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Noob Here - Set up questions


juddthejuice

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Hey guys. New guy here. Here's a quick story and my ask. I currently have a SONOS 5.1. Sounds amazing when listening to music, but the 5.1 is not true 5.1 and Star Wars is severely lacking. So, I purchased a Sony 7.1 receiver, a pair of R-14M and a pair of R-15M, R-25C from Bestbuy. I also purchased an R-12SW. My father is an audiophile and loves his Klipsch so I figured start cheap but "good".

 

I'm hoping I made some good choices, haha. So my issue is when looking at my family room the TV is on the left wall. Straight ahead is a fireplace with hearth. Couch is on the right wall. I don't have the option of running in wall wire so I have to run wire around the room, under the hearth. Ugh. Any recommendations on gauge, or speaker type? Also what type of connectors? Banana plugs? I'm trying to lose as little quality as possible. I think we're talking maybe 25'. 

 

Again I'm a noob, so forgive me!

-Justin

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I pretty much just make sure that my connections are secure.  Where I've used banana plugs, I don't hear anything that says that it is far and away a superior connection.    I'm not a proponent of high cost wire and I get performance that satisfies me with 12 gauge.   I feel your pain on running wire where it is exposed.  I make an effort to hide it as much as possible and I'm successful in most cases.   If you have carpet, it's pretty easy to tuck it under the edge.  Making a detour around a hearth is not a big deal if you have carpet around the edge.   If you have solid flooring, get it tight to the edge.  Neatness will count with regard to the aesthetics .  I had this issue, but this year when we put in a tile floor, I ran flat wire under the tile before it was set.  Works great in my den, but I just have quintets in that room. 

 

I'm pretty sure there will be a wide variety of opinions on wire and connectors coming down.  This is, after all, just my opinion.  Good listening.

 

Oh, yeah.  Good choice on not mounting the TV above the fireplace.  IMO, the worst place. 

 

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Welcome to the forums and getting your toes wet with Klipsch. A bold move to ask an open-ended question like speaker wire recommendations for your first question. On less refined forums that might start an endless onslaught of unshakable opinions. In an effort to take out a lot of the fluff and the "why this" and "not thats", here's the two most common recommendations I've seen on here.

 

Like I said those two brands seem the most popular around here. 25 feet isn't really a long run of wire, so anything bigger than 12AWG is not going to give you any noticeable improvements and you could probably even use 14AWG. 

 

The flat wires you'll come across look nice, especially when tracking around the house, but due to its flatness, it is more  susceptible to electromagnetic field (EMF) interference. Again, would they be noticeable? I'm tempted to say probably not.

 

As far as connectors, some can argue against them while others argue for them. Those that are for seem to recommend these:

 

Sewell Deadbolts

GLS Banana Plugs

 

Others have mentioned to stray away from the Parts Express plugs

 

Hope this helps. I personally use the Monoprice option and Sewell plugs and have been happy.

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Thank you! We do have carpet so I was thinking of running it right along the edge. The hearth actually runs the entire wall. It is basically an entire wall of brick fireplace (the fireplace is off center and it seriously drives my OCD crazy, haha). 12 gauge was what I was thinking as well, so I'm glad you said that. 

 

Sorry I meant to ask one other question. If i want to go 7.1 instead of 5.1 and move my R-14 to be "sides". I was looking at the R-14S.. As that fits price range and one that Crutchfield absolutely recommended. Anyone have any thoughts on that? There's not much room between my couch and my wall so i'm worried about the sound. 

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Depending on how involved you want to get you can pull off the base board (assuming you have it) cut some of the drywall off if needed to make a recessed area for the wire then cover it up with the base board. Also, any chance to have access to the room from below like an unfinished basement? If so you might be able to drop the wires down, run as needed then come up between two studs in the wall and have a nice Decora/keystone wall pate and connections to end up with a finished look.

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Depending on how involved you want to get you can pull off the base board (assuming you have it) cut some of the drywall off if needed to make a recessed area for the wire then cover it up with the base board. Also, any chance to have access to the room from below like an unfinished basement? If so you might be able to drop the wires down, run as needed then come up between two studs in the wall and have a nice Decora/keystone wall pate and connections to end up with a finished look.


My hope was to drop it. But the family room was an addition and it’s on a freaking slab. No basement under that part. I was also hoping for a subfloor. Negative on that one too!

That’s a good call for the baseboard, didn’t think of that.


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4 minutes ago, juddthejuice said:

 

 


My hope was to drop it. But the family room was an addition and it’s on a freaking slab. No basement under that part. I was also hoping for a subfloor. Negative on that one too!

That’s a good call for the baseboard, didn’t think of that.


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The baseboard is a bit of work, but I like it to be completely hidden. Seems more professional once done. Any wires peaking out here and there just seem like armature hour to me.

 

Good luck and welcome to the forum! Klipsch is addictive, best to return them ASAP and not go down the rabbit hole.:D

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I'm not an expert but wired my media room about a year ago and did learn a few things that may help you.    Theoretically, you can use 16 gauge for those runs but "bigger is always better" or so they say.   I used 14 gauge wire.   After much research, bought everything from Monoprice and was happy with the service (except for one roll of wire which wasn't what I ordered) and price.   One word of caution, be sure everything accepts 12 g wire.   That's pretty big.   My stuff was ok but bananas and some terminals were marginal with 14 g.

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