What cables to use for a home theatre setup with Marantz SR6008

[romm3l]

Hi there, I am a newbie at home theatre setup. Recently I have purchased this 5.1 setup and haven't got a clue as to what cables or plugs to use and connect all my speakers and devices with the receiver. So these are my hardware:

My receiver: Marantz SR6008
Front: 2 X Polk Audio Rti-A7
Centre: 1 X Polk Tsx 150C
Surround: 2 X Polk Rti-A1
Subwoofer: Polk PSW 110

The size of the room is about 20 X 15 Feet. The front, centre and the sub woofers will be within a short distance of the receiver(as expected). The surround speakers would be about 10 feet away but the cabling would be much longer than that as I would have to run it by the side.

So, the questions that I have are,

1. What cables to connect the speakers with the receiver?(RCA, Coaxial, what width, brand if possible)
2. What cables to use to connect the sub woofer to the receiver? (Specs, brands)
3. Do I need to use cables with different specifications for each connection, i.e receiver to front, receiver to centre, receiver to surround etc?
4. What sort of connectors should I be using? (Specs, brands)

It would be great if someone can advise me with these please, also any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!!

 

[ien2222]

Hey there,

For the 5 speakers, all you need is decent wire of sufficient gauge.

It's easy enough to get oxygen-free copper wire at good prices so you might as well use that. You can get that most anywhere, a couple of places on the web to get it would be monoprice or blue jeans cable (which are also sold on amazon). Most people just connect them bare. If you want to use terminators, look at Sewell or GLS which can be found on Amazon, or sewelldirect.com / speakerrepair.com.

For the gauge, the following website will guide you:
http/www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable
Given the size of your room, 14ga should be sufficient, just get a spool of bulk wire and cut to length.

If you plan on running the wire through walls, make sure it's rated for it. Most CL2 or 3 are.

The sub will take a coax cable, again you can look at monoprice/blue jeans cable. Sometimes they are listed as digital/sub cables but will mention it can be used to sub connections.

 

[romm3l]

Thanks for your reply ien222, appreciate it very much. Its a lot clear now, so I guess I need to get RCA cables of proper gauge to connect the speakers with the receiver(with banana plugs on speaker side) And a coaxial cable for the subwoofer. Do I need to use any cable splitter or any such devices at all? Also, what do you think about the setup, i.e. If the receiver and speakers I have chosen are okay to go with each other or am I going to find that the receiver isn't good enough?

 

[ien2222]

For the wire connecting the speakers, there's no RCA plugs. The AVR will take banana plugs or maybe spades but not RCA. Unless you plan on moving your setup around alot, or you want the look of terminators, you might as well save some money and just go with bare connections.

No need for any cable splitters.

The AVR is fine as long as the features meet your needs.

As far as speakers go, Polk isn't high on my list of speakers to get. But that's probably more personal preference, as long as you like them, that's what matters.

However, I will tell you to drop the sub, it just isn't worth getting as there are better options out there. If you want something roughly the same price, there's the BIC F12 or the Dayton Audio Sub-1200. But if you can afford it, I'd go with the NXG NX-BAS-500 (~$265). Or, if you are willing to invest $500, the SVS PB-1000 (or SB if you don't have the space for the PB).

There's no comparison between the SVS and the Polk, but even the BIC and Dayton are a decent step up.

 

[romm3l]

Hi ien222, I know I might sound like a dumbo, but from the looks of it I think the wires going to the receiver end should go bare and the one's going to the speaker end would require the banana plugs(i.e If I do decide to use them)? http/www.marantz.co.uk/uk/products/pages/ZoomImage.aspx?img=/Assets/images/products/SR6008/XL_sr6008_n_sg_re.jpg

I really wanted to get the Polk Rti-A9 but couldnt afford it so had to downgrade a bit, guess they should be ok for my needs. Also dont really have an option to to change the subwoofer, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Would you know anything about the Van Damme Studio grade Blue 2X2.5mm speaker cables at all?
1. Do you think they are good enough for the front floor standing speakers?
2. The performance would be good if i ran about 50 feet for my rear surround speakers? Thanks again.

 

[ien2222]

Heh, no worries. Asking questions is how you learn

The speakers will do bare connections along with banana plugs just like the AVR.

I haven't heard of Van Damme cables, I don't think they are sold here in the US but looking at their website it should be fine though a little expensive, you really don't need to pay more than ~2 pounds/euros per meter for good wire. But I must say I like that blue jacket a lot more than the white I have and it really isn't that overpriced.

But yeah, the 2.5mm is fine for 50ft with those Polks.

 

[romm3l]

All the other cables that I'm finding here are much more expensive than these one's, specially that are sold in high street stores. The Qed ones are 4 pound per metre. I have seen a few good reviews regarding these ones so thinking of going for them. Thanks ever so much mate, cheers