Outdoor speaker cable pass through

[atgcpaul]

I'm going to install patio speakers but I don't know how to pass the cable out
of the house to the speakers outside. There are some coax cables that come
out of the house that are surrounded by this tarry foam looking stuff. That
doesn't seem too elegant. I'm wondering if there's a better way.

Thanks, Paul

[OpaDC]

I did this. The more elegant way would have been to go up, through crawl space, then down through eaves to speakers. Mine are mounted high on either side of sliding doors on a 60's ranch house. What I ended up doing, (much easier) is drilling low through corner of the sliding door frame (pvc or plastic or something like that), running it up the frame and stapling it with round staples, then to speakers along eaves. Not hidden but still looks nice. Filled holes with white caulk to match door.

[cabinetman]

If you can join them with the existing cables, that would prevent drilling more holes. You didn't say what exterior barrier (wood, lathe & plaster, stucco, block, etc), you have to pass through.

You could use zip cable (18ga, or 16ga), that comes in colors like brown, white, black. There are different types of grommets, and if weather is a question, a drip loop would be a good idea.
.

[pelligrini]

I ran my inside wiring to a two terminal wall plate put into the underside of the eve. http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062683

The speakers can move easily without having to splice the wire if more length is needed.

[scmhogg]

Radio Shack also sell a wall pass through tube set. It consists of a plastic tube with seal caps for both sides of the wall.

Steve

[LarryG]

A wall plate like Erik recommends is the hot setup. However, the price Radio Shack and the big box stores charge for audio/video devices and wiring is grand larceny. You can get a high quality, functional identical two-post wall plate from monoprice.com for $2.24. They have similar good deals on speaker wire, banana plugs, cables, etc. You can pay the shipping on even a small order and still come out WAY ahead.

When I wired my living room for a home theater system a few months back, I bought everything I needed (plus a bunch of extra parts I wanted to have on hand, for future projects) from monoprice.com for about eighty bucks, delivered. The same stuff bought locally would have cost roughly three times that much.

[pelligrini]

I really like those modular jack systems. I grabbed up a bunch of RJ-45 modules and phone jack modules, plates & boxes when we moved out of our old office. The new owners were going to replace it all. I've got RCA jacks, COAX, networking, phone & speaker jacks all over the house now.

[430752]

yeah, we'd have to know more about what the room inside of where you want to mount the speakers is, what the construction is, etc. etc. I agree that modular jacks are the trick set up, especially unuder the eaves, but that seems too much to me. But I would agree you should try to go through the eaves and leave a drip loop.

At worst, do a cable company job and punch through the walls, use lots of caulk to seal, call it a day.