How To Hide Speaker Wires Effortlessly And Tidy Your Room

RobotPoweredHome is reader-supported. When you buy through links on my blog, I may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

In today’s world, where you are surrounded by technology in every nook and corner of your house, maintaining an aesthetic appeal and matching looks to your liking seems a bit difficult with all the ugly wires hanging around. The solution is to, at the very least, hide those cables.

In pursuit of that perfect look, how far are you willing to go? How much are you ready to spend? Depending on your answer, you could either be shoving your wires under a carpet or pull out all the stops and go completely wireless.

Speaker wires can be hidden by tucking them behind or under existing room decor, hiding the wires under the baseboard and the carpet, or by using the crown mouldings.

In this article, I will go through various solutions for this problem.

But, before we begin to clean up the look, make sure all your wires are disconnected and ready to be rearranged.

As part of your prerequisites, make sure you have all the tools you may need for your little DIY cleanup projects, such as wire strippers, tape measure or ruler, pliers, utility knife, a stud finder, and anything else you might feel is necessary.

If you live in a rented home, do not forget to get your landlord’s permission before you start drilling into your walls.

Use Existing Home Décor To Hide The Speaker Wire

Yes, the easiest and most affordable way for starters is to start using what you already have.

Moving around your home décor, fitting your TV-Speaker connections behind your TV stand, or strategically placing your wall-mounted stand so that it covers the runway from your speaker wires to the nearest power outlet.

In case you happen to own one of those wall covering TV cabinets, you can place them along with the power outlets and run your cables behind them.

Routing your cables via furnishing can be made more comfortable with the help of cable clips like 3M command cord clips or a cable slinky like this one to stack them together.

If you live in a house with tiles or hardwood floors, you could opt for rugs or runners, though selecting the appropriate size and style of furnishing is imperative to maintain your room’s look.

What you should not forget is that your primary objective is to use them as concealers.

Appropriately chosen rugs can also help prevent occupants/guests at your place from tipping over or feeling the “wire bumps” sometimes; with thinner rugs, you would need rug pads to help with that.

With rug pads like these Durahold plus pads on, you have more room for your wire underneath your rugs and at the same time help fasten them to your floor.

Pros:

• Cheapest solution.
• Fast and easy.

Cons:

• It may not fit your preferred look

Tuck Speaker Cables between Carpet and Baseboard

Another easy workaround for your wires is smoothly tucking them behind your carpet and baseboard.

Though there are several ways to do this, we’ll go through a few of the consumer-friendly methods.

Running along the edges

Just like how the name sounds, it is as simple as described. All you would need is a flathead screwdriver and your wires in question.

You will need to run the wires along the edge of your carpet and, using a screwdriver, tuck in the wires right under the carpet.

Make sure you don’t lift your carpeting in the process.

Laying under the carpeting

In this case, you’ll need a bit more technical know-how on how to re-lay your carpeting with the help of a stretcher.

The process is relatively simple to describe as it only requires you to remove carpeting from the desired area, lay down your wires, and then your carpeting with the help of a carpet stretcher to prevent wrinkling and early wearing of your carpet. 

Pros:

• Running along the edge is a quick fix.
• Cheap solution with minimal damage.

Cons:

• The number of wires that can be sent along the edge is limited to thin wires.
• It might cause bumps along the carpet if not laid properly.
• Requires professional help in case of laying after removing carpet.

Flat Adhesive Wires Make The Wires Practically Invisible

To achieve that look you want, moving around your furniture or getting a new rug may not be up to your taste.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t have what you want. Adhesive flat wires do precisely that and can be stuck on to walls or ceiling for one of those home theatre surround systems you have.

Installing one of these wires is not a difficult task. You need two things, an adhesive flat copper wire and a terminal block that is often sold separately.

As you roll out the adhesive wire from its spool, the bottom side reveals under a protective covering, adhesive copper wires (two or four depending on your adhesive wire configuration) are attached to its tape material.

You can separate about an inch of your wire from the adhesive backing.

With it exposed, fold the flat copper wires two to four times depending on how much is exposed, the ends of your rolled out and folded copper can then be inserted into its respective termination blocks and screwed in along with your speaker wires right at the source.

By not having your speaker wires go anywhere and using these flat extenders, you can place your speakers wherever you like.

It is ideal for tall or ceiling-mounted surround systems. Its white ribbon-like enclosed form factor makes painting over it easy while it maintains insulation and stays protected.

Make sure to carefully measure out the required length and follow the product instructions while installing.

While Flat adhesive wires seem like an ideal solution with no permanent changes to any structures, it is not easy to find good products since they are prone to wrinkling, can be flimsy, weak, and prone to breakage if not handled properly.

One of the market leaders in this segment is Sewell’s Ghost Wire 2.0. Their product comes in two and four-conductor wire configurations with 16 gauge and 18 gauge load capacities, respectively, meaning that you are set to go even with a bi-amp speaker system.

Pros :

• It can be concealed by painting.
• If used on the floor, it can be easily hidden under a carpet.
• Available as 2 conductor and 4 conductor with 16 and 18 AWG capacity.
• Pure copper wire, suitable for high mounted speakers.

Cons:

• Fragile during installation.
• Loss of adhesiveness over a long time.
• Termination blocks are sold separately.

Cable Raceways and Concealers

If you are looking for solutions with a bit more structure, cable raceways and concealers are right up your alley.

Some of them come with adhesive backsides, corners, and fittings to help you customize them according to your layout.

While they are easy to manage, access, modify for future upgrades, and can carry more than one wire, the fact remains that it does stand out quite a bit even if you paint over them since these structures protrude out from your wall, ceilings or the floor. 

Cable Raceways

Corner duct cable raceways offer a more robust solution than wire tapes and are widely used in permanent/semi-permanent constructions such as residences, offices, and industries.

Depending on the size and shape of raceways, they can conceal a wide variety of cable types.

Setups such as the ENONCI Cord Cover Raceway kit offer an all-in-one solution for single-cable covering with elbows, couplers, adhesive tapes, and t-fittings, or one could go with a Wiremold Cable Management Kit. 

Both offer similar options, with the larger Wiremold kit providing you with a better overall diameter for running cables.

Enonci kit is more maneuverable with its diverse kit accessories. Installation is very simple on both products, with one open side to run the cables through and apply the adhesive (peelable or otherwise).

The opposing side can then be painted to match your tastes.

The easy installation and options to modify and add to the raceways make this a very accessible product, not to mention being non-destructive in installation. It is incredibly renter-friendly.

Pros:

• Easy and fast installation.
• Non-destructive.
• Easy to modify.
• It can accommodate any number of wires.

Cons:

• It may not match your aesthetics.
• Looks better on walls.
• Visible and easy to notice even after painting.

Cable Concealers

Delamu’s cable concealer kit provides much of what raceways do along with a more diverse selection of elbows, an option to use included screws for a more permanent fit.

The installation process is also relatively simple, with only a few steps.

For installing the Delamu cable concealer, first, measure out the required lengths and cut it out.

After that, you may use double-sided tape or the included screws to fasten the concealer to your wall through which you can now route your wires and then cover them up with the provided top cover and elbows wherever necessary.

This product is available in different sizes depending on the amount of wire you need to route through them.

Much like raceways, the installation is usually non-destructive, simple, and fast. For added aesthetics, one may sand over the concealer once and then paint it.

Pros:

• Easy and Fast installation.
• Non-damaging.
• Ways to accommodate a large number of wires.
• It can be implemented anywhere.

Cons:

• May not match your aesthetics.
• Visible and easy to notice even after painting.

Crown Moulding Is A Great Place To Hide Speaker Cables

If none of the options above sits well with you and you are working on remodeling your house, one way to run your wires or even add extra power outlets in your room is to make use of the crown molding.

Crown moldings are simply decorative pieces that attach onto your ceiling edges where it meets the wall.

However, foam or wood moldings can double as a cable concealer, thanks to the hollow space inside.

The process is fairly straightforward. Support structures for wires such as a zip tie or hooks to attach the wires onto can be placed at the heights where your crown molding would fit.

After this, crown molds are installed using adhesives or by screwing them in. There are also specific crown moldings developed to help the house in wires.

These attach directly onto your wall with adhesives’ help and have routes inside for supporting and holding wires.

At your required distances, you can drill out holes or cut molding pieces. The pieces, however, come in standard lengths.

Hence, you would have to use keystone pieces to make sure the setup looks aesthetically pleasing and continuous.

For corner sets, separate elbow pieces are also available to conceal and maintain the look.

Despite the pleasing results and large cable volume, installation is not an easy job. In some cases, a crown molding insert may not sit well with your layout.

But, maybe the small difficulties are something you can overlook for a wire-free look in your room.

Pros:

• Aesthetic.
• Large internal volume.
• Non-damaging.

Cons:

• May not fit your design.
• Installation may require professional help.

Go Wireless To Get Rid of Wires Altogether

This should be the most obvious option, but since Hi-Fi wireless technology is not the cheapest option or you already have, you should be ready to shell some bucks.

If not, you can still get a simulated home theater experience with soundbars and soundbar/subwoofer sets such as the SAMSUNG HW-T550 that we always recommend to our readers for under $500.

This can reproduce a decent amount of codecs, along with DTS 5.1, Digital Dolby 5.1, and DTS: Virtual X support.

The Samsung alternative also comes with an audio remote app (for Android) to control your speakers, along with adjustable EQ bands.

Conclusion

While there are different ways to hide your wires and cable, cable management itself is an art.

The requirements, needs, and scenarios vary from person to person. Therefore, depending on your pocket, the time you have at hand, and the look you are going for, you can choose any of the methods mentioned above and not go wrong. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

You May Also Enjoy Reading:

• Best Stereo Receiver For Music Aficionados You Can Buy Now [2021]
• Best HomeKit Receivers For Your Smart home Theater System [2021]
• How To Wire Outdoor Speakers To Receiver Effortlessly

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you hide speaker wire in drywall?

You can hide speaker wires in drywall by drilling through the drywall and stud beams to pass them through, to be recovered out through the wall at the places where you want to connect it.

How do you hide wires for home theater?

You can use any of the techniques described above, from merely hiding in plain sight to using raceways, concealers, or crown moldings.

How do you hide speaker wire on hardwood floors?

On hardwood floors, you can either use rugs or flat adhesive wires and paint wood texture over them, or you could use wood-textured raceways.

What gauge is speaker wire?

A speaker wire is usually 12 to 16 gauge for longer connections, with 18 gauge being standard for shorter connections.

Is flat speaker wire good?

Flat cables are more flexible and low profile, making for more installer-friendly options, especially if you are running your cables in-wall or under your carpet.