Which wall speaker mounts to get and how to install?
April 20, 2014 8:53 AM   Subscribe

I'm not sure what wall/ceiling speaker mounts are appropriate for my system or how to install them in the type of walls I have. Suggestions welcome!

I have a 5.1 speaker system where, in my old flat, I had been able to put the speakers themselves on top of bookshelves and other high surfaces. Now I'm in a place where that isn't going to work. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the simple steel mounting brackets they came with as seen in the picture.

Each speaker is about 3 lbs, and they each have a keyhole-looking hook/hole in the back. I have plaster walls (building is ca. 1931), distance from floor to ceiling is about 9 ft., and there is that old school moulding wrapped around the perimeter of the room about a foot down from the ceiling proper, which I take it was to hide various wires back in the day.

So if anyone handy can direct me to A) a proper decent 5-speaker mount set under $50 if such a unicorn exists, and B) how to install them into these walls, I'd be much obliged. I do have one of those stud-finder doohickeys, so I'm sorted there! Thanks.
posted by droplet to Home & Garden (6 answers total)
 
Best answer: Do you have a better photo of the bracket? Or close ups of the speakers where the bracket fit it? It's really hard to tell from the photo you have. What brand are the speakers?

Take a look at Monoprice (http://www.monoprice.com/Search/Index?keyword=speaker+mount) and Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com/shopsearch/speaker_mount.html) to see if you see anything similar to what you lost.
posted by reddot at 10:35 AM on April 20, 2014


You want to use in-wall screw in anchors, they are made to screw in with a starter hole then the inner tap on the anchor can receive a screw into it and that is the hanger. Get thee to a good hardware store and chat it up. As to wires, I think that railing/moulding along the upper wall is a picture hanging rail for an older time when the wires showed and that was the "look".

Your best bet is to see if the wall is hollow and can have the speaker wire threaded up to the location of the boxes. I would drill a small hole down by the floor area and probe it with a kitchen skewer or coat hanger wire, it the wall is clear then you could go forward and snake a weighted cord down for each location and pull the wiring in.

If the upper rail is the only way to go on the wiring routing then try and find a wiring device that looks like a long thin tube wit ha sticky side and see if that could sit on the rail and keep the wire concealed.

YouTube might help bunches
posted by Freedomboy at 10:38 AM on April 20, 2014


Generally speaking, if the home is older and the moulding is a foot or so down from the ceiling, it's picture moulding. It's made to hang artwork from using clips that hang over it. You may be able to fashion something to hold the speakers using that, but it would still probably be too flimsy and it wouldn't hide the wires.

Freedomboy's got it right.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 10:59 AM on April 20, 2014


Response by poster: Here's what I have for speakers. They're the old KLH 9706 model.

I figured the wall mouldings were for the purpose described, but when I went up the ladder to look, a couple of sides have cable wires mushed in. I don't have (and won't be getting) cable, though. Plus this is a rental, so I don't think I can drill holes into the walls, unfortunately. I probably could staple gun the wires, though.

I hope the pictures give further insight!
posted by droplet at 12:27 PM on April 20, 2014


Best answer: You will probably have to drill into walls, preferably into a stud. There's not really a way to mount speakers otherwise. Ask beforehand (promising to patch) or do it and ask for forgiveness. I don't know about the laws where you live, but making (small) holes in walls is, to me, an unavoidable part of occupying a building, since you need to do it anyway to secure tall furniture to the walls to make sure it won't fall down on people during an earthquake.

You speakers have a "keyhole" mount in the back. You could use it to mount it to the walls with something like the Peerless PSP5 mounts. The brass hole at the bottom is a threaded insert. You could also use it to mount, but you'd need a bracket that can be attached to the bottom/top of the speaker (which the PSP5 could, if you attached it to the ceiling). You'll want to know the kind of thread your insert has and make sure you have the right hardware to attach it to your mount (common threads seem to be 1/4"-20, 8-32, 10-32, M4 and M5).
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 4:16 PM on April 21, 2014


Response by poster: I couldn't respond earlier, I was on my mobile, but I wanted to say thanks to you all for your answers. I had been successful up to this point in not having to put a hole in any of the walls, but this is unavoidable.

Perhaps I'll ask the super for assistance, and he did say when I moved in that as long as I patch up and paint over any holes, he'd not say anything that would prevent me getting my deposit back.

Thanks again.
posted by droplet at 7:42 PM on April 21, 2014


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