Ordered My System! Now, for a speaker location question (1 Viewer)

[Ralph W]

I'm psyched! After stressing over decisions for a month now, I've jumped into the wonderful world of home theaters. Just got off the phone ordering my system (purchased through JandR) Components include:
Onkyo TX-DS595 Receiver
JBL N26 Bookshelf speakers (front)
JBL N24 Bookshelf speakers (rear)
JBL N-Center speaker
JBL PB10 sub
Total price < $1,000

Now for background information leading to my question: I had my family room pre-wired during construction of our new house in anticipation of getting a system. Unfortunately, I noticed after moving in that the front speakers are not equidistant from my TV cabinet. The left speaker is about 8-10 inches farther than the right - and it is placed too close to the window on that wall (will be in the way of the curtains once my wife gets me to hang them). The installer indicated that the location of the studs dictated their location (we won't get into our discussion on alternatives that I think he could have chosen). Because of the window problem, I will have them relocate the wire - but my options are limited since there is not much excess wire.
Option 1: Accept the difference in distance and move both speakers up about 8 inches. The wires are currently about 7 feet from the floor. This keeps both speakers located in front of the studs.
Option 2: Move the left speaker closer by 8 inches to make both speaker the same distance from center. I'll have to figure out how to mount the left front N26 speaker without a stud directly behind it.
Option 3: Leave the wires where they are and come up with a creative way to install a shelf on each side - I could then set the speakers on the shelves to get the equidistance.
I'm still psyched - even with the pre-wiring dilemma!
Would appreciate your comments and suggestions. If you haven't figured it out by now, this is all new to me.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Ralph
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[Ralph W]

Sorry... just a little additional information.
The family room is approximately 18 feet wide with a vaulted ceiling. The right speaker wire is about 4 feet from the center of the TV cabinet. The left speaker wire about 8 inches farther away.
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[Ralph W]

Sean,
Based on your response and other posts that I've read, it seems that the extra $$$ that I paid to have my family room pre-wired (behind the walls) may not have been worth it. The behind-the-wall wiring calls for mounting the speakers on the wall which restricts my options on tweaking the speaker locations.
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[Bob McElfresh]

Ralph: you should have been reading the "Building a Home Theater Area" section of this fourm.
Your speaker wires should have been zig-zagged between the studs using staples pounded in only half way. This allows you to tug the end of the wires and pop the first staple to get about 8" more wire. Tug to pop the next one for more slack.
Option 1: Splice some more speaker wire on the one side to make it reach to "balance" the speakers better.
Option 2: Have the installer put in plastic electrical outlet box's and thread the speaker wire through them. Buy some of the wall-plate covers with 5-way binding posts and install them. Yes, this will give you plugs 7 feet in the air. But now it's easy to put your speakers wherever you want and just run speaker wire to the binding posts. Some of the wall-plate covers come in decorator colors and look VERY classy (Look into the ones from Niles. Good Guys carries them).