Cables for Sub and Speakers (1 Viewer)

[Ritchie T]

Im really confused right now on which wires and cables I should chose. Heres my proposed setup for right now

POLKS

R50 (floor standing fronts)
CSi30 (center)
R15 (surround rears)
PSW404 (May change to a Velodyne CHT10)
Denon 1803 (or does anyone have another recomendation?)

For the speakers:

Should I get 14 or 12 gauge to use for the rear/front/centers? How much thicker will the 12g be? I will have to run the rears through some tubs around the walls, thats why. Im thinking of getting a 100' spool of SoundKing from partsexpress. Any other recomendations?

Sub:

I was thinking of either this

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=783&scat=806

or these

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...D=119219&DID=7

big price difference, but does it matter? Any other choices out there? And should I get cables with the Y-Connection?

And I was going to get these optical and coax cables

Optical:

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=783&scat=803

Coax:

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=783&scat=803

Hows the quality on these?? Should I go for something else? Im planning on getting the coax and optical from buy.com


Any help would be great!
Thanks

 

[Ritchie T]

~~~ BUMP~~~~

 

[TylerZ]

I would go to Home Depot and get some of their bulk 12 ga speaker wire. It will work just fine and you can't beat the price, about .35/ft last time I looked. By all means stick with 12 ga. As for the sub cable the AR from BB should be fine. You won't need a 'y' adapter if you use the LFE out from the Denon to the LFE in on the 404 (not sure if the Vel has an LFE in). IMO the Denon and Polk will compliment each other very nice.

 

[Ron_L]

I prefer 12G for the fronts and 14-16g wire for the surrounds, doesn't really matter, more of a flexible issue. For the sub interconnect you can make your own, using some coaxial RG6 cable and a pair of RCA plugs.

 

[Ritchie T]

Thanks Ty and Ron. I might as well get the Home Depot wire, partsexpress' is about $35.60 plus about $10 for shipping to California.

 

[TylerZ]

Ritchie,
I've been doing some thinking about the system you are trying to put together. From your other posts I know you are on a tight budget, and others have mentioned the RTi series to you. Considering you are looking at purchasing the speakers from Crutchfields at their current sale price have you thought about this option? You could get 2 RTi38's for the fronts, a CSi30 center, and 2 RTi 28's for the rears from Crutchfield for $772. Thats only $12 more than the R50, CSi30, R15 system you're looking at for $760. Yeah I know there is the small added cost for a pair of stands for the front 38's, but I really think it will be a much better sounding system for the $12 difference. By going with the RTi line you'll lose the second driver in the R50's but you're getting the benefits of Polks Power Port technology, ARC Port, and Anti-Difraction system that don't come on the R series. Being the happy owner of 2 Polk systems I would suggest you seriously consider this option. I just think it's a better sounding system for your budget. Just a thought.

 

[Ritchie T]

Thanks for the Help Tyler. I never considered going the Rti38 route. Too bad I have to get a stand for 'em. I might pass by circuit city today and give the R50 and Rti38's a listen.

And for the stand, any recomendations on some stands for the Rti38 and 28's?

 

[TylerZ]

There are all kinds of stands, just get something that's solid and sturdy. I bought some nice stands from Best Buy years ago that worked out real well, but I can't remember the brand. I prefer wood stands over metal ones. Sanus and Wood Technology make some good ones. One nice thing about the Sanus is that they give you a channel to hide the wire going to your speakers. I solved this problem with my wires by going to Radio Shack and buying some black plastic adhesive clips and fed my wires up the back of my stands. When considering how high just remember that the tweeters in front should be at about ear level when you're sitting in your favorite spot, the rears a little higher. Forgot to mention that with the RTi line you'll also get a larger tweeter and better frequency responce too. Have fun at CC today. Keep me posted.

 

[Ritchie T]

thanks again Tyler, went to CC yesterday and gave those 38's a listen. Sounded pretty nice. It was hard to tell compared to the 50's because they were in seperate rooms. But from the recommendation from an employee, Ill go with the 38's.

But I found some nice Sanus stands on Crutchfield. Im bout to get some 24's for the front and 30's for the rear.

 

[TylerZ]

Nice choice on the 38's. Are you going with the 28's in back? Glad you found some stands too.

 

[Ed Werner]

Ritchie T,

Good choice with the 38's, and yes Sanus make very nice stands in many styles. Actually, they are sold on Polks website, the two companies seem to be working hand in hand. Check it out.

Polk Website

--Ed

Soon as you get your polks, register them online and get into the forums there. Nice place.

 

[Ritchie T]

Yup, Ill be going with the 28's for the back. Ill be ordering off Crutchfield for the stands and speakers. Gotta save on tax, and I wont have to worry about paying more for the warranty.

Thanks again

 

[TylerZ]

Your welcome Ritchie, I hope you enjoy your new system!