Ive got an amp and a two front speakers and a centre arriving next week, all I need now is make sure I have the right wires and connections to go with them. I was looking at this wire here, I only need a short length: http://www.clearly-av.co.uk/V515060.html Im assuming I would need 3 lots of this cable to connect the 3 speakers to the amp. In terms of connectors, many here use banana plugs. Would I need 1 plug for each connection into the amp and speakers? (So that would be 12 plugs in total.) Thanks!
I assume you are getting a budget type system as you are looking at low cost cable! On this basis Richersounds have a good selection of start up type cables here - http://www.richersounds.com/productlist.php?cda=productlist&sgroup=SPEAKERESSENTIALS2 Yes you will need three lengths of cable if you only have fronts and centre, 5 if you are getting a pair of rear speakers for surround sound effects. Most speakers and amps come with binding posts which means you trap the bare ends of the speaker cable in a nut / bolt type thread which are tightenend with your fingers. As long as you are not going to keep disconnecting the speakers I would use this option and save yourself some money. If you go for banana plugs you will need 6 pairs as you have rightly said.
I've just bought the same cable, you buy it buy the metre and you cut it yourself basically as far as I understand to the lengths you require. I've got to rig up 3 speakers so I've bought a length of 9 metres. Banana plug wise you'll need to double check your amp but I think most amps accept 4mm banana plugs. You need two banana plugs to every speaker (one for red wire, one for black), I've only bought banana plugs to plug into the back of the amp I'm going to bare wire into the speakers themselves the reason for this is because my speakers will be wall mounted and I gather this can make life difficult with banana plugs into the speakers themselves. Also before you can plug the banana plugs into the back of the amp you need to expose the hole by removing the plastic.
Thanks for the help guys. In terms of spend, the amp was £200 and 3 speakers cost £275 so I guess its in the budget end of the market. I have no problem spending more on cable especially as I wont be using long lengths. The speakers are AE evo 3 and evo centre, amp is Onkyo HTR805. Even if the amp doesnt take banana plugs bare wires are fine? I guess it would just be more awkward if you unplug them regularly.
I had the same front speakers and found that the treble was bright with qed silver anniversary which is a highly recommended cable. Also I felt the speakers needed alot of running in before they sounded there best. Once they had been run in they sounded great. Not sure if the Onkyo is a bright or warm sounding amp but different cables can be used to tame / increase or reduce treble emphasis slightly. Its more noticable with hi fi than AV IMHO so may not be an issue in your system.