HELP! Surround Sound Disaster - 2nd Opinion

[admin_exported]

Please can anyone help. Had a home cinema install done. Pioneer plasma, Jamo A102, QED micro connected to Onkyo 606. All cable chased into wall and room decorated. Retailer came to install speakers but both rears refused to work. Retailer walked away from job denying any responsibiliy, said it was plasterer damaged cable. Hacked cable back out where plasterer said he had moved cables. Couldn't find fault. So I cut cable (before where plasterer touched cables) just to make sure, still no sound. Spoke to wife (who was pretty angry by now) and she mentioned they drilled a hole for sub-woofer cable they forgot to install during 'first fix'. Looked at hole and the idiots had drilled through their own speaker cable.

They are coming out to do a 'repair'. They are going to splice the cable with some more QED. Each of the cables will have TWO splices between the Amp and Speaker connection. One where I cut and the other where they drilled through. It will be protected (apparantly) with a protective sleeve over the joins. I raised concerns about this over possible reduction in sound quality. They said it wouldn't make any difference. PLEASE can anyone back this up, or are they taking a lend because its easier and cheaper for them to do it this way ???? Sorry about rambling on, but as you can imagine I'm really ****** off, and would like a second opinion. Thanks for reading this !

 

[bf1]

Really sorry to hear this and I can well imagine how you must be feeling.

I can`t give you the answer Im afraid but if it was me I would get on the phone before they come back to `repair` and speak with an independent hi-fi specialist who can properly advise.

Im sure that most specialists would be happy to offer some advice A) because they are audiophiles and B) you could be a potential future customer.

Hope all is sorted to your (and most importantly, your wife's (you`ll never hear the end of it otherwise!!) satisfaction.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply. They say it will be Tuesday when they are coming out (but this depends if i get any replies to say that quality WILL be affected). If it is I'll be letting them know it will have to be a full re-install of the back speaker cables. I know they ( and my wife to a certain extent due to mess etc) are reluctant to do this because of cost (chasing out, re-plaster and redecorate) at their cost. But if a re- install is whats needed so be it.

 

[Anonymous]

It is because of these problems that i do all my own installations. It is to easy for the the installer to say it will make no difference cause then he doesn't have to redo everything and he saves himself some money. If i was you i'd demand that they redo the back speaker cables even if joining doesn't affect quality. It was their fault.

For future installations i'd recommend chasing conduits or trunking into the walls and floors, makes it easier to replace cables.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply Charl. As this is my first delve into home cinema, and as it was a big job, I thought I would go to a reputable company. I simply wasn't confident enough to know how to connect / set everything up. Their pictures of previous installations looked good, so I went with a one stop shop. Obviously due to speakers not working I tried to locate the problem myself (hack cable back out, get round back of amp to check connections, swapping speakers). Only after doing that did I realise how easy this could have been for myself to do it.

I did consider chasing in conduits but thought it too much of a job, now in hindsight and with the problems I've had it would have been a better option. I know you say make them re-do it all, but its also the wife who is against hacking it all back out. We've just had a Crystal Chandelier hung and repainted all walls, so she doesn't want any of this getting dirty. I did say to her its upto the installer to make sure everything is returned to it former glory.

Either way though the ultimate question is still to be answered. WILL it effect the quality of my sound with the all the joins ???

 

[Anonymous]

What speaker cable you using? I'd say that if the join is done properly and sealed off it won't make a diffrence but if done poorly it will become a problem after some time. Oxidation of bare wires do affect sound quality.

 

[Anonymous]

Speaker cable is QED Micro Bi-wire. Was going to go for the Silver Anniversary but couldn't justify the spend against cost speakers (which were a bargin at only £189). It seems like a good quality cable and is well insulated.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Suths:Speaker cable is QED Micro Bi-wire. Was going to go for the Silver Anniversary but couldn't justify the spend against cost speakers (which were a bargin at only £189). It seems like a good quality cable and is well insulated.

I changed racks a while ago and found that my chased in cables to rear speakers were too short. Ironically the cables were originally from my old Jamos (same as yours). I bought a similar looking cable from Richer Sounds and did it myself. I don't hear any problems at all from my speakers.

However, you paid for a job and they messed up. I would be expecting them to re do the job and replaster where needed.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all those who have replied. I've spoken to the retailer. They said that they will reconnect the wires using the same cable, use a silver solder over the breaks and seal everything up with a special waterproof sleeve. They have assured me that their will be no drop in quality and the repair should last as long as the rest of the cable. I think I'm happy with this. Get the repair done. Then negotiation the install cost back from them after they've put it right.

 

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear they going to sort it. The method they will use will do the trick.