Russound Advantage Series - Manual (Page 15)

15
HOW - Cutting Wall/Ceiling Opening for Speakers
HOW - CUTTING WALL/CEILING OPENING FOR
SPEAKER
The following steps outline how to locate a section of
wall between two studs, mark the outer boundaries of
the hole, drill a small hole in the center to verify the
location and then cut the main hole.
Determine the location of the wall studs so the
speaker can be centered approximately between them.
There are several ways to go about this:
• Use a stud finder, a simple electronic device which works
by locating changes in wall density. Many stud finders can
also indicate the presence of live AC wiring.
• Tap on the wall and listen to the resulting “THUMP.”
When it’s deeper and hollow sounding, you’re
between studs. When it’s sharper and more flat
sounding, you’re close to or over a stud.
• Identify studs by the position of electrical outlets or switch-
es. There may be a stud directly to the left or right of such
electrical fixture. This gives you a point of measurement
since studs are either 24 or 16 inches on center in newer
houses, 12 inches apart on older homes.
When you’re reasonably sure of where the wall’s
studs are (and are completely sure there isn’t an electri-
cal cable, water pipe, or heating duct in that vicinity of
wall), position the cardboard mounting template, and
draw around its outer perimeter with a pencil. If you
don’t trust your eye, use a level to make sure the hole
will be straight.
Drill a 1-inch hole in the center of the pencil out-
line which you have just drawn, just deep enough to
fully penetrate the wallboard.
Obtain a length of stiff wire such as a straightened
wire coat hanger. Bend it so that the last 6 or 8 inches
is at a right angle to the rest.
Insert the angled part into the 1-inch hole you just
drilled and probe to left and right to confirm that a stud
is not too close on either side. Move the wire around in
a circular motion to check clearances above and below
the hole as well.
• If there is a stud too close on one side, reposition
the cardboard template a few inches in the opposite
direction, and re-draw your pencil outline, keeping
the 1-inch hole within the pencil outline’s inner
boundaries.
5
4
3
2
1
Figure 7
STEP 2
Trace template outline
STEP 3
Drill 1-inch pilot hole
STEP 5
Probe with wire
for stud
clearance
STEP 6
Cut Speaker hole
along outline