What all do I need?

[GuitarGuyBMG]

I'm trying to order the last of the stuff that I need to complete my HT tonight so that it will get here early next week.

My equipment:

• 2 Polk Monitor 60s (Front L/R)
• 2 Monitor 30s (Rear Surrounds)
• 1 CS10 (Center)
• PSW10 (Sub)
• Pioneer SC-25 (Receiver)

My questions are:

• What gauge speaker wires do I need?
• What are some good cable management products/techniques?
• Are banana plugs absolutely needed, would you all recommend them?
• I'm running the wires in front of 2 doors, do I need to do them in wall or is there a recommended way to fasten them down to prevent tripping?
• I've heard monoprice is good for cables, are there any other good values out there you'd recommend?
• Most importantly, is there a good website out there that has a guide to setting up a 5.1 system?

I'm very excited to get my system hooked up prior to New Years. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[kareface]

Originally Posted by GuitarGuyBMG

[*]What gauge speaker wires do I need?

It depends on the length, but the short answer is just get 12 gauge from monoprice and don't worry about the details.

Originally Posted by GuitarGuyBMG

[*]What are some good cable management products/techniques?

Try not to cross wires over each other when connecting them, which is always a pain. When you cut the wire, try to do so w/o cutting any of the copper strands. Keeping the wires off the floor is also a good idea.

Originally Posted by GuitarGuyBMG

[*]Are banana plugs absolutely needed, would you all recommend them?

No and yes. They don't to anything for sound, they are just nice to work with and look at. And cheap if you get them at monoprice.

Originally Posted by GuitarGuyBMG

[*]I'm running the wires in front of 2 doors, do I need to do them in wall or is there a recommended way to fasten them down to prevent tripping?

I would just run them along the outside of the door frame with a staple gun (make sure not to break the jacket of the speaker wire). However, there are lots of options, just take your pick.

Originally Posted by GuitarGuyBMG

[*]I've heard monoprice is good for cables, are there any other good values out there you'd recommend?

Amazon can be good for a few things. If you start getting higher end you can find other 'good deals' relative to their price (i.e. 50-150$ a cable) but for what you're using monoprice is the best bet.

Originally Posted by GuitarGuyBMG

[*]Most importantly, is there a good website out there that has a guide to setting up a 5.1 system?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=setting+up+a+5.1+system

Play around with speaker placment. If you can, try and for an equladeral triangle with the primary listening position and the front left and right speakers. Also, if you can keep the tweeters on your front 3 speakers even with ear level as best you can, please do so. Don't place you speakers too close to a wall if you can avoid it. The best thing you can do is read, there is too much info to go into here, but I can tell you positioning your speakers is the cheapest improvement you can make to your acoustics and it makes a huge difference.