Urgent: Which cable to use

[dhingrasud]

Dear All,



I am having Yamaha HTR-3072IN 5.1 home theatre setup at my current Flat, and I am moving to New flat. The living room size is 17x12 feet and I am routing the cable through the POP in the ceiling.



Which cable should I be using? 1.5sqmm or 1sqmm or 16 AWG or 18AWG? And which Brand? Havells? The wiring to the surround speakers would be be 30+30 feet and for the rest of front speakers and woofers, the older cable which came with Yamaha Setup would be reused. Kindly guide asap as POP would be done tomorrow.

Local home theatre installation guy is tying to charge ₹95-100 per meter for don't know which cable and branding. Should I trust him? whole speaker setup cost along with installation point guidance is ₹3500 without cable cost included for 2 visits. First visit would be for guidance/consultancy about wiring and second visit would be for calibrating with YPAO.

What should be my go to option?

 

[rshri]

Havell's is a good brand. Go to local electric shop and choose the best quality single core wire he is selling (Havells or comparable brand). Choose the thickest cable you can fit in pop conduit. 2.5sqmm should be good for 30 ft length. Get local electrician to lay the wire for you. Its not rocket science, I see no need to involve any home theater installation guy.

 

[keith_correa]

14 AWG (2.5 sq.mm) if speakers are rated 4 Ohms

16 AWG (1.5 sq.mm) if speakers are rated 8 Ohms

 

[efernand1]

Dear All,



I am having Yamaha HTR-3072IN 5.1 home theatre setup at my current Flat, and I am moving to New flat. The living room size is 17x12 feet and I am routing the cable through the POP in the ceiling.



Which cable should I be using? 1.5sqmm or 1sqmm or 16 AWG or 18AWG? And which Brand? Havells? The wiring to the surround speakers would be be 30+30 feet and for the rest of front speakers and woofers, the older cable which came with Yamaha Setup would be reused. Kindly guide asap as POP would be done tomorrow.

Local home theatre installation guy is tying to charge ₹95-100 per meter for don't know which cable and branding. Should I trust him? whole speaker setup cost along with installation point guidance is ₹3500 without cable cost included for 2 visits. First visit would be for guidance/consultancy about wiring and second visit would be for calibrating with YPAO.

What should be my go to option?

Usually the thumb rule followed is that longer the distance from avr to speakers, the thicker the gauge of wire.

AWG 16 to AWG 18 is good enough for the HTR3072 system. Putting Thicker wire good quality OFC (Oxygen Free Cable) is better should you update your system to a higher version in the near future. Makes sense then to invest in AWG 14 or AWG 16. Besides Amazon selling such cables, there would be also reputed dealers selling the same, check prices and make the purchase accordingly.

Once installed, you can follow the instructions manual and do the setup yourself. There are YouTube videos to understand how it needs to be done.

Most importantly , assume these are satellite type speakers and should not be wall mounted more than 5.5 feet from ground. It should be at ear listening levels.


There are many guidance's available online and even through videos for installation which you can do unless you are busy and not too confident.

 

[dhingrasud]

Thank you guys.
1. Based on above response the suggestion is that I should be going for 16 AWG from either Havells/Polycab/Finolex or just local brand at any electrical store. They tend to sell in 100m with Price approx ₹50 per meter as per Amazon/online pricing. The total length we need wouldn't be more than 30m-40m for surround speaker and just max 5-10 m for other 3 speakers and woofer. Am I right guys?

2. Any suggestions on what to do with spare cable? I don't intend to upgrade to Atmos as we are happy with current setup since last 2 years. Giving provision for speaker on top won't help due to wire dangling disturbing the interiors, and dummy speaker I won't like. There is no scope of laying this cable in another room as POP has already been done there, too late for that

3. Audio guys are selling at ₹95 per meter from unknown brand with 3500₹ charges for speakers setup, wiring assistment and speaker sound adjustment. I'm a busy professional and can only do this once in a while, will take me a week or two to setup speakers disturbing family time by watching YouTube videos and learning to adjust the sounds. But I don't want to spend ₹3500 on this, maximum I'll like to pay is ₹1500-2000 for the service. How do I go around that?

 

[efernand1]

Thank you guys.
1. Based on above response the suggestion is that I should be going for 16 AWG from either Havells/Polycab/Finolex or just local brand at any electrical store. They tend to sell in 100m with Price approx ₹50 per meter as per Amazon/online pricing. The total length we need wouldn't be more than 30m-40m for surround speaker and just max 5-10 m for other 3 speakers and woofer. Am I right guys?

As long as the cable is OFC (Oxygen Free Cable) there should not be any major challenges. you need to factor bends and folds of the wire when laying it for the surrounds. Usually speakers come in 50 mtr or 100 mtr stacks. Most importantly, pass a nylon string along with the cable so that tomorrow if you need to replace the cable, you can tie the new cable and pull the same in future.

2. Any suggestions on what to do with spare cable? I don't intend to upgrade to Atmos as we are happy with current setup since last 2 years. Giving provision for speaker on top won't help due to wire dangling disturbing the interiors, and dummy speaker I won't like. There is no scope of laying this cable in another room as POP has already been done there, too late for that

I am sure there would be someone looking for speaker cables, possibly you can sell the same off over this forum or OLX etc.

3. Audio guys are selling at ₹95 per meter from unknown brand with 3500₹ charges for speakers setup, wiring assistment and speaker sound adjustment. I'm a busy professional and can only do this once in a while, will take me a week or two to setup speakers disturbing family time by watching YouTube videos and learning to adjust the sounds. But I don't want to spend ₹3500 on this, maximum I'll like to pay is ₹1500-2000 for the service. How do I go around that?

You will need to check for other Dealers in the area who provide such services. I am sure there are many around. Possibly other FMs can chime in here and provide pointers.

I do all my setups on my own. I trust my ears and also read up / see lot of videos to understand better. have been changing systems etc for years and somehow have mastered it well. Although I am too a busy professional, one needs to make time if you want to make it a win win situation.


All the best!

 

[dhingrasud]

Hi efernand,
Thank you for the encouragement to go for DIY.

Below is the placement of my living room. Can you recommend the placement of 5.1 speakers here. The wiring will be done through the ceiling.



I am giving the provision of mounting one of the speaker either at puja room partition or balcony wall 4 feet above ground. Have told electrician the same.

Also, I have not thought about the Atmos speakers yet, but want to provide the provision for the same. If I feel, will go for the same after 3-4 years, by cutting the POP at Atmos speaker placement. Where do we make the provision for conduits and speaker?

The current setup at old flat is also attached herewith. The new setup would also be done this way. Is it ok?

Old flat living room setup




Regards,
Sudhanshu