What else do I need with a receiver?
 

I just bought a Panasonic SA-HE100 based on the rave reviews this thing gets around here. Anyway, I would like to know if everything I need is in the box, or do I have to buy some extra cables, or something like that. I have a KLH-4906 speaker set, if that is of any relevance. Thanks.

Re: What else do I need with a receiver?
 

Well I am not sure how to help you. Have you tried looking at the manual for the hookup diagrams?

What is connected to your speakers now? Do you have a DVD player? A CD player? A TV?

You need to be more specific so we can help ;)

Probably you'll want better speaker wire. Any 14 gauge or thicker should be fine. HD and Radio Shack sell good, inexpensive wire. You might want to upgrade component cables (audio & video hookups). partsexpress.com and cablesamerica.com have very good quality and reasonably-priced cables (for audio, composite, component and s-video, etc.). And a speaker upgrade will probably be the next thing to do. Seriously, be careful turning up the receiver because you could blow the KLH's.

I just ordered the receiver over the internet yesterday from refurbdepot.com. My TV is 10 years old, so it doesn't have any inputs aside from RF. My speakers are still sitting in their box. I got them for Christmas, and I tried to hook them up, but I learned quickly I can't do much with them if they're not connected to a receiver. Truth be told, this'll probably be a very crappy set-up, but I'm not much of an audiophile anyway...yet. I'm just curious if I'll have everything I'll need when I get my receiver in the mail. I'll worry about upgrades later.

Like drmoze said, go to Home Depot or Radio Shack and pick up some new speaker wire, 14 or 12 guage would be best. I would go with the 12 just incase you upgrade the speakers in the future. How many speakers do you have, 2...5, 7? If you only have 2, you should be fine with everything. If you are hooking up surround speakers, you might want to get a digital audio cable to connect your DVD player (you have one right?) to your receiver. Check the manuals to see what cable both units support (coax or optical). If you are only going with 2 channels, the cable that came with your DVD player will be fine.