I’m looking to get some slimline speakers mounted on the wall either side of the telly but the cables will need chasing into the wall.. there is already a socket behind the telly and an HDMI buried directly in the wall (no conduit) from when we had a rewire. The spark said there wasn’t enough room for a plastic conduit of any kind big enough for the HDMI lead ends..

Anyhow, the speaker cables will need to go straight down and under the floor to the AV amp. Not really sure how to do this..

Skirting board off 1st?
Do I just use a hammer and bolster chisel? I imagine a grinder would be too messy in an otherwise finished/decorated room?
I imagine I’ll not be going very deep into the masonry?
Bury cable direct or try and get a very thin conduit? (The hdmi worries me as if it breaks I’m snookered!)
Where the cable comes out the top should I put a plastic cover or just get it plastered round?
Once I’m finished smashing the place I’ll be getting a plasterer in.. will they be able to do the whole wall without disturbing the adjacent coving and wallpaper? (It’s already cracked so I think a lot will come down once I start hammering.

Any advice gratefully received.
Cheers

I’d say you might be a tad disappointed compared to the proper speakers you currently have.

Go the other way, get some big **** off front ported floor standers and a sub 😛

Edit: might make that door a pain? Some front ported bookshelf speakers?

This is a good point. The B&Ws are about 18 years old but still going strong.. However, we have a 7 month old baby who gets more mobile by the day! Don’t want her banging into the metal stands or pulling them off.. the KEF T301 slimline speakers look really slick but yea maybe I will be disappointed..

How much is a decent set of floorstanders? 😂

If the skirting is coming off, can you not route a channel in that for the cable?

https://www.richersounds.com/kef-t301-black.html

Could do FB but the cables are already under the floorboards and into the amp as is (it’s just the stands hide it a bit). Unless I’m not following?

There are all sorts of fudged solutions you can do, from conduit to super-flat cables you can paint over (I believe).

However, if you are confident you’ve settled on the location of your TV speakers want to do it properly, I would take the skirting off and chase the channels. If you’ve resolved to do that, you may as well put decent sized conduit in, in case you ever want to replace the cable or add something extra.

If you are taking the skirting off,getting a plasterer in and repainting the wall anyway, I would highly recommend re-doing the cable-run to the TV at the same time. You can get large conduit made for this purpose with open/brush ends that allow you to change/add cables later.

just adding the speaker cables is that much of a ball-ache that you might as well go all-in, knowing that you shouldn’t ever have to re-do it if cabling standards change or you want a slightly different setup.

There’s absolutely no requirement but you could use capping nailed over the speaker cable to protect the cable from being damaged during plastering.

You could always just drill to the cavity and fish the cable back through at skirting level….

This is a good point. The B&Ws are about 18 years old but still going strong.. However, we have a 7 month old baby who gets more mobile by the day! Don’t want her banging into the metal stands or pulling them off.. the KEF T301 slimline speakers look really slick but yea maybe I will be disappointed..

Could you secure them to the floor?

I wouldn’t trust a toddler around wall mounted speakers much more than standing ones – bar the crush risk IMO. A lot cheaper to just secure them down maybe? The KEF301s got good reviews but are pretty pricey!

If you do it though you should definitely use it as an excuse to mount some surrounds as well! 😛

You could also wall mount some front ported bookshelf’s or your current speakers with their ports blocked I guess?

A cut with a cutoff saw will leave a much neater chase that is much easier to fill – an easy DIY job however it will fill your whole house with dust.

If the skirting can be taken off its easier to do so if you need a chase behind it tho I have successfully chased behind skirtings using a long masonry drill

I would just plaster round the wire ends where they come out of the wall – it will be hidden behind the speakers. I wouldn’t bother with conduit. I have a pair of hard wired speakers in every room in my flat If you do a fairly neat chase then using filler to cover the wires is pretty strightforeward

What’s the low end of the KEF speakers like? You might need a sub too.

The TV could benefit being mounted a bit higher, plus a unit underneath would toddler proof it more as they can’t get as close.

The record deck on the left will have to be moved…

How about a decent sound bar and a very good set of headphones and amp instead? Then pack the B&W speakers away or set them up somewhere child free. They will still be able to mess with/break the flat KEF ones as they grow taller. Things don’t stay child proof for long as they grow. Alternatively you could surround the tv with a shelving unit. Your current speakers can go on this, with space for toy storage on the bottom shelves…. this could even evolve into a false wall with flush mounted in-wall speakers and built in storage.

I got passed the conduit hdmi issue by shaving the hdmi cable.

You could cut a channel deep enough in the plaster with a Stanley knife all you need is it to be flush.

You can get shrouds for grinders for dust extraction. That and covering everything or even tenting off the area is what you could do if you chase the walls.

SDS drill with chisel mode its the way forward. Mark it out stitch drill it and then use the chisel function on the drill to open it out from the inside out. Its actually easier than it sounds. Then either capping over the cables or oval conduit, then get it plastered.

Remember there are zones at 90deg to every switch and socket that could have a cable runs. There are also zones in the corners of room as along the top near the ceiling etc. Drill in these areas with caution.

my speakers sit on stands BEHIND the tv unit – how ever i have the benifit of the whole lot sitting in a corner – so speakers in the space behind.

Not the best accoustically im pretty certain – how ever its temporary till Miss T-R jnr (currently 3 months) gets to be say …..oh …. 18

I did mine. Skirting off & used a hand grinder (with Henry attachment!).The neat chase was very easy to make good. I did a great job and then the missus had some bespoke shelving built which made the whole process redundant. ha.
In your case , if you want to avoid mess you could try some mini conduit right in the corner , a bit of caulk and paint and after a few nights teething you won’t notice it. 😉
But if you are getting a plasterer in ,you may as well chase it.

I would stick with what you have and perhaps secure them down.

At some point the kid will just climb the whole telly, a few months in week be leaping off the sofa, and a few months after that not going round pulling everything.

Thank you very much for the responses everyone – certainly lots to go at there!

In terms of the height and placement of the telly, I’m absolutely set on that. I wanted it to be the exact same height it would have been at if it was on a cabinet so as not to be craning my neck. It’s been there about 5 years now.

The wall itself it where the chimney is. There was a really old back boiler in there when we bought the house and we just bricked it up. So although there is a cavity in, it’s about a foot thick and not easily accessible from the other side. It is a shame though as this would remove the need for chasing cables. I assume the spark would have used this option if viable when he did the HDMI.. although he didn’t put a conduit in (which sounds like it should have been possible).

Good point re. going all in and re-doing the HDMI run as well given the upheaval and cost of chasing the speaker cables.. I can just see the HDMI cable giving up the ghost as soon as I get everything put back together!

Although, having written and read all of that ^^^ I’m starting to lose a bit of motivation for the job altogether.. For the price of the KEF speakers and the cost/time of doing all the other associated stuff I could buy a nice pair of floor standers and just put a brace on the back/top. Or I could just secure what I already have. Seems a shame to drill through the metal stand into the bottom of the wooden case on the speakers though.. but they’ve had a good innings and one of the tweeters has already taken a knock.. Those KEF ones although they get good reviews may indeed be a bit flat..

Decisions decisions!

If you are chasing, just buy a proper chaser, two angle grinder blades which you can space apart as required and adjust the depth etc. Makes for a much neater and consistent channel. Still makes a horrible mess if you have old plaster eg Victorian, which goes everywhere…..

Drilling holes into speaker cabinets isn’t ideal. The cabinet is supposed to be airtight or have designed in leaks. Bass ports are designed in obviously. Any unplanned leak is likely to cause the bass response to suffer.
Also attaching the speaker to the stand will brace the structure of the cabinet differently and give a rigid mechanical connection to the stand. You might then get unwanted vibrations/rattles because of that.

If I were you I’d go the bespoke shelving surround route and stick the speakers on there with isolating pads under them. The B&W are ported at the front so should be fine

In terms of the height and placement of the telly, I’m absolutely set on that. I wanted it to be the exact same height it would have been at if it was on a cabinet so as not to be craning my neck. It’s been there about 5 years now.

Toddlers love hitting one thing onto another….I’d recommend allowing for the TV to be moved up a bit if needed, i.e. decent amount of cable slack. As I said before it also helps if there is something in front to stop them getting too close in the first place. I think we found a good compromise height, bottom of tv about 70-75cm off the floor (will check). Doesn’t need to be mega high like some people have… well not yet, but I’m hoping when he is tall enough he will understand “don’t do that” properly 😁

My credentials: Dad to a 1.5 year old and have a master’s degree in Acoustics

Gotta love a pair of 601’s!

Get some 604’s then you don’t need to hide the cables.

For them money you’re looking to spend on the KEF’s you could get a pair of Q Acoustics floorstanders.
I’ve got the cheaper version of these and they are seriously impressive for the money:
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/floorstanding-speakers/q-acoustics-q3050i-black.html
They’ve got a really good bass to them but, as I have room, I’ll be adding a sub soon.

Run the cable under the carpet, job-jobbed.

I’ve got a 1 year old and 2.5 year old and IMO secure what you have and don’t worry about your stuff getting damaged and making everything look super nice. It’ll all end up kncakered and covered in crayon, permanent markers, sick, wee, poo etc anyway LOL

Those chasing tools look fab, I didn’t even know such a thing existed! Although I would normally jump at the chance to buy a new powertool it looks like it would make a reet mess.

Good point re. drilling holes in speakers and bracing them. They have quite a lot of sentimental value as I got them new when I was 15-16 years old. Maybe I should order a new tweeter.

D Morts – what about some sort of non-rigid anti-tip device, like you have at the top of a wardrobe? Would that work?

Mind you – I’m now thinking of binning off the project and just buying some brand new floorstanding B&Ws.. slippery slope this.. The AV amp needs upgrading too as won’t pass through 4K to new telly.. Dolby Atmos I think is what I need?

Those chasing tools look fab, I didn’t even know such a thing existed! Although I would normally jump at the chance to buy a new powertool it looks like it would make a reet mess.

Yep, I just bought a cheap one from Screwfix as it only had to manage a few metres of cutting, very nifty bit of kit; but it makes a god awful mess and you’ll be vacuuming for ages afterwards.

I’m now thinking of binning off the project and just buying some brand new floorstanding B&Ws.. slippery slope this.. The AV amp needs upgrading too as won’t pass through 4K to new telly.. Dolby Atmos I think is what I need?

🤩

This a new house? Dot-n-dab wall? You might be lucky. I managed to get two hdmi leads, two power cables, a cat5 and two coax cables down between the dots. Just dug a hole at the top and bottom, fine fishing wire tied to a washer and jiggled it down. Cover the connectors with tape in a cone shape and haul back up.

If you do have to chase, borrow or buy an oscillating multi tool to put clean edges in and use appropriate dust extraction (somebody else’s vacuum). I’d even consider building a tent out of clear dust sheets. Plaster dust infiltrates everything.

Actual pizza rollers are great at cutting plasterboard!

Ha! It certainly did escalate quickly! Boys and their toys..

It’s not a dot and dab wall unfortunately, it’s plaster over bricks – we had the house plastered about 5 years top to bottom after re-wire and new central heating. The dust was EPIC when all that was getting done!

If you’re thinking about re-doing the HDMI cable, why not run the speaker cables with that?
Then just mount the speakers at the side of the TV!

All the talk of angle grinders for some speaker cable is daft. Just wap it in a shallow groove and stick it down with filler.

What’s the other side of the wall? Might sounds a bit of an unconventional way of doing it but if it is an external wall with nothing much the other side then why not just drill a hole through the wall and route externally and terminate at the bottom with a connector plate? A made of mine did this, the other side of the external wall was just the side path and a fence so you can’t see from the front or back of the house so he routed a pair of speaker cables and an HDMI cable externally. At least if you ever want to remove it then it’ll be a lot easier to patch up.

My dad did this with his telly as the wall just went into the garage. Unfortunately in my case there is about a 1 foot void behind the wall then the stairs/cupboard.. It’s the old chimney that we don’t use and is masonry either side of the 1 foot void, and to add further complexity all of the central heating pipes go to the upstairs of the house in the far right of the void.

It’s ok – I’m going to tell my wife that my “little bike friends” (in her words) told me to spend £1250 on some new B&Ws :o)