Need digital optical/coaxial cables and speaker wire (1 Viewer)

[Tim Holyoke]

I got my parents the Onkyo 570 HTiB, and just need cables/wiring now. I was at the Rat Shack, so just grabbed a 4' coaxial and 4' optical Monster cable for $20 each. Also got some 16ga. speaker wire, 2 50' spools for about $8 apiece.

Optical is for DTV, coaxial for DVD.

The runs for the surrounds will be about 35' or so each.

Are the Monster cables ok? (I know Monster stuff tends to be overpriced, but this seems to be the going rate for optical and digital coax?) Will 16ga. work ok, especially for the longer runs?

Thanks a lot for any help.

Tim

 

[Charlie Campisi]

I am using two of the Rat Shack optical cables and they have been fine. Actually three if you count the one for my PS2 that I hook up once every couple months. You could save a few bucks without the Monster. 14 gauge wire would be better. 12 would be even better. Home Depot has spools that are pretty cheap.

 

[Tim Holyoke]

Thanks. I'll be at Home Depot tomorrow - is it just plain speaker wire?

 

[John Garcia]

If the speakers have the clip type connections, 12ga. may not fit. Check first. While most of Monster's stuff is over priced, the speaker wire is decent and not outrageously priced. Home Depot wire should work just fine though, especially for a HTiB. 14ga would be best unless your surrounds are over 50' runs.

 

[Shane Martin]

I actually went with a few Monster THX optical and coaxial cables because they were a bit cheaper than the Rat Shack alternatives.