middle of the two indented strands. This gives you room to separate the positive from the neutral wire.
- Strip off about an inch of the rubber insulation from both ends of the wire on both the positive and neutral wires. The brown side is positive and the clear side is negative.
- Fastener the speaker wire to the back of each speaker. Place the positive wire into the red speaker snap by pulling the spring back and threading the wire through the hole. Place the neutral wire into the black connector. Then, gently let go of the terminal and the spring will hold the speaker wire in place. Repeat this for all of the speakers. Some speakers have screw on styles and others are spring loaded.
- Plug in the speaker wires to the correct locations at the back of the receiver. Connect the subwoofer using a subwoofer cable of the speaker cable according to the type of subwoofer and receiver you have.
- Configure the receiver settings for surround sound output and test each speaker.