Corner speaker mounting / trunking for cabling

[-=Rob=-]

I'm in the process of sorting out a new amp / speaker package and it looks like I'll be going down a 6.1 speaker route due to my room shape / TV position. I've a couple of questions about keeping things neat and tidy, which I hope I can get some good advice from this area:

Below is my room layout and speaker positions for the 6.1 system:


The front left & right will be stand mounted, centre on the plasma stand. But the rear 3 will be wall mounted just above head height into the 45deg corners.

What I'm after is some sort of mount that will allow a bracket to me mounted into the corner, has anyone found or used any or would it be easlier to make something out of wood?

With respect to the cabling, I'd need to run speaker cable to these rears from the TV position, the back two speakers behind the sofa will need to be cabled past the door entrance. As I've recently decorated and had new carpet fitted, I don't want to lift carpet / cut tunnels into the walls, so am considering either tacking the cable or using small trunking. Would it be better to trunk around the bottom edge of the room by the skirting or from the TV point go to the ceiling and trunk around the top of the room?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Thanks...

[mossym]

i put trunking around the top of the skirting and painted it to match the walls behind, it i pretty much invisible now unless you look for it. i got junction boxes then and made up my own speaker plates, check out the link at the bottom of my post for pictures.

[Fusion5a]

Have a look at this, I'm probably gona have to go down this route but this product has a much better finish than normal trunking.

http://www.d-line.co.uk/index.php?pageKey=10

[visioneer]

I just ran some speaker cable under my recently laid carpet and to be honest it's not a major problem. Carefully pull the carpet up off the gripper rods and, in my case anyway, there is a gap between the grippers and wall that makes a great channel for cables. After fitting, carefully press the carpet back into place and tidy up - job done!!

Other than that, trunking is only option I suppose. I know which I'd prefer.

[mossym]

must have been skinny cable. runs for 4 rear speakers of 2.5mm van damme blue and you'd be looking at a serious bump in the carpet

[-=Rob=-]

Thanks for the responses guys, the D-Line trunking looks very good, had a quick look at it in my local B&Q....

I've been toying with the idea of moving the TV from the corner positition to wall mounted.. In the picture in my original post, I am thinking of having the TV on the wall where it says "Storage" and moving the Sofa in line with the back cupboard wall. My viewing distance would be around 3.5-4.0m from Sofa to TV. Does this sound like a good idea? If so what size screen would be best on the wall, as I have a feeling my current 37" Plasma may look a bit small...

I would also look at having all my AV gear in some sort of closed cabinet where the TV currently is positioned, having one HDMI feed from the AMP to the TV. This would suit well as the sockets are all down in that corner.

Any comments or suggestions?

[inzaman]

Originally Posted by -=Rob=-

Thanks for the responses guys, the D-Line trunking looks very good, had a quick look at it in my local B&Q....

I've been toying with the idea of moving the TV from the corner positition to wall mounted.. In the picture in my original post, I am thinking of having the TV on the wall where it says "Storage" and moving the Sofa in line with the back cupboard wall. My viewing distance would be around 3.5-4.0m from Sofa to TV. Does this sound like a good idea? If so what size screen would be best on the wall, as I have a feeling my current 37" Plasma may look a bit small...

I would also look at having all my AV gear in some sort of closed cabinet where the TV currently is positioned, having one HDMI feed from the AMP to the TV. This would suit well as the sockets are all down in that corner.

Any comments or suggestions?

Personally i would say the bigger the screen the better, certainly on the 'impact' front. I usnderstand that yours is a lounge as well but in my cinema room I am about 3 metres away from my viewing distance and that is with a 6 foot wide screen which is great imx. As for the one HDMI to the screen that should be okay as you can use you amp etc for all the switching/sound.

[Johnny Thunder]

Is it possible to run the speaker cables above the room, ie under floorboards above or
in the loft space.
If this is possible, you could mount your speakers in a higher position until you next decorate
the room, doing away with any cable/trunking on show apart from one drop where you
would be taking the cables up above.

[-=Rob=-]

Originally Posted by inzaman

Personally i would say the bigger the screen the better, certainly on the 'impact' front. I usnderstand that yours is a lounge as well but in my cinema room I am about 3 metres away from my viewing distance and that is with a 6 foot wide screen which is great imx. As for the one HDMI to the screen that should be okay as you can use you amp etc for all the switching/sound.

Thats sort of what I think, however the TV will be used for watching SD stuff, not just films. So I don't want to get a screen that really shows the poor SD broadcasts. As for mounting it, I am swaying towards maybe an LCD due to the weight reduction over the Plasma's. Again not sure what make or size to get, may get cutting with some card tonight and see what size looks good.

Originally Posted by Johnny Thunder

Is it possible to run the speaker cables above the room, ie under floorboards above or
in the loft space.
If this is possible, you could mount your speakers in a higher position until you next decorate
the room, doing away with any cable/trunking on show apart from one drop where you
would be taking the cables up above.

Unfortunately I won't be able to do that and I am loathed to cut walls apart and chase in cables, just in case things change in the future. I have thought that I may need two lines of trunking though, one for power to the panel and the other for speaker / HDMI cables. The Dline stuff looks pretty good TBH. Still trying to find a decent cabinet for the AV gear with a glass door...

[-=Rob=-]

Originally Posted by -=Rob=-

I'm having ideas about my room, with the possibility of moving the Plasma to the wall where the Sofa is located. Where the Plasma currently sits, I have 2x Sky feeds and 2x Aerial sockets. Any advice on moving these to the other side of the room?

Reason I'm thinking of moving the kit, is to create more space in the room, and have the Plasma wall mounted but at the same time, have enough space for more than a couple of people to see the screen. This wouldn't work on the other side wall.... Nothing's simple is it!