speaker wire deteriorates?

I installed a bunch of in-wall speaker wire about 5-years ago when building my home. I used a decent speaker wire from Home Depot. Unfortunately I ran out (of both wire and energy) and had the security wiring company run the speaker wires for last speaker pair.

Now it seems I have to crank up the amp quite a bit higher than before for that last speaker pair.

Does speaker wire deteriorate that badly? Would they have installed something really crummy?

Thanks.

Reply to
itsme213
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Sounds like something might have crimped the line and shorted out the wires. If you checked the wires without anything connected to either end you'd probably find they're shorted or grounded. The trick them becomes finding where in the length of the line it's been shorted. It may be easier to just re-run a new line rather than trying to fix that one. Just label each end to keep you or future folks from trying to re-use ever again.

Reply to
wkearney99

I doubt it's a short, Bill. That would usually cause dead silence and/or a dead amp -- not low volume. I'd first look for a problem with the volume control. They can and do fail.

Connections might also be poor (high resistance) if the installer didn't know his job well but when that happens it usually affects one speaker or the other rather than a left and right pair. For the same reason, I doubt it's the speakers themselves. If they fail, it's not usually two at a time.

Regards, Robert L Bass

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Reply to
robertlbass

I concur. About 45 years ago I wired a lot of restaurants, supermarkets, office buildings, shopping centers, etc. for sound in N. California. A partial short where a few strands from one conductor touch the other conductor can result in low volume. It usually has a fuzzy sound as well.

Reply to
Dave Houston

I'm wondering if perhaps you could detail what you've done recently (add an additional speaker pair, new wall plate/connectors, etc.). If none of this applies, did the reduction in volume happen rather suddenly or is it when you've selected this pair along with a number of others? How about telling us what you have installed and describe the wiring runs as well. What's the impedance of the speakers and amp?

Reply to
Frank Olson

I don't doubt it. As I suggested, it's best to test the wire without anything attached at either end. This would confirm that the wire is certainly not the problem. Leading to checks of the volume controls next. Thanks for pointing them out as a possible culprit.

Like anything else, it's important to break it down into known-good parcels. Make sure the wire's good, then the speakers, volume controls and any other elements involved. Something will eventually show up, and as you point out it may well be the result of someone else's "handy work".

Reply to
wkearney99

ago when building

Unfortunately I ran

company run the

than before for

installed

Did they use real speaker wire, or maybe the 24 ga. stuff they used for the alarm wiring? Smaller wire would result in less volume.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

Make sure the wire's good, then the speakers, volume controls and any other elements involved. Something will eventually show up, and as you point out it may well be the result of someone else's "handy work"...

Good point, Bill. Since the volume control is the only single item which affects both speakers in a given room but not those in other rooms, I'd start my diagnostics there. Here's an easy way to check it. Turn the master volume all the way down. Turn all the other V/C units up all the way. Remove the suspect V/C from the wall and hot wire the inouts to the outputs so that the amp's power is going directly to the speakers.

Note: This will eliminate impedance protection so make certain you start with the master V/C all the way down.

Slowly ramp the volume up to the point where music is just audible in the other rooms. It should be close to the same in the test room. If so, the V/C is probably the culprit. If not, power off, reconnect the V/C and start checking the speakers, conections to them, and so on back to the amp. Best of luck.

Regards, Robert L Bass

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Reply to
robertlbass

Make sure the wire's good, then the speakers, volume controls and any other elements involved. Something will eventually show up, and as you point out it may well be the result of someone else's "handy work"...

Another way to "test" the volume conrol is to take one from a set of speakers that work and temporarily install it in the room with the problem.

Reply to
Frank Olson

If an alarm company wired the last speaker pair it is indeed possible that the technician simply used whatever was on the truck rather than adequate guage speaker cable. You can use 14 or 16 guage cable for background level sound in most applications. Alarm companies use lots of 22/4 cable for keypads, sensors, etc. This is not recommended for speakers, especially if the run is more than 40-50 feet or if you plan to use much power.

That said, I got the impression that everything had been working properly until recently. If that is the case, wire gauge is not likely to be the cause. OTOH, if the problem developed as soon as the alarm company wired in the last pair, improper cable might well be the problem. The only solution will be to rewire that room.

Regards, Robert L Bass

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Reply to
robertlbass

A "partial short" where a few strands of speaker wire are touching the other conductor in an 8-Ohm system will usually result in total loss of audio. A short in a 25 or 70 Volt commercial sound system such as one might install in a shopping center will usually pop a fuse or burn something.

Regards, Robert L Bass

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Reply to
robertlbass

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