Conclusion
Here is my finished room. You can see my right surround speaker in the photo just behind the blue blanket on the couch. The left surround is on the little table behind the couch just out of the photo.
I’m very happy with the Taperwire product, and happy with my install! I don’t plan on painting the flat wire to match my baseboard— it looks just fine to me. After moving the furniture back, I don’t notice the wire on the baseboard at all. Hope this is helpful to some other folks out there.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Very nice install - thanks for sharing.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Good job and great info. Your detailed instructions were impressive.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Thanks so much for all the tips, this took some time to type and put together!
March 28th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Great work. Looks like a good solution for my main room as well.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:24 am
What an exhaustive guide, thanks a lot for writing it all out. That white wire really does look good on that wall, i doubt anyone will notice it.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I noticed after reading your install that no one commented so I’d thought I’d be the first. Nice job. I never even knew that there was flat speaker wire. My first install of surround sound prompted me to drill small holes in, yes the hardwood floors, and run the surround wire in the basement. One hole you cannot see and the other, well, lets just say I wouldn’t look in that direction. You just gave me new and improved ideas on my next install. Thanks for lesson and keep up the good work.
March 28th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Great article. I was considering using this type of wiring but was fortunate to be able to find hiddden wall cavities. I have 3-4 friends who need to do this though.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
What a fantastic article. I have never used any of these flat wires, sticking to the traditional paired wires.
I recently finished off a big change to our lounge including a solid Oak floor and was looking for a solution to tradional wires. I knew that these wires existed but this is the first time I have seen a real installation that also looks good.
One question I have is what is the wattage rating of the wires and what is the quality of sound like? Can they really delivery the same performace as the traditinal wires?
Very good info.
regards
Mike McNamara
Reading, U.K.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
looks good to me. thanks for sharing your research!!!
March 28th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Thanks for the DIY instruction, it was enough to make me think of doing this.
March 29th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
This is a perfect example of professional-grade resourcefulness, planning and installation. I wouldn’t paint over the the wire srips. It looks better if the work you put into this project can be admired.
You addressed all of the issues of wiring room speakers that I have struggled with for years.
I’m going to get a couple of rolls of this wire for my self.
Nice pad! If it’s not brand new, I’d like to borrow your housekeeper for a couple of days. “White glove” clean!
Good Luck
March 29th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
That’s a great little invention. It may take some rework to insulate on cars but it would reduce the headache of installing. I never thought of buying flexprint.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
nice job!
March 31st, 2008 at 8:51 am
Doesn’t look bad but kind of pointless with such a tiny TV!
March 31st, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I found your post through StumbleUpon. I’m a student and won’t have the money for a nice stereo system for a long time to come, but this tutorial is incredibly thorough and your writing is very effective. I especially like that you shared your research into different wire. Fun read!
April 1st, 2008 at 1:32 am
Thank you for sharing your experience, and providing pics. Great job and I’m inspired to do the same.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Very nice setup. Congrats! But is the flat cable of audio grade quality ? i.e : shielded, etc. ?
April 16th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Very nice install. It shows pride in ownership & workmanship. The impressive part, is that you didn`t forget any steps in the work flow, a common error in DIY “how to`s”.
I`m glad you don`t plan on painting the wire-strand. How to ruin a good install, would then have to be your next DIY.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:07 am
Good explanation, with plenty of excellent quality pictures. Well above most articles of this nature.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Sorry, all– the comments weren’t appearing until now. To answer some questions:
@Mike (#8)- Some would argue that a braided strand is better than a solid core wire like this, but it works for me. They are 18 gauge, which is comparable to traditional speaker cable. Most would use a thicker wire if given the choice. As for quality, It sounds great to me, and you definitely get the nice surround effects in movies.
@Biff (#14)- it’s a 32″ tube tv. I’m sure I’ll get a bigger one someday.
@Manjulal (#17)- see my comment above about the quality. 18 gauge is a good amount of copper and the wires are working well for me. Most home speaker wire is not shielded as far as I know. I think your amp & rear speakers will make much more of a difference than the kind of wire you run.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:28 am
How to Make a Fiber Optic Patch Cable
http://fiberoptic-cable.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-make-fiber-optic-patch-cable.html
November 30th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
It appears that Sewell has *doubled* the price of this wire…?
November 30th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Oh - many thanks for the how-to.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Is is possible to paint over the wire?
December 5th, 2008 at 9:21 am
@Gregg (#22) - you’re right, it does look like Sewell has raised their prices. I checked just now and the spool I used has gone from $55 to $79. Still seems worth it to me, though.
@Mortal Light (#24) - the manufacturer says you can paint over it. And I’d say the finish looks like it would take paint just fine. But I can’t say for sure since I didn’t try it.
December 17th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Great! Thanks for the DIY!
December 26th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Great Job ! Are the terminal ends available at any electronic store ?
December 28th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Great DIY. I never knew there was such a thing as flat speaker wire. This gives me another option to consider. And the detailed walk-through makes it all the more tempting to try. Thanks!
January 30th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Nice product review. I was very impressed to learn you have a 32″ TUBE tv above the fireplace. Old school but it looked like a flat screen becaused it’s recessed. I don’t know if you installed or if it was from a previous owner but either way it looks great! Thanks for sharing!
February 5th, 2009 at 9:32 am
@Chip (#27) - I’ve never seen terminal blocks like there for sale in a retail store. But the connectors you see in the photos did come with the spool.
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
You should be careful about publishing advice that violates the national building and electrical codes.
Zip-Cord and this flat speaker wire are not allowed to be installed in-wall. All in-wall wiring (including speaker, catv, network and telephone wiring) must be FT4/CL2 rated, of which neither of your products are. Not saying this will necessarily cause a problem, but if you did have a fire, the insurance company could certainly (and likely would) use this to void your coverage in these tough financial times!
April 12th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Great job! Really inspired me to buy the spool from sewell direct. will do the installation next week and see how it goes. will post some updates later.
April 27th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Thanks for sharing your excellent job. But, if you permit, I’d like to make a criticism to one aspect of your installation: your TV set is too high for confort viewing. When looking at the first photo I’ve noticed a huge difference in the center of screen height and the (estimated) eyes level for someone sitting at the couch. IMHO the correct level for TV would be some in the middle height of the current position (if Mr. Fireplace don’t cares;).
May 2nd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
@31- good point about the in-wall rating on the wires. I updated the text above to add a disclaimer and plan to replace at least the zip wire with properly rated wire.
@33- I agree, the TV is too high. The fireplace was there when we moved in & my wife vetoed getting rid of it.
Thanks for all the other supportive comments!
June 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Hi, good post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting.
June 7th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Boy, you must be the most boring person on Earth. Congratulations on your achievement!
June 14th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
The best information i have found exactly here. Keep going Thank you
June 16th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?
June 16th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Thanks for this…will be helpful.
@Rob #36 — way to douche it up!
June 16th, 2009 at 10:53 am
@38 Gary- will be glad to write more. What questions do you have?
July 1st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Where can you purchase the terminator on the web? That is the only thing missing from a superlative installation guide. Thank you.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:11 pm
You can get the terminators from Sewell Direct. http://sewelldirect.com/AudioVideo/Terminators/TerminatorBlocks
September 18th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I’m the engineering manager at Taperwire. This is a beautiful installation in a beautiful house. I’m really impressed. A customer called in today to tell me about this installation. Great Fun..
September 30th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Great job on the tutorial covering all the steps. I had one question. When you do the 90 degree turns and run the wire over itself, does this introduce any interference with the copper on top of itself like that?
Also, to the other readers, I found 100′ 2-strand flatwire for ~$62 at http://www.21st-century-goods.com/. They also have the flatwire connectors. I needed the 2-strand wire instead of the 4-strand you used because of the way my room is set up.
Will leave another reply when I actually run the flatwire with regard to how good the product is that I bought from this online store.
November 7th, 2009 at 4:12 am
Thank you so much for these awesome instructions and pictures included too. Love it! I will definitely be following your instructions upon my installation. I will be having hardwood floors installed next month. I’ll let you know how it turns out for me. Jason, I await to read your reply regarding the 2-strand flatwire and the quality of the product that you located. I will need to used this product as well. Thanks again, guys!!!
December 8th, 2009 at 6:23 am
I was considering doing this in my living room and it would have been perfect, but the wire is now $110/spool.
December 31st, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Yeah, no offense but I keep reading the price getting higher and higher on this wire. You can get rocketfish wireless rear surround speakers for $110 at Best Buy, (provided you have an electrical outlet and place to hide the wireless receiver behind you, which I do) so at these prices there’s no real reason to do this.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Great write up! I have followed your instructions and setup the same flat wire around the baseboard of my house. I wouldn’t have thought of it if I hadn’t found this article.
Thanks!