Cabling question for new HT system: do I have what I need? (1 Viewer)

[Phil Carter]

Hi folks,

Made the plunge today and bought my new system, to be delivered Friday next week. Thanks to those who answered my questions in the thread I titled "Jumping into the home theater pool. Some basic questions".

The setup will be:

Mitsubishi 48" widescreen WS-48313 RPTV, HD-upgradeable
Denon AVR1803 receiver
Mirage AVS500B 6-speaker satellite setup, incl. FRXS8 subwoofer

I now have a few queries regarding cabling. I will be ordering the following from BetterCables.com :

-- 1 set Silver Serpent Reference Component Video cable, to be run from my DVD player's component video outputs to the TV's component video inputs
-- 1 set Silver Serpent Digital Coax cable, to be run from the DVD player's digital coax output to the Denon's digital coax input

I have 30 feet of Monster XP speaker wire left over from when I put my stereo system together. I would like to use that for the Mirage satellite speakers and center channel, because the Blue Truth speaker cables at BetterCables are $269 for 6 feet and I'm not keen on about another $1000 for speaker cables (at least ten feet apiece for left and right rear channels, plus four feet each for left and right front channels. Short distance for the center since the receiver will be sitting on top of the TV along with the center channel speaker).

I don't have the receiver, TV, or speakers handy yet, so I may be wasting my time asking this, but I'd like to have the cabling all set when the components arrive so I don't have to run out and about picking up more stuff -- or wait for it to be shipped if I order it online.

The questions:

-- Which is more important -- the digital coax from the DVD player to the receiver, or the cable from the receiver to the speakers? (I have a feeling I'm going to hear "receiver to speaker cables").

-- Do I need a separate kind of cable for the subwoofer, or can it be run with the same kind of cables that the satellite speakers and center channel use?

-- Would it be a good idea to pick up, say, the Silver Serpent subwoofer cable from BetterCables and use that, with the Monster XP being used for the satellites and center? Or is it a bad idea to mix types of cable for your speaker setup?

A factor to consider is that I have a slight tinnitus problem due to years of concerts (and no ear protection until my mid-twenties; more fool me). Ultra-high-end stuff is therefore probably wasted on me. Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks in advance for any replies. You people are a great bunch.

cheers,
Phil

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I persoanlly would spend more on the coax cable than the speaker cables, simply because you will encounter more interference in the vicinity of the projector than you will along the walls where the speaker cable will run. I'm not saying that you should go cheap on the speaker cables; just don't spend a fortune on cable that isn't going to run into the same amount of electromagnetic interference as your coax cable will. I speak from experience, because when I first hooked up my coax to my receiver, I used cheap cable and experienced distortion galore from interference with my monitor, so I went out and bought a more expensive cable, which promptly kissed the distortion goodbye.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Is your subwoofer self-powered? If so, you need to use a RCA interconnect, not speaker wires.

There is no problem mixing brands and models. My preference for 'expensive' to cheap would be:

Video cables: go higher-end (Better Cables is a great choice)

Coaxial Digtal & Subwoofer: go modest to low end for these.

Speaker Wire: start with good, but less-expensive 12 ga wire and get used to the sound for a few weeks. Then later, you can play with more exotic wires to see if they are worth it to you.

But HT sounds are very different that CD quality music. It tends to not show differences in speaker wires like music does. So if you are creating a mainly HT system - you will likely stick with the good 12 ga wire.

 

[Phil Carter]

Stephen:

Video cables: go higher-end (Better Cables is a great choice)

Speaker Wire: start with good, but less-expensive 12 ga wire and get used to the sound for a few weeks. Then later, you can play with more exotic wires to see if they are worth it to you.

I'm going with the highest-end component video cable available from BetterCables, the reference quality one for $200. The video image is going to be the most important part of the HT setup for me due to the tinnitus issue I mentioned earlier.

As for the speaker wiring, from what you two say, it sounds like I'll be okay with the Monster XP speaker wire (it's $29.95 for 30 feet if I happen to need more than what I have already -- lots better than the $269 for 6 feet that the highest-end ones were).

Thanks to both of you for your assistance!

cheers,
Phil