After months of reorganization and cutting over 200 ft. and Velcro tying everything, I'm finished. 

This little project started a couple months ago when I bought a new stand to put my DVR and Receiver and Xbox 360 on.  I had all my components lined up on the new stand with my receiver left to go.  As I ran the plug from the receiver through the stand and to the wall something hit me like a ton of bricks.  I just realized the existing speaker wire was too short to reach my receiver.  So with a freshly smacked forehead from my own hand, I ran to Wal-Mart and grabbed 200 ft. of 14 gauge speaker wire for $25 per 100 ft. and ran back home to begin what would be the longest re-wire project I had ever done.

I started by stripping the ends of the wire and plugging them into the receiver in their appropriate slots.  I did the center channel first and then the left and right front speakers because they had the shortest cables and didn't require a lot of hiding.  Next was the left rear channel and subwoofer.  Those two cables were the longest and each ran around 30 or so feet around my baseboard.  And then it was time for the dreaded right rear channel speaker.  I call it dreaded because I have to make to under the carpet passes in my closet and the entry way to my room.  The first time I wired the right rear channel I had to cut the carpet and use a wire coat hanger and a swift hand to pull the wire through.  This time I just tied the new wire to the old wire and yanked it through.  Then with carpet repair tape (stick the tape under the ripped carpet and heat with an iron to piece back together) I fixed what would have been a nasty looking and unprofessional carpet cut.  And after about 4 hours of work i was done and my theater turned on without a hitch. 

I could have called it quits right there because from dead on the home theater project looked complete.  But if you were to look at it from the side, you would see the tangled mess of speaker wire and video and audio cable or what I like to call the wire medusa.  But fear not, there is a simple yet effective fix: Velcro ties.  Velcro ties, unlike zip ties, are reusable.  If you have to take one of your components on the go, you don't have to cut them but only have to un-Velcro them.  Now what used to look like the head of medusa looks like...well it looks cleaner. 

So the total time it took to re-wire my theater set-up, put together the new stand, and reconfigure the receiver ended up taking about 8-10 hours.  What I've learned from this is that it might be a smart idea to invest in some quality wire strippers and ditch the little $10 ones I currently own.  Another good tip for those looking to tackle a wiring project is to keep yourself organized.  Go out and get yourself a tool box just for home heater stuff and get at least one extra cable for all your components.  You never know when you might need to replace one.  And check your retail stores like Target and Wal-Mart for good deals on speaker wire and audio and video cables-you don't have to buy Monster Cables because they claim to be made from the best gold in the world.  Cables made by Monster are damn good and well made, don't get me wrong, but they are also damn expensive. 

*If you have any questions about the re-wire project just shoot me an email.