Hiding Sonos Arc Cables in wall
You can hide all Sonos Arc cables by installing Recessed Power Outlet for Sonos Arc soundbar and Extendable Sonos Arc wall mount bracket.
Parts you need
You’ll need following products to hide Sonos Arc cables:
Using the parts above allows Sonos Arc soundbar to be extended from the wall. Therefore, soundbar can be placed at any distance from the TV – close or far and it will not block the upward firing Dolby Atmos speakers.
Preparation for Sonos Arc Installation
Measure & mark the location for the sound bar to be mounted. For best aesthetics, we recommend installing Sonos Arc soundbar approximately 4 to 6 inches from the bottom of the TV to the top of the sound bar.
Sanus WSIWPSB1 Power Kit Installation for Sonos Arc & TV
Cut open drywall for the “Upper Module” (recessed power outlet for wall mounted TV).
Cut open drywall for “Sound Bar Module” (recessed power outlet for Sonos Arc) behind where you want the Sonos Arc to be wall mounted.
Cut open drywall for the “Lower Module” (Power inlet) behind your component stand / credenza where you’ll place your AV components such as cable box, game console & etc…
*Important: All cutouts must be within the same stud bay to be able to fish cables.
Fish one HDMI cable for eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) from Upper Module to the Soundbar Module.
*This is for HDMI eARC connection between your TV and Sonos Arc soundbar for audio feed back from the TV to the soundbar and CEC (Consumer Electronics Control).
Fish as many HDMI cables as necessary from the Upper Module (behind the TV) to Lower Module (Power Inlet – behind your furniture below the TV & Soundbar). *These HDMI cables will be used to connect TV to other components such as cable box, media streamer, gaming console & etc…
Once all the cables are fished through the wall, install Upper Module, Soundbar Module & Lower Module into the cutouts you’ve already made.
Sanus WSSAWM1 Sonos Arc Bracket Installation
Position the Sanus WSSAWM1 Sonos Arc Extendable Wall Mount to be mounted centered to the “Sound Bar Module” (recessed power outlet for the soundbar) so wall mount opening for recessed outlet allows for power cord to pass through to be plugged into the recessed outlet behind the sound bar.
*This is the reason why you need Sanus WSIWPSB1 power kit because you need a low-profile recessed power outlet behind the extendable Sonos Arc soundbar bracket.
Mount the Sonos Arc Soundbar onto the Sanus WSSAWM1 wall mount and extend the bracket out. Then, connect HDMI cable into HDMI ARC port on Sonos Arc sound bar and push any excess HDMI cable back into the wall.
Plug in Sonos Arc power cord into the recessed outlet behind the sound bar and coil up excess power cord and use a cable tie to secure it behind the soundbar so it’s hidden out of sight.
Lastly, connect all HDMI cables behind the TV and into your AV components. And then plug in TV power cord into the Upper Module (power outlet) behind the TV.
Voila! All cables are hidden between TV and Sonos Arc sound bar. There’s no visible wires or even wire raceway showing anywhere.
Hiding other Soundbar cables
You can apply the same techniques described above to hide cables for other brands of “Active” soundbars as well. Just make sure that your soundbar has a simple power cord, not the one that comes with a “brick” attached to it.
Continue reading below to learn how.
Soundbar wire concealment Requirements
Difference Between Active vs Passive Sound Bars
Active Sound Bar
- Active Soundbar is self-powered soundbar which does NOT need a separate amplifier/AV receiver to power the speakers in the soundbar. *This is what most people have.
- Comes with a power cord that needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet.
- Audio signal is passed through from the TV to Sound Bar via HDMI eARC / ARC or Optical cable for most modern Active Soundbars in the market today.
Passive Sound Bar
- Passive Soundbar requires a separate external amplifier/AV receiver to power the speakers in the soundbar. Without an amplifier, passive soundbar cannot work (kind of like a home theater speaker).
- Does NOT come with a power cord and only requires speaker wires to be connected from the sound bar to an Amplifier/AV Receiver.
- Audio signal is passed through from the TV to amplifier/receiver via HDMI eARC / ARC or Optical cable and the AV Receiver sends power & audio signal to the sound bar via speaker wires.
Hiding Active Soundbar Wires in the wall
For example, Sonos Arc is an Active Soundbar and it’s one of the most popular soundbars sold in the US. So, we’ve included instructions on how to hide Sonos Arc wires in the wall as one of the examples in this article.
Hiding sound bar power cord (up to code) is going to be the biggest challenge because you likely don’t have a power outlet dedicated for your soundbar. *Power cords of any kind (including soundbar power cord) cannot be hidden in-wall. It’s considered fire hazard if power cord is hidden/buried in wall.
Only low-voltage cables such as FT4/FT6 rated HDMI or other AV wires can be hidden in wall.
Requirements for hiding all cables out of sight
- Recessed Power Outlet installed behind your soundbar to plug in the power cord.
- HDMI or Optical cable fished through the wall from TV to Soundbar.
Conditions for this to work
- Need a wall with cavity such as Drywall with 2×4 studs. *You cannot hide wires in solid walls such as concrete or brick wall.
- Sound bar that is tall enough to hide the power outlet behind it.
- Sound bar that does NOT come with “Brick” type of power adapter.
- Sound bar that has some indentation in the back where excess power cord can be wrapped up and hidden behind the sound bar.
- Sound bar bracket that will not block the power outlet behind the sound bar.
Hiding Passive Sound bar cables in wall
Hiding Passive Soundbar cables is fairly easy compared to Active soundbars since there’s no sound bar power cord to worry about. You only need to run FT4/FT6 rated speaker wires.
Requirements for hiding all cables out of sight
- Fish FT4/FT6 rated in-wall speaker wires from the amplifier/receiver to the Passive Sound Bar.
- HDMI or Optical cable fished through the wall from TV to your amplifier/receiver.
Conditions for this to work
- Need a wall with cavity such as Drywall with 2×4 studs. *You cannot hide wires in solid walls such as concrete or brick wall.
- You need a separate amplifier/receiver to power the sound bar.
Hiding sound bar cables in Wall with Niche over fireplace
If you have a niche or nook in your wall, you can be very creative with what you can do with it. For example, you can use the space in your niche to hide all your AV components & excess cables out of sight.
In order to hide the sound bar wires, you can build a ridge in front of the bottom ledge of the niche for soundbar to be mounted and run wires through it. In this case, sound bar power cord can also run right through the ridge because it’s not going through an actual wall.
Requirements for hiding all cables out of sight
- Electrical outlet installed inside the niche
Conditions for this to work
- Ridge (raised surface) for soundbar to be mounted near the bottom ledge of the niche and for all sound bar wires to go through the Ridge
Build a Custom Cabinet / Wall Unit for the Purpose of TV & Sound bar Installation
You can design a custom cabinet with a secret compartment / storage space for excess wires and components to be hidden inside the cabinet. This allows for all cables including power cords from TV and Sound bar to be hidden inside the cabinet.
Just make sure to build a cabinet like this over an existing outlet so you can plug in power cords for all your AV devices inside the cabinet and they will be completely hidden out of sight.
You’ll want easy access to your secret compartment such as a side door to reach inside if popping off a front panel of the cabinet isn’t as easy or convenient.
Obviously, TV & Soundbar need to be plugged into a power outlet for them to work, so make sure to build the cabinet around an existing outlet. If you don’t already have an outlet where cabinet will be built, you’ll need to install a new outlet before building a cabinet in front of it.
*Note: By code, electrical outlet needs to be easily accessible for servicing. You’ll need to keep that in mind when building a custom cabinet. For example, you can build one of the sections of the front panels of the cabinet to easily pop off in order to access electrical outlet inside the cabinet.
TV & Soundbar cables as well as other AV components can be completely hidden out of sight inside the cabinet.
Drill a hole behind the TV for TV wires and another hole behind the sound bar for sound bar wires to go through the cabinet. Hole for the sound bar must be drilled precisely so soundbar will cover the hole completely.
*You’ll need to make sure that the custom cabinet you build is hollow on the inside, so that wires can freely run inside the cabinet.
Build a Recess in the wall for sound bar
This custom wall was built with provision for TV and Sound bar installation. TV is super thin Samsung 65″ QLED and client did not want the sound bar to stick out of the wall in order to keep the sleek look with the TV. Therefore, recess was created underneath the TV for Bose 300 sound bar to be inserted and sit flush to the surface of the wall. As a result, we’ve achieved super clean & streamlined look client was going for.
Note: This design isn’t suitable for Sound bars with Upward-Firing or Side-Firing speakers (such as Dolby Atmos) as the recessed pocket will block the sound. The recess will be suitable for Front-Firing sound bars only.
Requirements for hiding all cables out of sight
- Recessed electrical outlet installed behind the TV
- Electrical outlet installed inside the recess to power the sound bar
Conditions for this to work
- Rough-in conduit from behind the TV to either side of the cabinet
- Rough-in conduit from the recess to behind the TV
- Rough-in conduit from recess to either side of the cabinet (for future proofing)
Other ways of installing sound bar
There are various ways that you can install your sound bar. From just simply mounting a sound bar directly against the wall or mounting it to your TV using universal sound bar brackets or mounting soundbar using specific soundbar brackets in conjunction with a full motion TV wall mount.
Sound is directional. So if you’re mounting your TV with a Full Motion TV wall mount, it is highly suggested to mount the soundbar to the TV using special soundbar brackets.
Soundbar installation methods
Sonos Beam Soundbar Installation
Below is an example of a Sonos Beam Soundbar installation using Sanus WSSBM1 soundbar bracket. Sonos Beam is mounted to a full motion TV wall mount so TV & Soundbar both swivel together.
Sonos PlayBar Installation
Below is an example of Sonos PlayBar. Similar to the photos above, this Sonos PlayBar is also mounted to the back of the TV using Universal Soundbar bracket in conjunction with Full motion TV wall mount.
Depth Adjustable Universal Soundbar Brackets
These depth adjustable universal soundbar brackets are must have’s for sound bars that are shaped long from front to back. Ideal in situations where your TV is much thinner than the depth of your soundbar like the examples below.
Example below shows a 55″ Sony LED TV mounted on a custom built-wall with fireplace underneath. Denon DHT-S514 sound bar mounted flush against the TV using these sound bar brackets. This is an old house that’s been gutted out completely and renovated. The owner of the residence took the opportunity during renovation to have pre-wiring done for his AV setup like HDMI cables running from above the fireplace to the closet (not shown in this picture) on adjacent wall where the components are hidden away out of sight. Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home Remote was added to this AV setup to control the components that are hidden away in the closet.
