# How to fix speaker wire route?



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Why are there junction boxes in the ceiling adjacent to the speakers? Can you post a picture or two showing both the speaker locations in one frame so we can see their positioning? This wasn't discovered until the ceiling was finished and the hole punched??? What makes the second location more desirable?


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## VAer (Jul 3, 2017)

chandler48 said:


> Why are there junction boxes in the ceiling adjacent to the speakers? Can you post a picture or two showing both the speaker locations in one frame so we can see their positioning? This wasn't discovered until the ceiling was finished and the hole punched??? What makes the second location more desirable?


It should not have box for in-ceiling speaker wire. Contractor does not know well about home theater, and mistakenly assume in ceiling speaker can use banana plug.

I did not have the knowledge too, do not realize some issues until setting up home theater.

Now it does not matter where to put second in-ceiling speaker, as the earlier photo shows, only two places can fit the speaker, not able to reach speaker wire from either place.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

You should be able to get a drill in the speaker hole and drill a 5/8" hole in the joist where the jbox is located, run a piece of speaker wire from the box location to the speaker location and make your connections. Weird set up.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

You did a great job cutting the hole for the first speaker. It looks professionally done. I'm not quite understanding what the problem is here. Your second speaker outlet sounds like it is in the wrong place. Locate and mark the preferred second speaker location (assuming you know that there are no ceiling joists in the way) and then drill through the joists and run the wire to the new location. If the wire is not long enough you can solder an extension piece on it long enough to make it reach. How far away is the preferred speaker location from the speaker wire outlet?


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## VAer (Jul 3, 2017)

chandler48 said:


> You should be able to get a drill in the speaker hole and drill a 5/8" hole in the joist where the jbox is located, run a piece of speaker wire from the box location to the speaker location and make your connections. Weird set up.



Look at pictures in my first post, the box for speaker wire and the box for electric wire are on two different 2 by 4 wood, not on two sides of same 2 by 4 wood.

I have cut the hole for in-ceiling speaker.


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## VAer (Jul 3, 2017)

Dave Sal said:


> You did a great job cutting the hole for the first speaker. It looks professionally done. I'm not quite understanding what the problem is here. Your second speaker outlet sounds like it is in the wrong place. Locate and mark the preferred second speaker location (assuming you know that there are no ceiling joists in the way) and then drill through the joists and run the wire to the new location. If the wire is not long enough you can solder an extension piece on it long enough to make it reach. How far away is the preferred speaker location from the speaker wire outlet?


I have cut holes for both speakers, one speaker has been installed and tested (as the photo shows), I leave the other hole open (as the photo shows), since I am not able to reach the speaker wire, which is on the other side of 2 by 6 wood.

The issue (look at a few pictures in first post, especially the unclear cellphone screenshot taken before sealing ceiling, look at the blue boxes in the screenshot, one box is for speaker wire, one box is for the ceiling light), there are two 2 by 6 wood, the distance between them are very small, maybe around 5" apart, and the speaker wire is located between those two 2 by 6 wood. While speaker wire should be located between two woods with wider distance.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

I am assuming that your ceiling speakers are located in the two rear areas marked in the red circles? If so, that looks to be a good spot. I hope they're not in the ceiling locations in between the couch and the screen. Sounds like you'll simply have to drill through two ceiling joists to run your speaker wire.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Reach up into the hole with your drill and drill a hole through the joist and directly into the jbox. That way the wire will be easy to fish and connect.


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## VAer (Jul 3, 2017)

Dave Sal said:


> I am assuming that your ceiling speakers are located in the two rear areas marked in the red circles? If so, that looks to be a good spot. I hope they're not in the ceiling locations in between the couch and the screen. Sounds like you'll simply have to drill through two ceiling joists to run your speaker wire.


I have modified earlier response by adding a photo.

Yes, rear speakers.


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## VAer (Jul 3, 2017)

chandler48 said:


> Reach up into the hole with your drill and drill a hole through the joist and directly into the jbox. That way the wire will be easy to fish and connect.


Look at this photo again. Thanks.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Not a matter of looking twice. Reach up into the speaker hole with your drill and a longer bit and drill through the joist and into the speaker wire box. Then fish your cable directly through the hole and into the jbox.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Looks pretty simple if I understand the problem correctly. Is that the speaker wire box that I referred to?
Looks like chandler48 beat me to it. If you can reach thru the speaker hole like he indicated then that is where I would do it too. If not, then my suggestion might be easier to reach. You should be able to remove one of the punchouts in the blue box and run the speaker wire through it towards the hole in the wood, then to the speaker hole.


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## VAer (Jul 3, 2017)

Ok, thank you.


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## VAer (Jul 3, 2017)

Dave Sal said:


> Looks pretty simple if I understand the problem correctly. Is that the speaker wire box that I referred to?
> Looks like chandler48 beat me to it. If you can reach thru the speaker hole like he indicated then that is where I would do it too. If not, then my suggestion might be easier to reach. You should be able to remove one of the punchouts in the blue box and run the speaker wire through it towards the hole in the wood, then to the speaker hole.


How big the hole should I drill? I mean diameter.

Thanks.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

I'm have not seen any pics that show a closeup of what you're dealing with but you need to be able to reach the speaker wire and splice another wire to it to reach the speaker. You made a nice clean cut in the ceiling when you cut the holes for the speakers. You might be able to cut a smaller hole in the area where the speaker wire terminates, large enough to get your hand in there to splice some extra speaker wire onto the ends, and then save the cut out circle of drywall and screw a piece of wood in the hole so you can attach the piece of drywall to it. See attached link. 

https://icastle.com/articles/patching-drywall


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