Basic cable question regarding my new Klipsh reference home theater

[Ummagumma]

Hi all !

 

I recently bought my first home theater and after quite a lot of research I decided to go for a Klipsh Reference 7.1 home theater system with the following pieces :

Klipsh R34C for the center

4 Klipsh R41M for the front speakers and side speakers

2 Klipsh R14S as surround speakers

Klipsh R120SW powered subwoofer

 

Denon AVR S-750H receiver

 

I think that the sound should fill correctly the rather medium living room that I have and they met my budget perfectly as I got some of them during a Best Buy sale.

 

Being a complete noob the the home theater universe I was wondering if all I needed now were the following cables :
- wire cable

- RCA audio cable to connect the subwoofer and the receiver

- some banana plugs to link the wire cables to the receiver / speakers

 

If so I was thinking of simply buying these from the Amazon basics section :

banana plugs : https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01MXJIEV9/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&psc=1
RCA cable : https://www.amazon.ca/AmazonBasics-Subwoofer-Cable-25-Feet/dp/B01D5H8HR2/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=26XB7X7KUNBMQ&keywords=subwoofer+cable&qid=1590456866&sprefix=subwoofer+cab%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExVFpKRDZLQjRCOElUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDk2MTQ3MTNGTDlNNlQ3TlRZNCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODczMjIxM1RNOFlBNTRVV1lONiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
wire cable : https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B006LW0W5Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&psc=1

Is it all I need to plug my home theater correctly ? Will the banana plugs fit my speakers' and receiver's correctly ?

I just wanted a confirmation before I buy them in case I was missing something 🙂

 

Thank you for your help and for your time !

Edited May 31, 2020 by Ummagumma

[Alexander]

 

All is fine, the only question is with the speaker wire it self and how long the runs will be.

 

Admittedly it was only at a brief glance but make sure you are not using CCA (copper clad aluminum). If so it will need to go up to 14ga to get the same “capacity” of pure copper, and no we are not even talking about OFC stuff, just regular pure copper.

 

With CCA wire the longer the run the more it can be a factor, a 16ga version is the equivalent to using 18ga pure copper wire. All being equal you will need to go up 2 sizes, so 16ga to 14ga, 14ga to 12ga and so on.

 

Some may argue the skin effect – that only the outer surface is conducting, but the facts are this does not become a factor until well past the human hearing of 20kHz.

[LOWFAT930]

I can verify wire choice makes a difference. I will admit when I switched my old wire was questionable. I went with 12Ga OFC and some middle of the ground banana plugs. It made an audible difference. All purchased on Amazon

[Ummagumma]

7 hours ago, Alexander said:

 

All is fine, the only question is with the speaker wire it self and how long the runs will be.

 

Admittedly it was only at a brief glance but make sure you are not using CCA (copper clad aluminum). If so it will need to go up to 14ga to get the same “capacity” of pure copper, and no we are not even talking about OFC stuff, just regular pure copper.

 

With CCA wire the longer the run the more it can be a factor, a 16ga version is the equivalent to using 18ga pure copper wire. All being equal you will need to go up 2 sizes, so 16ga to 14ga, 14ga to 12ga and so on.

 

Some may argue the skin effect – that only the outer surface is conducting, but the facts are this does not become a factor until well past the human hearing of 20kHz.

 

Thanks for your answer Alexander !

 

So if I understand correctly, and since I think I'm going with CCA then you would recommend me to choose a 14 gauge CCA speaker wire instead of a 16 gauge one right ?

 

To answer your question the runs won't be long as the most distant speakers (the surround speakers) will be placed at around 4.5 or 6 meters or so from the receiver if I take into consideration running them over my ceiling or doorway I haven't decided yet.

 

If I'm not going with CCA then which wires would you recommend for a setup like mine ? Also does it make an actual difference to an ''untrained'' ear ?

 

I just want to get the best from my surround system but I'm also wanting to be reasonable with the price of the cables. Yet at the same time I don't want my choice of cables to ''limit'' my speakers' potential.

Edited June 1, 2020 by Ummagumma

[Alexander]

 

1 hour ago, Ummagumma said:

 

So if I understand correctly, and since I think I'm going with CCA then you would recommend me to choose a 14 gauge CCA speaker wire instead of a 16 gauge one right ?

 

Yes you got it right

 

1 hour ago, Ummagumma said:

 

To answer your question the runs won't be long as the most distant speakers (the surround speakers) will be placed at around 4.5 or 6 meters or so from the receiver if I take into consideration running them over my ceiling or doorway I haven't decided yet.

 

As long as you stay under say 9 meters, more than that and you may want to start considering going anther 2 steps larger gauge wire. The length of a run applies to both CCA & pure copper BTW.

 

1 hour ago, Ummagumma said:

 

If I'm not going with CCA then which wires would you recommend for a setup like mine ? Also does it make an actual difference to an ''untrained'' ear ?

 

The concern is less of an audiophile one but rather a resistive load to your avr. Say 30/70%, it does not need to be any kind of “fancy” stuff what so ever.

 

Something to keep in mind, oxidized copper is conductive while oxidized aluminum is not so resistance can build up over time.

 

 

[Ummagumma]

22 hours ago, Alexander said:

 

 

Yes you got it right

 

 

As long as you stay under say 9 meters, more than that and you may want to start considering going anther 2 steps larger gauge wire. The length of a run applies to both CCA & pure copper BTW.

 

 

The concern is less of an audiophile one but rather a resistive load to your avr. Say 30/70%, it does not need to be any kind of “fancy” stuff what so ever.

 

Something to keep in mind, oxidized copper is conductive while oxidized aluminum is not so resistance can build up over time.

 

 

Thank you very much for your help 🙂