Looking to start installing some multi room and outdoor audio components and our house was prewired, but I wasn't given any info as to how it all works together. 
Master bedroom, bath, and garage are prewired (I assume for audio and controls) and I'm a bit confused as to exactly what I'll need where.  Here's a rundown of whats already there.
 
Garage:  red jacketed set of 4 wires attached to wall near garage door opener control - red, black, white, and green.

 
Master BR:  plate below light switch that has two sets of red and black wires and a set of red, black, green, and white (volume control?). Two plates in ceiling with speaker connections.


Master bath:  wall plate below light switch with same three sets as bedroom. Ceiling has three plates - two with red and black wires (speaker) but there is a third that is really close to one of the speaker locations that has the same set of four (R B W G). This is what I'm most stumped by. 

Closet:  single set of wires (red and black) that I assume are for the master audio feed from the receiver. They are larger in diameter than red and black wires jacketed together with white and green wires in garage, bedroom, and bathroom.


This is how I see it. Receiver in the closet with audio wires connected. Volume controls in garage (have to run my own speaker wire?), bedroom, and bath and speakers in the ceiling. Have mo clue why there's another set of wires for what seems to be another volume control. Please help me plan this out. 

[This message has been edited by 1208HawkTree (edited 4/26/2011 10:41p).]

The master BR panel more than likely is intended to be used:

1. the 4 pack of wire carries left and right speaker level signals from the receiver. These 4 wires are supposed to be connected to a STEREO volume control.

2. the other two pairs go from the volume control to the ceiling speakers.

I have no idea what that 3rd ceiling plate is for in your master bath unless it has the attic above it and it is there for you to use in another location.

Does your garage have sheetrock on the walls? If so, then running the 4 pack to that location makes sense assuming you run two pairs of wire to speakers in the garage.

A single pair of wire in the closet is worth almost nothing. It can carry one channel of audio.

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 4/27/2011 11:44a).]

quote:

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A single pair of wire in the closet is worth almost nothing. It can carry one channel of audio.

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Unless maybe the original plan was to use the house ground as a common ground. Which is a horrible idea.

I can't really tell you what that extra plate was for, but it seems like you have most of it figured out. Maybe that plate was for an intercom or something?

Thanks for the info.

No attic above bathroom.
Garage is unfinished with bare studs.
I figure there has to be a second pair of speaker wires in the closet. I looked for another one but the mass of wires in that panel makes it difficult to even start. I wonder if I peel back the blue coating there may be a second pair in there. Need to look closer when I get home.

Took a closer look and there is not a second pair of speaker wires in the closet. I even looked as far as I could up inside the ceiling where everything comes out (there is a huge mass of similar looking wires coming out, but all others are Cat-5 with plugs on the ends).

Is your wiring closet really intended to be the home of your A/V equipment? The typical "home run" wiring scenario assumes only the video distribution (not the sources) and networking equipment to live in the closet.

Where does that single pair of wire go? In any case, you can use it to pull another pair (or four pairs!) of wire.

I assume so because everything else terminates there at one panel (cable, cat-5, etc). I guess I need to figure out where that pair goes and take it from there.

You may have missed my point. Most of the time they do NOT expect your receiver (etc.) to live in the wiring closet. That's because most A/V equipment needs to be accessible to infrared remote controls. So unless that wiring closet is nearby your media room, the only equipment expected in there is your ethernet equipment and your cable modem.

Your wiring closet doesn't appear to have an speaker wire distribution setup at all.

Usually there will be runs of both coax and Cat5 to the place where you place your TV and receiver.

The only other place it could be from is the family room. I already have that setup and I don't remember seeing any additional speaker wires besides fronts, rears, and sub, all of which are in the same room. Hooked everything up tight after we moved in 3 years ago, so maybe I missed it because I wasn't thinking about other rooms at the time.

Heres a picture of the entire panel in the closet if that helps.

Also, just to clarify, it's my actual closet this is in (above built in shelves) and there is no media room. It is the most central enclosed space on the the first story, which is why I assume everything is in that location.

That looks like the typical video+ethernet wiring cabinet. It doesn't look like it was intended to be a place to control audio/speaker distribution. That's why no speaker wires exist.

By media room - I meant your living room or family room where your main TV and receiver are expected to be. It is common for any extra speaker wiring to be placed there instead of in your wiring closet.

So you now have to be a detective to see where all those speaker wires go.

Alright, over a year later and I'm now getting serious about this. Got a great deal on two pairs of outdoor Yamahas and have been doing some looking into getting this chit knocked out.

After reading the entire thread again, I realize the setup as I saw it in my head wasn't conveyed completely. Here is what I THOUGHT I had, and HAVE, as nothing has changed since may 2011. I was under the impression that the speaker wires in the living room out to the fronts, surrounds, and sub were a closed system for that room only. Every set of speaker wire I have in the wall (that I remember seeing) behind the TV console is in use, and only in that room.

I was thinking that I would put another receiver in the aforementioned closet that would supply the multi-room and outdoor audio. Maybe I was wrong. I need to pull out the console and open those plates up and see if there is anything not attached, because the one pair of speaker wire in the closet leads me to believe its not meant how I envisioned it. It does make sense, in that if the multi room was also supplied by the main receiver, I could just utilize the speaker switching on that and make it very simple by utilizing volume
controls in the various rooms and outside.

One thing I didn't consider is that there is a small niche inside our bathroom above the door that has coax for a TV. I haven't looked up there closely, but could it start there? I would think a bathroom would be a terrible place to have a receiver with all of the moisture form the shower, etc.

[This message has been edited by 1208hawktree (edited 7/2/2012 2:43p).]

OK, now thinking the 4-conductor wire in the garage is not meant for audio at all. Looked at it today and noticed its labeled 22-GA, which I'm pretty sure that's too small for audio. Plus, it's the only red-jacketed wire I've seen (all of the audio cables are blue). After a little reading, it's probably tied into the fire or security alarm system.

Still confused by the single set of speaker wires in my closet. Looked again and there is definitely not another pair. Probably just going to have to bite the bullet and pay someone to come out.

crawl up in the attic and see if you can find where all the wires from the closet come out.

I did initially and I don't remember seeing anything in a red jacket. This closet is on the first floor and the only attic is above the second, but that was my next move. Need to double check everything.