How to Run Speaker Wire Through Finished Walls

Quick answer / TL;DR: Running speaker wire through finished walls starts with the access: the plate's opening cut at the speaker's position, the opening at the amp's end, and the cavity's path the fish tape follows between them. The fish is the working step – the tape or the glow rod through the bay the studs leave, the wire pulled back through – and the drywall's edges are protected with the trim ring or the low-voltage bracket the plate seats in. Where the cavity's path cannot be crossed, the surface options – the raceway, the flat cable under the baseboard – are the run's alternative.

Running speaker wire through finished walls is the retrofit's problem: the cavity is closed, the paint is on, and the run has to reach the speaker's wall without the wall coming down. The work is the access and the fish – the openings the run's ends are cut at, the fish tape or the glow rod the wire's path is pulled through, and the drywall the route's edges are protected from. The finished wall's figures are the access, the cavity's path and the patch, and the install is the run the closed wall's own openings make possible.

This is the retrofit's view: the access points the run needs, the fish through the closed cavity, the drywall's protection at the route's edges, and the surface options the install takes when the cavity's path is not the one the fish can cross.

The Access, and the Openings the Run Cuts

The access is the retrofit's first figure, and the openings are the ones the run's ends are cut at. The plate's opening at the speaker's wall – the single-gang the 86-series plate covers – is the room's end, cut at the position the speaker's terminal sits behind. The amp's end is the other – the opening the rack's cable reaches, the plate the run's conductors seat at – and the two are the run's access points. The cavity's path between them is the fish's route, and the openings' positions are the figure the bay's width and the terminal's place set. The access is the retrofit's first work, and the openings are the run's two ends the fish's route is read between.

The table is the retrofit's five steps and the figures each sets, and the reading is the order the work runs. The access is the openings' figure, the fish is the path's continuity, the pull is the wire's bend, and the dress and the patch are the wall's finish. The five steps are the closed wall's run, and the figures are the ones the retrofit's work is measured at – the openings' positions, the cavity's path, the wire's turn and the wall's repair.

The Fish, and the Cavity's Path

The fish is the retrofit's working step, and the cavity's path is the figure the fish reads. The fish tape or the glow rod is the tool the route is started with – the tape fed into the bay's opening and walked to the far end's opening – and the wire is pulled back through the path the tape's route found. The cavity's path is the bay the studs leave, the plate's and the sill's members the route turns at, and the blocking the taller wall's bay may carry – the obstruction the fish's route reads at the member's figure. The fish's success is the cavity's continuity between the openings, and the path is the figure the retrofit's run is measured by before the pull begins.

The glow rod, and the bay the fish cannot see

The glow rod is the fish's tool for the bay the tape cannot see into – the cavity the opening's view does not reach – and the figure is the light the route's far end shows. The rod is fed into the bay, the tool's light is read at the far opening's view, and the route's continuity is the figure the glow's position states. The tape's path is the direct one, and the rod's light is the bay's own figure where the path's turns are hidden. The fish's work is the route the tool's light confirms, and the glow rod is the retrofit's answer at the cavity the tape alone cannot read.

The Drywall, and the Edges the Run Protects

The drywall is the retrofit's surface, and the figure is the opening's edge the run's dress protects. The cut's opening leaves the drywall's paper edge and the gypsum's core, and the plate's bracket – the low-voltage mounting bracket or the trim ring the plate seats in – is the figure the edge is covered with. The pull's wire is dressed through the opening's bracket, and the route's edge is the figure the bracket's flange covers. The drywall's repair is the opening's figure the cut missed at – the patch the finish matches – and the bracket is the dress's figure the correct opening takes. The run's path is the wall's surface the openings finish at, and the drywall's edges are the figures the bracket and the patch cover.

The low-voltage bracket, and the plate it holds

The low-voltage bracket is the opening's frame, and the plate it holds is the run's finish. The bracket is the frame the drywall's opening takes – the mounting the plate's screws seat in – and the plate's cover is the wall's face the run's conductors are dressed at. The bracket's figure is the opening's edge the plate's cover finishes, and the mounting is the plate's hold the retrofit's opening takes. The drywall's face is the surface the bracket's frame is set in, and the plate is the run's end the opening's edge is finished at – the retrofit's dress the bracket's frame and the plate's cover make.

The Surface Options, and the Run the Fish Cannot Take

The surface options are the retrofit's alternative, and the figure is the path the fish cannot cross. The cavity the fire blocking interrupts, the wall the framing's member blocks, the run the fish's tape cannot walk – the paths the closed wall's own figures stop – and the surface's options are the routes the run takes instead. The raceway is the channel the wall's face takes – the cover's strip the wire runs under, the baseboard's line or the crown's – and the flat cable is the stock the paint takes, the run the wall's face dresses under the finish. The surface options are the retrofit's figures the cavity's route does not serve, and the run's path is the face's own – the raceway's channel or the flat cable's line – where the fish's route is the one the wall closes.

The retrofit's run uses the CMR-rated stock at the gauge the length holds, the low-voltage brackets and the plates the openings take, and the fish tape or the glow rod the cavity's path is read with; the catalog lists the gauge, the rating and the length per roll, and the surface raceway and the flat cable are the alternatives the closed wall's path does not serve.

Real-World Applications

The living room's surround pair in the finished wall: the plate's openings at the seats' positions, the fish through the bay's cavity, and the brackets the plate's cover finishes at. The bedroom's pair the blocking stops: the surface raceway along the baseboard's line, the wire's channel the cover's strip, and the wall's face the run the fish could not take. The office's retrofit: the glow rod's light at the far opening, the wire's pull through the bay, and the plate's jacket the run's conductors seat at. In each the finished wall's run is the access and the fish – the openings, the cavity's path, the drywall's edge and the plate's finish – and the surface options are the routes the wall's own figures leave where the cavity's path closes.

Related reading: The open wall's version of the same route: running speaker wire through wall — running-speaker-wire-through-wall

Related reading: The tool that finds the run's path: trace speaker wire in wall — trace-speaker-wire-in-wall

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you run speaker wire through finished walls?

Start with the access – the plate's opening at the speaker's position and the opening at the amp's end – and fish the cavity's path between them with the tape or the glow rod, then pull the wire back through. Dress the openings with the low-voltage brackets and the plates, and repair the cut where it missed. Where the cavity's path cannot be crossed, the surface raceway or the flat cable under the baseboard is the run's alternative.

Can I run speaker wire through a wall without cutting drywall?

The openings are the run's access, and the closed cavity's path is the fish's route between them. The no-cut options are the surface routes – the raceway's channel along the baseboard, the flat cable the paint takes, the run the wall's face dresses – and they are the retrofit's alternative where the cavity's path cannot be fished. The in-wall path is the cleaner finish, and the surface's route is the run the wall's own figures leave where the fish stops.

What tools do I need to fish speaker wire through a wall?

The fish tape or the glow rod for the cavity's path, the drill and the bit for the openings' pass, the low-voltage bracket and the plate for the dress, and the drywall's saw for the opening's cut. The fish tape is the direct route's tool, and the glow rod is the bay's where the path's turns are hidden. The bracket's frame and the plate's cover are the finish's figures, and the patch is the opening's repair where the cut missed.

How do I fix the drywall after running the wire?

The opening's edge is the figure the bracket covers – the low-voltage mounting bracket's frame the plate's cover finishes – and the cut that missed is the patch the finish matches. The gypsum's core and the paper's edge are the figures the bracket's flange holds, and the plate's cover is the run's finish at the wall's face. The patch is the repair the opening's figure takes where the bracket does not cover it, and the finish's paint is the surface the wall's face returns to.

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