ivelostr2

My wife and I have been talking about redoing the basement/garage as a theater/den for awhile. Last year we built a deck, and now funds have been freed up for the basement. last week I picked up the lumber and drywall to frame out the walls, but before we put up the drywall, I want to run some cables, speaker wire and install wall plates. I admit I am a noob when it comes to buying the anything other than the standard cables so i have a couple questions:

1. what are the differences between these 2 cables?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2
&
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I know one is 24awg and one is 26 awg, but i dont have any idea what that means, and which is better suited for my needs.


2. what audio wires do i need, I had planned on buying a 100 foot spool of wire but there is 12, 14 and 16 awg and i dont know which to get
(http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2 , http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2 , http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2)

3. I want to install some wall plates as well,
(http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2)

(http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...eq=1&format=2).

4. this cable would work for my subwoofer (http://www.monoprice.com/products/se...woofer%20cable)
but what wall plate would I need to use.


i would appreciate any suggestions and or corrections, the next phase will be more exciting, finding a projector and receiver...

ivelostr2

I found this thread :
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....t=speaker+wire
which sent me here:
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire.htm#wiretable

So im guessing i need to use 14 or 16 depending on the ohm load (?) because the speakers will be about 15 feet from the screen, so probably about 25-30 feet of wire will be used. is there a standard ohm load with speakers/receivers or will this depend on what speakers/receives i buy. If it differs, i should probably err on the side of caution...

Spiky

Bigger cable is better, although there is always a point where it doesn't matter. Smaller AWG number means larger cable. I like to only use 12AWG or larger for speaker cable, even if it isn't necessary.

For longer runs to a projector I'd probably go with 24 gauge for the HDMI.

Wall plates are pretty much all the same, unless you bump up to a system like Leviton.

Subwoofer is probably THE easiest signal any piece of wire could ever transport. Virtually anything with proper RCA connectors will work.

Spiky

There is a standard ohm load of 8 ohms, btw.

broadwayblue

AWG is the thickness of the wire. Lower number is thicker/better. 24AWG HDMI is fine for in wall runs of at least 10m or more.

Don't skimp on speakers. Definitely put aside a significant portion of your budget for them (many people recommend 50%.) While whatever projector you buy will be obsolete in a few years, good speakers can last a lifetime...or at least decades.