newbie advice pls

[maks]

Hi,

I’m currently redecorating my home, giving me the chance to turn my living room into a mini home cinema. Although i have only my HTPC for now, i plan on buying an Amp, a Hi def Skybox and off course a HD screen. I don’t yet know what make/model I’m going to buy, as I still have to strip the room and replaster the dodgy walls.

As I want to hide as much wring as possible, I want to hide the speaker wires coming from my Amp to the surround speakers, as I’m newbie to amps and processors , would I be in the right lines if i were to buy standard speaker cable and run the cable to where I’ll position the speaker and then through the walls (under the coving) to where the amp will be placed? What types of speaker wire do you recommend, and are they standard connectors to an Amp?

I’m very confused by all this, I hope you guys can help!!

Thanks

[Alex]

Having done all this recently for my parents I can say fairly safely that making sure to get it right first time makes life so much easier when hiding speaker cables! As for what type, much as there might be some debate about this, I very much doubt you'll ever be able to tell the difference between Richer Sounds 69p/m and much more expensive stuff. You may or may not be able to tell between that and the cheapest of the cheap 'bell wire' stuff, but the 69p/m stuff will probably endure a bit better if you're planning on leaving it in for a long time, so it probably is worth getting that.

Speaker cable (unless you can be bothered to pay extra for it, and I can't) don't come with connectors per se, just strip back the cable to the wire inside and then there is a binding post on the speakers and the amp (they make sense once you get it, how it works). You can fit different sorts of connectors if you want, but I'm not convinced it's worth it unless you regularly change your cabling around.

I'm sure you'll look around yourself for an amp and speakers etc, but if you're interested then I just installed this and these speakers in silver for my parents and I have to say it sounds really good.

HTH

[99Flake]

If you are planning on using seperates hifi do not use cheap cable, you really can tell the difference. If it is for rear speakers use flat cable. Nordost make some which is lovely and can be folded over like paper, therefore it can be fun under carpet without creating lumps or through your coving. If that is too expensive then try looking for some cheaper flat cable from QED or someone, Richer Sounds probably do some half decent stuff. If that is still too much then buy normal cable but make sure it is of reasonable thickness. Modern amps chuck out in excess of 70watts (RMS) full range to rear speakers. Wimpy cable will never do this justice. As for your fronts, make sure you use nice cable there as well, no real nead for flat stuff so spend the extra on nice cable and if the speakers are bi-wireable do it, makes a massive difference, I use Chord Carnival (looks like mains cable) and it sounds lovely.
As for amps Denon or Rotel are your best bets. Denon make better amps for films whilst a Rotel will be better for music. Or do what I do and use a Denon AVR amp for the decoding but put a Rotel (or any other make) power amp on the bottom so that the sound is actually made by something specifically designed to do the job. That way the sound processing will be typically Denon fast with the get up and go of a Rotel amp. Also don't scrimp on interconnects for analogue devices but use the cheapest crappest cable for digital ones (digital is digital after all).
As for connectors, banana plugs make life far far easier, get them they cost pence. A set for each end, it'll save a lot of swearing. I know I have been there and there is nothing more frustrating than pushing wire through a binding post when you can't really see or in an awkward position.

[maks]

Thanks for the your responses guys, Ill take a trip upto Richer Sounds and view their speaker cable, I haven’t worked out a proper budget for my hardware just yet, as I don’t plan on buying it until much later this year, its just my laying the cables now I simply want to be able to slot the TV and Amp in without any wires trailing. I did some research into Amps, and although very expensive the Denon AVR-4306 looks stunning and from what I can understand of the specs it’ll allow me to connect my sources (sky and htpc) to the amp and then upscale the image to my (yet to buy) HD screen. Any other Amps from others manufactures that sell something similar, if I ear mark the Amp I want now, I can then work out what speaker cable I need for it and put it in. The room is 4metres x 3.5 metres, and as it primarily a living room, I don’t want large obtrusive speakers, but I know I want a 5.1 system at least, any recommendations on this?,

[99Flake]

What will you mainly be using the system for? Music or films? If it is films then a sub/sat combo like this:http://www.kef.com/KHT/KHT1005/home.htm would be ideal. If you want proper sound (sub/sat systems can leave a lot to be desired through the mid frequencies) then I am afraid it is going to be floorstand front speakers. IMO even though they are obtrusive, they are well worth it just for the sound. You won't regret it once you hear the difference. I currently run Kef Concerto 1 speakers which are a two way floor stand speaker with a Cresta centre and Cresta 1 rears. The centre and rears again are 'big box' but they sound far more powerful, to the extent that I do not need a sub (I would love one but my parents would go mad). It also means that when you are running in stereo i.e for music, the whole system becomes a proper hi-fi setup not just a sub/sat with 3 speakers turned off.

[maks]

Ill be mainly using it for TV/Films rather than music, and having done some more research, the KEFs do seem ideal. I’ve never owned an A/V receiver, so ive also been doing reading into that, I hope to match the KEFs with the Denon avr 4306 has it as the features I need for now, and probably need for future (HDMI and multiroom etc..) Ill go to my local Hi-Fi shop now to see if I can get a demo and get the speaker cable now, I still have time before I buy the hardware.