If you’re anything like me, then one of the first things that jump out at you when you see a house is how they hide their speaker wire. I always wonder if it’s as easy to do as it looks and whether or not there are any tricks to make it look better.
To find out, I talked to some experts and did some research on my own, and put together these 15 tips for hiding speaker wire in your home.
How to Hide Speaker Wires – Top 15 Ways
1) Take advantage of natural barriers
If possible, try routing cables behind walls by drilling small holes through drywall with a hole saw (make sure power outlets aren’t nearby). You can also route them under carpets (try using an old vacuum cleaner hose).
2) Choose an appropriate cable
For home theaters, pick a cable that has thicker insulation and is more difficult to pull through the walls. Some speaker manufacturers will include these cables for no extra charge or they sell them separately themselves. Keep in mind this will make it slightly harder to fit the connectors through wall-mounted faceplates.
- Passing the UL94 V-0 Rating test, a plastics flammability standard released by Underwriters Laboratories of the United States, UL94 V-0 Rating is defined as Burning stops within 10 seconds on a vertical part allowing for drops of plastic that are not inflames, which means it's safer than ordinary materials because of the higher flame retardancy and brings greater security to your daily use
- Upgraded Snap Structure for Easier Setup: Delamu cord hider is SUPER EASY to set up. Delamu cable hiders feature Attach & Snap design, making installation easier with click-on-and-off technology that makes opening & closing a snap.Organizing the clutter of cables in your home or office will be easier with our cable hiders
- Organize Messy Cables Neatly: Use the Delamu cord hider, a cord cover that will make your house look neat, to hide and organize conspicuous cords in your home and office. After installing Delamu cord management, you'll love having a tidy home or office with more room to move around, and Delamu cable hider will turn out to be your favorite cable raceway
- Premium Quality Cord Hiders: High-quality cord hiders are not just empty words. Delamu wire management uses high-quality PVC material. Our cable hiders are sturdier, unbreakable, free of impurities, no color differences, etc. Storage is even easier when you choose Delamu wire hiders for cable management
- Simple and Easy Installation: No need for professional help, with its easy-to-use cord concealer instructions, all the messy wire problems in your space can be solved with Delamu wire covers for cords. With just one small change, your living room gets a new look. With the Delamu cord cover wall, this is possible! You can't go wrong when you choose Delamu wire hiders for cable management
- 9 Individual Multiconductor Insulated 18AWG Wires all Patched Into One Easy to Install Loom. Great For Chuchero Wire and Universal Audio Installation Applications.
- Color coded CCA wiring. 4 channels (positive and negative) plus an optional remote (blue) wire, 9 audio wires in total. This Car Audio Speed Wire is Provides Ease of Installation.
- This Car Speaker Wire is easy to route, cut, and customize for clean and great looking installations. The Multi Wire Loom is a shielded super conductor cable.
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- DS18 Delivers the Most Up To Date Products on the Market with The Highest Quality Materials. You can rest assured knowing that our car audio speaker wire is built to last.
3) Make use of false ceilings
Instead of routing cables across walls, drill holes in the center of the ceiling and route them through there.
4) Use wire molding or fishing tape
This is a product that’s available at most hardware stores. It consists of some string-type material on one side with a sticky backing for adhering it to certain surfaces. Then you just wrap the speaker wire around it before peeling off the adhesive back and sticking it to the wall (be sure not to cover any electrical outlets).
Must Read: Speaker Buying Guide
5) Install custom moldings
Home improvement stores carry moldings for all different applications such as hiding wires behind radiators, installing baseboards that also hide wires, etc. You can also do this yourself if you’re into DIY projects.
6) Make use of your furniture
You don’t want to drill through any walls unless you have to, so sometimes it’s best just to tuck them away behind the couch or other large pieces of furniture.
7) Hide speaker wires in boxes on the floor or wall
Even if you route cables under carpets, some installers opt to conceal additional cables with shallow plastic boxes mounted on walls. However, many homeowners just ignore this step and leave the cable box exposed which isn’t aesthetically pleasing at all. If that’s the case for you, then be sure to put on a cover plate on top of the box (this will also prevent accidents from happening).
8) Secure loose cables
If someone accidentally pulls on a loose cable, the whole system could come crashing down. Head back to step 1 and use some of those natural barriers or false ceilings to prevent this from happening.
9) Use small drops
If you’re having large speaker wires routed across your walls in between rooms, then consider using smaller drops that go only partway up the wall and let them hang with just enough slack so they can connect with any devices in that room (another reason why many people don’t bother with wire moldings).
10) Make good use of corner pads
If you’re worried about making holes in your walls for cables, then use corner pads which are available at most hardware stores. These are out of strong adhesive material that you stick to the corner of walls before drilling and they hold up cables as you drill carefully through those spots.
- Easy to install- Only 15 Minutes to Install – Just a small change and your living room is about to look all brand new. With the EVEO Premium cable concealer, and wire covers for cords, it’s possible! For your convenience -wire management enables you to choose whether to use tape or drywall anchors & screws for installation. It might take you approximately 15 minutes to install. Our connector kit will do the rest.
- Easy to use– For a perfect match, you can even paint the cord cover to match the color of your wall or to choose a decorative color for your wire hider. If you need a different size, simply cut it down to the desired length.
- Safety First – Besides aesthetics & organization, your safety with EVEO cable raceway - cable cover to hide tv wires is the primary purpose without compromising about quality. While loose cables are unpleasant to see, they also pose a certain danger at home, especially to little kids and pets. With our wire organizer- all spaces with electronics can be safer for the little ones to roam around.
- High quality- set up EVEO cord hider easily with our unique locking system and organize your space in a super elegant and protective way. Our adhesieve tape is super strong- enough to hold safely your cables in a super sturdy way. In case you want to remove EVEO wire hiders for tv on wall it is recommended to use hair dryer to warm it a little and then remove easily.
- Organize your home or office with our cable concealer and wire cover is super easy and DIY-friendly -easy-to-follow instructions to cable cover. If you need to hide cables you can arrange and hide all the messy wires in your space. We stand behind the quality of our products and especially with this cord hider, to use it for electrical cord management.
- Passing the UL94 V-0 Rating test, a plastics flammability standard released by Underwriters Laboratories of the United States, UL94 V-0 Rating is defined as Burning stops within 10 seconds on a vertical part allowing for drops of plastic that are not inflames, which means it's safer than ordinary materials because of the higher flame retardancy and brings greater security to your daily use
- Upgraded Snap Structure for Easier Setup: Delamu cord hider is SUPER EASY to set up. Delamu cable hiders feature Attach & Snap design, making installation easier with click-on-and-off technology that makes opening & closing a snap.Organizing the clutter of cables in your home or office will be easier with our cable hiders
- Organize Messy Cables Neatly: Use the Delamu cord hider, a cord cover that will make your house look neat, to hide and organize conspicuous cords in your home and office. After installing Delamu cord management, you'll love having a tidy home or office with more room to move around, and Delamu cable hider will turn out to be your favorite cable raceway
- Premium Quality Cord Hiders: High-quality cord hiders are not just empty words. Delamu wire management uses high-quality PVC material. Our cable hiders are sturdier, unbreakable, free of impurities, no color differences, etc. Storage is even easier when you choose Delamu wire hiders for cable management
- Simple and Easy Installation: No need for professional help, with its easy-to-use cord concealer instructions, all the messy wire problems in your space can be solved with Delamu wire covers for cords. With just one small change, your living room gets a new look. With the Delamu cord cover wall, this is possible! You can't go wrong when you choose Delamu wire hiders for cable management
11) Match paint
If you accidentally cut a small hole in a wall, your best bet for minimizing the damage is to match the color of the paint as closely as possible. You can use paint pens or even some types of masking tape that come with little color swatches on them which will work perfectly fine. Then just make sure you put a piece of furniture over it later so no one notices it!
Must Read: Best Speaker Brands
12) Don’t use wire staples
These things are sold at most hardware stores and they look like oversized thumbtacks except they have razor-sharp points on them instead of ball heads. The idea is that you can staple wires to a wall and then drill through the staples with a special tool that has a diamond tip on it. This will cut right through them and allow you to route wires wherever you want, but there’s also a pretty good chance of accidentally poking yourself since they’re so sharp.
13) Use wire clips
These are plastic pieces available at most hardware stores that have little adhesive backs for sticking them to surfaces. Then all you do is stick your speaker cable into one end before folding it over onto itself to secure the cable in place. While not as permanent as some other methods, they still work quite well for their intended purpose.
- 【Adhesive Cable Clips】 Made of eco-friendly premium PA66 material, super sticky back pad, easily peel off backing, which make our adhesive wire clips sturdy and durable. Our cord clips package comes with 50 pcs cable clips and 10 pcs cable wall clips with nail as gift.
- 【Wide Application】 These cable management clips are wildly used for cable organizing, suitable for wire diameter within 0.26 inch: network cable, TV-coax cable, USB cords, Cell phone chargers, ethernet, electric wires, dash cam in car, home and office. They are perfect for people who wants to have an almost no visibility of cables around the house.
- 【Multi-Purpose】Our adhesive cord clips are not only for cable management cord organizer, but also help you decorate your Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas lights easily. Those ethernet cable clips also work great on table, metal, glass, wood surface.
- 【Easy to Use】 Simply peel off the backing and stick the wire clips for electric wires on a flat and dry surface without any screws or tools, our wire holder clips will organize your mess wires neat and tidy. Easy to remove without any residues and damage, perfect for people who are constantly on the go and don't have time.
- 【Note before Use】 Make sure to clean the mounting surface with alcohol pads before you use the wire organizer clips, stick it on and press firmly for 30 seconds, and use them after 24 hours for maximum adhesion.
- Package includes 360 cable clips with steel nails in 5 assorted sizes: 4/5/6/8/10 mm.
- Bates cable clips are made of premium stabilized plastic and thick high-carbon steel nails that are acid resistant, corrosion-resistant, anti-aging, and have strong bearing capacity.
- Circle cable clips allow you to secure runs of round cables to walls and floorboards for a cleaner look and to prevent tripping over loose wires.
- Insert the cable into the clip slot, hammer the nail into the wall, wood, plaster, brick, etc. With a long nail, it won’t easily fall.
- As a useful tool in various sizes, it’s ideal for home and office different cable management. It will keep your children and pets from hurting by messy cables and provide you with a cleaner and safer living space.
14) Create an outlet box if needed
If you’re using small drops or doing something where there’s not enough wire to work with, then you may need an outlet box. This is a plastic piece that has screw holes on the bottom and you can attach it directly to your wall and use screws to pull the cable through the back of it so you don’t have any wires showing in front. Then just simply connect your speaker at either end using lugs (these are sold right next to staples at most hardware stores).
15) Don’t forget about protection
The last thing you want is for your speaker wires to get run over by someone’s foot or tracked into other areas which could cause damage to them or cut off the sound in certain rooms. Use carpet runners and doormats where appropriate and consider putting something heavy like bricks over cables crossing your walkway.
Conclusion
The key to hiding speaker wire is preparation. By following the tips above, you’ll be able to create a cable-free home theater system that looks and sounds great!
