Running Speaker Wire Through a Wall: The Stud Bay

Quick answer / TL;DR: Running speaker wire through a wall takes the stud bay's cavity: the hole at the wall's face, the bay's route between the studs, the fish tape or the direct pull the wire is dressed with, and the hole at the far side the run exits at. The path stays clear of the electrical the bay may carry – the parallel run's distance and the crossing's right angle – and both ends are dressed at the plates the run's terminals sit behind. The figures are the hole's position, the bay's route and the separation, and the run is the wire the wall's cavity carries between the two faces.

Running speaker wire through a wall is the path the stud bay's cavity makes possible, and the work is the hole and the route: the opening the wire enters at, the bay's cavity the run crosses, and the opening it exits at the room's other side. The wall's figure is its framing – the studs at the spacing the cavity holds, the plates at its top and bottom – and the run's path is the bay the framing leaves between them. The install is the one the hole's position and the bay's route are planned at before the wire's dress.

This is the through-wall view: the bay's cavity and its figures, the hole and the fish the route takes, the separation from the electrical the wall may hold, and the dress at both ends the run finishes with.

The Bay, and the Figures It Holds

The stud bay is the wall's cavity, and the figures it holds are the ones the run's path is planned at. The studs stand at the spacing the wall's framing sets – the 16 inch centers the residential wall's figure, the 24 the wider spacing – and the bay the cavity holds is the space between them, the vertical route the wire's run crosses. The plates at the bay's top and bottom are the horizontal members the cavity's ends, and the fire blocking the taller walls' bays may carry is the figure the run's route meets mid-bay. The bay's cavity, the stud's spacing and the plates are the wall's figures, and the run's hole and route are planned at them before the wire's dress.

The table is the wall's four figures, and the reading is the run's path at each. The spacing is the bay's width, the cavity is the route, the plates are the ends, and the blocking is the obstruction the route meets. The run's hole is placed to the bay's width the spacing states, the wire's path is the cavity the framing leaves, and the ends are the plates the route turns at. The wall's figures are the ones the run's path is planned at, and the hole's position is the figure the spacing and the terminal's place together set.

The Hole, and the Position It Takes

The hole is the run's entry, and the position it takes is the figure the bay's width and the terminal's place set. The hole's place is inside the bay the studs' spacing holds – clear of the stud's edge and the plate's line, the opening the wire's bend takes without the member's interference – and the height is the terminal's place at the plate's level, the figure the wall's finish reads. The two holes, the near wall's and the far side's, are the run's ends, and their positions are the bay's width the spacing states at both faces. The hole's figure is the route's entry and exit, and the position is the one the bay's width and the terminal's level together set before the drill's pass.

The hole's size, and the wire's bend

The hole's size is the figure the wire's bend radius sets, and the pass's diameter is the one the run's turn takes. The wire bends through the hole at the wall's face and the plate's opening, and the bend's radius is the figure the jacket's material and the conductor's size hold without the kink the copper's figure would take. The hole's diameter is the pass the bend's radius fits – the larger opening the thicker wire takes – and the figure the drill's bit is selected at. The hole's size is the bend's figure, and the pass's diameter is the one the run's turn at the wall's face is dressed without the jacket's strain.

The Separation, and the Wall's Electrical

The wall's electrical is the figure the run's path stays clear of, and the separation is the route's distance. The bay the speaker run crosses may carry the power's circuit – the outlet's cable, the switch's run – and the figures are the parallel's distance and the crossing's right angle. The parallel run's separation is the code's low-voltage figure and the hum's coupling's, and the crossing is the right angle the field's write is least at. The run's route is planned around the bay's electrical, and the wall's figure is the one the separation is held at – the route's distance where the parallel runs, and the crossing's angle where the paths meet.

The fire blocking, and the route's obstruction

The fire blocking is the bay's mid-member the taller walls carry, and the figure is the route's obstruction the run meets at it. The blocking's purpose is the cavity's fire spread's limit, and the wire's run through the bay is the route the member interrupts – the pass the drill takes at the member's own figure, or the route's turn the cavity's other bay makes. The blocking's figure is the framing's, and the run's path is planned at the member's rule rather than the wire's line. The obstruction is the figure the route's planning reads, and the fire blocking is the bay's member the run's pass is drilled at where the route's path crosses it.

The Fish, and the Dress at Both Ends

The fish is the route's working step, and the dress is the run's finish at both faces. The fish tape or the glow rod is the tool the wire's path is pulled with, and the hole at the near face is the entry the tape's route is started at. The dress is the plates at both ends – the speaker's wall and the amp's – and the jacks the conductors seat at, the run's ends the wall's figures the plates cover. The fish and the dress are the through-wall run's steps, and the wall's cavity is the path the wire's route crosses between the holes the bay's width and the terminal's level placed.

Running speaker wire through wall uses the CMR-rated stock at the gauge the run's length holds, the plates and the jacks at the wall's faces, and the fish tape the cavity's route is pulled with; the catalog lists the gauge, the rating and the length per roll, and the plates at the run's conductor count.

Real-World Applications

The pair between two rooms: the holes at the bay's width, the fish through the cavity's route, and the plates at both faces the run's ends dressed at. The wall beside the electrical's outlet: the parallel run's separation held, the crossing's right angle at the path's meet, and the route planned around the bay's power. The ceiling's speaker from the wall's run: the plate's opening at the bay's top, the route's turn at the member, and the wire's path the cavity's figures allowed. In each the through-wall run is the stud bay's route – the hole's position, the bay's width, the separation and the dress – and the run is the wire the wall's cavity carries between the faces the plates finish.

Related reading: The installation the through-wall run belongs to: in wall speaker wire installation — in-wall-speaker-wire-installation

Related reading: The closed wall's version of the same route: how to run speaker wire through finished walls — speaker-wire-through-finished-walls

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you run speaker wire through a wall?

Through the stud bay's cavity: place the hole inside the bay the studs' spacing holds at both faces, fish the wire's path through the cavity the framing leaves, keep the route clear of the electrical the bay may carry, and dress both ends at the plates the run's terminals sit behind. The bay's width, the separation and the dress are the run's figures, and the fish tape or the glow rod is the route's tool.

How do I run wire through a wall with a stud in the way?

The stud is the bay's figure, and the route goes around it – the adjacent bay the cavity's other side holds, or the pass the member's own rule allows where the route's path crosses it. The drilling's figure is the member's rule, and the route's turn at the member is the bay's other cavity. The hole's position is inside the bay the spacing states, and the run's path is the one the framing's members leave rather than the one the straight line would take.

Can I run speaker wire through the same hole as electrical wire?

The separation is the run's figure, and the electrical's hole is the power's – the low-voltage run keeps its own route at the distance the rules state and the hum's coupling reads. The parallel run's separation is the code's low-voltage figure, and the crossing's right angle is the path's meet where the routes cross. The speaker run's route is its own, and the wall's electrical is the figure the separation's distance is held at.

What size hole do I need for speaker wire?

The hole's size is the wire's bend radius – the diameter the run's turn at the wall's face and the plate's opening takes without the jacket's strain or the copper's kink. The thicker the wire, the larger the pass the bend's figure requires, and the drill's bit is selected at the hole's diameter the run's turn states. The hole's position is the bay's width's, and the size is the run's own figure at the face it turns at.

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