Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with stereo and wiring

Wiring up an old radiogram

carter — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:25:59 -0800

I found a radiogram on the street. There are two short wires out the back, both stripped about 1/4" bare, and no plug. With regard to polarity, does it matter how I attach a new lead and plug? I'm in the US and will be plugging it in to 110V. I did search through previous AskMe posts, but such is the parlous state of my electrical knowledge, I could not come to any firm conclusion.

It's probably a Magnavox Astrosonic, and it's solid state. Here's a couple of photos: 1 2

How to install a new head unit?

ibfrog — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:51:11 -0800

car audio filter: Trying to replace the head unit on my car and I'm getting lost in the wiring harness and install instructions. (lots of questions inside) This may be a really specific question but I'm trying to wire a JVC KD-AHD39 into my 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart. The Lancer has a subwoofer and an amp under the driver's seat.

The harness in the car has 5 wires attached and the harness that was sent from crutchfield only has 4. First question is : Any ideas on what the extra wire is?

The manual for the JVC head lists one of the leads as the "Accessory Terminal". Second question: Is this the line that runs to the switched power? (The extra diagrams seem to suggest that but I'm not electrically inclined and I'd rather not blow anything up)

The crutchfield wiring harness has a line coming out of it called "Power Antenna". It matches a wire in the harness in the car but I have no idea what it is and I can't find a wiring diagram for the car. Any idea what a "power antenna" is

There is a remote lead coming out of the JVC that is supposed to be for other equipment. The install instructions list that as the line to run to the remote power on for extra amplifiers. There is a line in the crutchfield harness that is supposed to be an amplifier turn on, but the crutchfield wire has a special end on it. The wire from crutchfield is a bare wire. Are these two wires meant to be together or do I have the connection completely messed up?

Second to last question (sorry for the mega-post): I'm not completely sure how the subwoofer gets tied into the new system. There doesn't seem to be anything in the crutchfield harness that mentions a subwoofer.

There is a chance I ended up with the wrong harness from crutchfield and I'm trying to call them (they are backed up at the moment). Are there any other things I can do to learn some of these answers for myself?

Help me wire this crazy-ass layout for surround sound...

twiggy — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:32:20 -0800

Help me inexpensively and at least somewhat discreetly wire my place for surround. The problem: Really challenging room layout and a tight budget. The short version of what I'm looking for is:
- Recommendations of quality but affordable speaker cable (please, no Monster)
- Ideas on how to find out if/how I can drill into the soffit safely (if you need pics, I can put some up)
- Ballpark figures on having a room wired for surround if you've had it done
- Creative ideas for semi-attractively achieving this wiring without going into the wall
- Or .. point me to a magical tool that will let me go through the wall with minimal damage and easy/inexpensive repairs?
- I already have the surround system, and I'm house-poor - please do not recommend I purchase wireless speakers

The more detailed notes with regard to this challenge:
- Floors are hardwood, I can't tuck wiring under baseboards or carpet, unfortunately
- It shouldn't make a huge difference, but the system I have is 6.1 surround (3 rears), not just 5.1
- Ceilings are somewhat high (9 feet). There is a soffit running around the perimeter (from the left of the entertainment center toward right, all the way around the wall with the balcony doors, and over to the kitchen), but it is unclear if I can drill into this soffit safely. Ductwork definitely runs through it, but it seems awfully big for all of that space to be air duct. Is there a safe way to find out if/how/where I can drill in and pull cables?
- Note all the doorways / hallways in the floorplan below. I was going to buy that white conduit-type tubing you can run along your trim, but it seems like it'd look awfully goofy going around so many doors or hallway openings. Please excuse my really crappy and not at all to scale MS Paint mockup of the room's floorplan:

- I'm very house-poor having just spent most of my savings on this condo, so I'm afraid spending several hundred dollars having an electrician pull cables is probably out of the question, though I don't know how much that costs.

I fully understand that waiting until I have the money to have a professional run cables is an option. However, I have 2 cats and leaving the wiring running all over the floor temporarily is not really an option as they like to muck with things once in a while, so right now I can't hook up the speakers at all. I'm really really missing the ability to listen to music and watch movies with decent sound.

My stereo's not ready to come out of the closet

adamrice — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:29:10 -0800

Building a media closet in an existing home... The wife and I will be buying a new house soon, and we know we're going to move a couple of walls around. We are considering building a media closet. I've been reading up on structured wiring panels, multi-room amps, etc, but I'm still unsure what my best options are.

We want to distribute video to the living room and bedroom, and audio to those two rooms plus the office and backyard. Thanks to wifi and multi-extension cordless phones, it's not that important to distribute data or phone. The closet would be attached to the office. The house has stick framing, unfinished attic, and crawl-space underneath. I'm thinking of using a Mac mini as a media center. We want the whole thing out of sight and remote-controllable as much as possible.

So:

1. How hard would it be to do the installation myself? The distribution points will be on existing walls; the hub will be on new framing.
2. All the systems I've read about use coax for video, but this seems to be the lowest-quality option (compared to component/S-video/digital). Is there a more future-proof and high-quality option for video?
3. What's the best way to distribute audio to 4 points?

Any other advice much appreciated.

How best should I use these old Zenith Allegro speakers with a modern receiver?

The Michael The — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:23:33 -0800

I have an old Pair of Zenith Allegro speakers (50-watt, 8-ohm) with pre-attached cables and RCA-style plugs (male) for connecting to the stereo. I'd like to use them with a more modern receiver (50-watt max, 8-ohm) that accepts straight wire from the stereo; should I just lop off the ends and wire them in, or is there a better method? Also, can I use them with a >50-watt stereo if I keep the volume down, or is that just bad?