Speaker wires
 

I am not sure how to disconnect the speaker wires. My husband had set up a sound system with 7 speakers for the TV receiver and some of the wires go under the floor. (I am up north at this time.) I am changing the carpet to wood flooring and the installers will not disconnect electronic equipment. Husband passed away suddenly and I can’t ask how he installed the sound system. So if anyone could give me advice on how to do it myself, I would be grateful.

It looks like those are banana plug type connectors. In this picture the small parts are similar to what is coming out of the speaker. The larger parts are the plugs, which are a friction fit - they just push into the fitting in the speaker. In your picture on the right, looks like the wire is held in the plug by tightening the round piece at the end of the plug to hold the wire in place. In any case, you should just be able to pull those plugs out from the speaker.

One on left looks like banana connectors push in and pull out? One on right looks like wire end fasteners? Unscrew to left and should release the wires?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1P6s7_ipzw

This may help skip up to about 5 mins in 7 mins video.

Velvet, send me a PM and I would be happy to help you, along with removing the wires, you need to label the polarity, and which speaker and the location of the speaker (painters' tape and a magic marker). Then once the new flooring is installed, I can help with the reinstallation if necessary. I am guessing the wires are hidden under the molding above the carpet, if this is the case and the installers use quarter round you will need to think about the wires as these will now be visible.
If you are after an installation with all of the wiring hidden, you may want to contact one of the local audio visual companies and get an estimate for the new wiring. Feel free to send me a PM and we can discuss further over the phone.

Thank you VT as always. I am almost 2000 miles from TV right now but your advice is helpful. How do I make sure the speakers are off before I try unwiring them? I don’t know if I am going to have these speakers reinstalled. They are quite old. I wonder what you think of a Sonos system instead?

There is no power connected to the speakers, just a low voltage audio signal from the amplifier when the music is playing so safe to disconnect.

Hiding the wires after installing a tile floor could be a challenge.

Sonos is a great wireless option.

Vet
Altavia is correct.
I agree with you............should pitch this old system.
New wireless systems are much smaller and probably better sound.

I would suggest that you get a quote from Tom at villagesav.com to install surround speaker wires across the room, either under the floor or in the attic for future use. It will add value to your house even if you don't use them. Trying to hide wires after a floor is installed is very difficult. True surround sound can only be achieved with speakers on the back wall. Wireless surround speakers are not actually wireless because you still need power cords, transmitters, and receivers that require wires.

As noted above the voltage at the speakers is very low, zero when the system is off, and very low when on. I agree with looking into a wireless system as this would eliminate the need for hiding the wires. I have not used the Sonos system so I have no opinion.
On a side note, I have not had any good luck with surround sound systems since my really nice Pioneer system died. There seems to be some problems with the digital signals from the TV to the surround sound systems, therefore I also agree with getting a system installed by a professional.
One word of caution if your TV is older you may have more problems with surround sound as the specs have changed over the years, and I believe this is one of the reasons that I am still currently having problems, with a Hisense TV and a Sony surround system, both less than 2 years old but different manufacturers, and possibly slightly different version of the specs.

I always connect the TV to a separate receiver (or soundbar) using an optical digital cable. Then, I connect the speakers to the receiver. They can be wired or wireless speakers. I have tried using an HDMI cable for sound from the TV, but I have found that the optical cable provides equivalent digital sound and is more reliable. For video, I connect the video source (cable box, DVD player, etc.) directly to the TV using an HDMI cable, rather than routing it through the receiver. I think that most new TVs still have an optical audio out connection.

I've used Sonos since the introduction and like the sound/expandability/flexibility.

It works well with Alexa for music and I use the optical connection for the TV.

It is on the expensive side but there probably lower cost options.

You can start with just the soundbar for TV.

Add a subwoofer for first step home theater.

Then 2-4 speakers for surround sound.

It's easy to add additional speakers in other rooms or the Lanai.

They have a portable speaker you can move around as desired.

Sonos | Wireless Speakers and Home Sound Systems

Thank you so much, I think I’ve got a handle on it. Much more confident with the wires. He has a Pioneer Elite TV probably 10 years old, that is our oldest TV after that pretty well every second year husband added another TV to our collection.

The receiver and some other box I don’t know what it is yet for, are also Pioneer.

When I took the receiver out of the media stand it had several other speaker wires going to it - at one point he put in speakers into the kitchen. They are also under the floor and through to the basement ceiling. I see a LOT of wires through the basement ceiling going to the receiver.

I find I’m a bit bolder when I unplug the whole unit, then as I disconnect each wire I turn the whole system back on and I find out which speaker stops working. He also has modem, 2 PlayStations and TV provider box attached. I am taking videos so I can put all back in the same order later if need to.

I am working on the north house, as I said before, and taking advantage of you, my dear friends’ knowledge at TOTV, if you don’t mind.

WAY TO GO, you wild and crazy girl!!

Do not, do not remove the speaker wires with the receiver is on. You will either short out the speaker or short out the amp especially if the amp is a tube amp. People don’t know what they are talking about here. Also never unplug the rca cables with the receiver/amp is on, you will short out the amp.
Sonus sound is not very good. I deal with $50,000-$100,000+ audio systems and there are much better sounding systems than Sonus that are fairly inexpensive. For example, if you want great sound for the money, and only need 1 channel or 2, get 2 Apple HomePods (the big versions) for $300 each. Wireless, controlled by your iPhone/ipad or by Siri. A step up would be the Kef LS50 II wireless with their subwoofer, about $3000 for everything. Both of these system have the amps built in to the speakers so no need to buy an amp.
Also, most wireless speakers are a compromise, especially the cheaper systems, and you normally get wireless when you can’t run wires. The Kef system above connects to your tv and internet. You can run the 2 Kef speakers wireless but they sound better if you run a cable from 1 speaker to the other.
I gave up on expensive home theater systems and just use 2 channels with a subwoofer. If you want a 5 channel home theater system, then get a quality Yamaha or Definive Technology soundbar with 5 channels and an external subwoofer. You will need an amp with 5 channels but the wiring will be short from the amp to the soundbar. These soundbars mimic 5 channels by bouncing the surround channels off the side walls.

I think the ones on the right are just wire end adapters to make them banana compatible. They should also be able to be just pulled out. Unscrewing shouldn't be necessary . Polarity is already signified by color of plug ends.

Polarity appears to be visible already. Red +; Black -.
Both plugs and jacks appear to be marked.

Curious where/who has $50,000-$100,000+ audio systems?

Much less how many people in our demographic have hearing good enough to distinguish better average and high quality audio.

A quick scan of reviews does not indicate any significant difference between Sonos and Kef at similar price points.

https://boomspeaker.com/sonos-vs-kef/

May be more important for the OP to look for the easiest to use system.

It would certainly be lost on me. I can't hear a thing when I'm in noisy areas or trying to distinguish voices on a TV show.

[QUOTE=rsmurano;2351492] For example, if you want great sound for the money, and only need 1 channel or 2, get 2 Apple HomePods (the big versions) for $300 each. Wireless, controlled by your iPhone/ipad or by Siri.

How would these pair with a TV?

Could two of these be used as a soundbar type set up?

If you want to keep the sound system run the wires under the base molding trim before the floor is laid down. Or if you prefer just remove the wires and sell the equipment and get a nice simple Sound Bar which will probably be much easier for you to use.

TV Tom on here could do everything for you.

Another question, (by the way I am working on a house over 1000 miles from TV at the moment - I’d have to fly Tom here. He did the instal at my TV home.) The wired sound system is the top of the line - so I would like to reinstall after flooring is done. I was thinking that only the back speakers need long wiring, what if I mixed the system and replaced the back speakers only with wireless? I think the speakers would have to be calibrated to work in sync. Any thoughts?

You knoooooooooooooooow, you could purchase wireless receivers for each of your current BACK speakers and continue to use what you have. Probably a push cost wise vs. purchasing new back speakers. :wave:

I would get some quotes to run speaker wires across the room. A good audio expert can figure it out. One option may be to use flat speaker wire on the floor, wall, or ceiling. Wireless speakers will require a transmitter at the receiver and receiving devices at each speaker, and each speaker needs to be plugged into a wall outlet.

The current system is excellent, wired speakers at this level can’t be matched in sound quality by a wireless system. But, I will look into both options though. The wires were specially selected for their quality, I can’t remember the material but I know they cost a lot. I can reuse them possibly. (Husband used to do the sound for movies in the studio and brought some of his knowledge home.)

I would just add that high quality speaker wires do not affect the speaker sound quality. If you are using the old speakers, I would suggest buying new speaker wires.

Speakers
 

Look like banana plugs. The big question are you going to keep the same system after the flooring is completed?

To clarify my earlier comment, the original post was not clear if these were the only speakers involved, so having no idea on other speakers, I recommended making sure polarity was maintained. Following the whole thread there have been many options offered to the OP, wired versus wireless, sound bar, etc. I believe the OP has lots of information to think about going forward, all with advantages and disadvantages. Hope they let us know the final decision.

Yes, I could pull the plugs out but I had to unscrew what they were in first. Then I had to take the plug off the wire with a tiny screw driver so I could pull the wire through the floor because they are going to put new floor on top. The hole was too small for the plugs. I marked the black wire with black tape on both ends of the wire, incase I want to put it back.

Thank you for everyone’s advice. Media systems absolutely intimidate me. But I believe in learning.

I am not very happy with working with electricity. I unplugged the entire system first.

I like your idea. Although I’m a bit attached to the subwoofer which is a bit heavy for me (I mean in weight) it is 115 lb from specs. I guess I’d like to upgrade but part of me treasures this system which was set up by my hubby, just because he did it.

Well done Velvet!

Interesting thread, learned a few things myself.

Just reporting back. All wires were removed. The new floor was put in. Wires put back (by me). They even made a tiny hole to pull the wires up from the basement ceiling again. :) The whole media system is working just as before. Thank you for your help and advice.

:BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause:

Well done!