Wires in the wall. For what though???

[1967rsss]

Not necessarily a garage question and I apologize ahead of time.

I have these wires coming through the wall and the only thing I can think of them being for is a pair of wall speakers the previous owner installed up top.

I would just like a to know if that is what these wires are for and how would I connect them to a television and/or radio? Thanks

 

[Gary S]

It looks like your basic telephone wire. What is on the other end?

 

[ishiboo]

It's speaker wire. Light gauge. You could connect them to speaker jacks on a stereo, you will have to see which wires are connected to which speaker as each one gets a "pair". Usually red and black would be on one, and green and white on the other... but who knows what they did!

 

[ishiboo]

And hit the top of your trim with a moist magic eraser and get that dust off!

 

[Big-Foot]

Might have been for a wired intercom system too..

 

[theoldwizard1]

Likely phone wire, although that is typically, red, green, yellow, black.

Highly unlikely it is speaker wire. They are almost always a flat pair.

Too close to the ground for intercom.

 

[CNGsaves]

Looks like 4-wire for Telco.

There are markings on the wire. What does it say??

TRACE WHERE IT GOES: I'd start with incoming telco service to house, and likely you will quickly find a "junction box" for telco where this line is interconnected.

Keep it . . . do not tear it out. Now days, re-using those old telco runs are quite useful when you can get Magic Jack telephone service for $19.95 a year if you have internet connection.

EDIT: Where in house are these located? Is it where a TV would normally go?? Or a stereo?? Or what?? Might be speaker wire or antenna. Does house have Over-The-Air antenna up on roof??

 

[1967rsss]

Here is what I can read off the line:

SUN RES (ROHS) W7D#343295-e275937 444FT RM# ABCDEF 12345678

Its in my living room and pretty much all outlets, wiring, connections are accounted for except the speakers mounted on my drop down wall off the vaulted portion of my ceiling.

As for tracing them back, I am going to have to wait until I can get a ladder to get up through the access hole since I do not currently have one...

Thanks dudes!

 

[justsam]

Looks like 14 or 16 gauge 4 conductor Class 2 speaker wire.

If you have an Ohm meter look for low resistance across any pairing.

If no Ohm meter, and speakers are installed, take a flashlight battery, and apply the battery potential to any suspected pairing. You will hear a "thud" or click from the speaker.

 

[1967rsss]

If no Ohm meter, and speakers are installed, take a flashlight battery, and apply the battery potential to any suspected pairing. You will hear a "thud" or click from the speaker.

This did the trick! I did the red/black and green/white combos as ishiboo suggested and heard some noise.

My next question is can I connect these to a modern LED TV? Or would I need a soundbar or theater system?
Thanks guys for your help.

 

[James-W]

It is doubtful you can connect them to a modern television set. Most modern television sets do not have speaker outputs, they have audio outputs to connect the television set to some sort of (surround sound) audio system. In any case, you will need to know the impedance of the speakers to make sure you have the right impedance speakers for the audio system. Some audio systems you actually have a range for the speaker impedance you can use, on other audio systems you may not. Then too, you will need to know the wattage of the speakers. Since most of the newer audio systems are capable of putting out some pretty healthy audio power, if the speakers are very low wattage speakers you will probably blow them out rather quickly if you should turn up the volume.