Home Cinema Set-up

[systemsetup]

After hours and hours of research I hope I have the makings of a decent system that (just!) within my budget now.

Would very much appreciate any comments/feedback and especially some help in terms of cabling. (Decorating the room before all equipment turns up and I need to get bits of this right rather than cause a re-decorating disaster later!!)

Panasonic TH42PW6B 42" Plasma Monitor
Denon DVD2200 DVD Player
Denon AVR2803 Receiver
KEF Eggs

In terms of cabling I plan to use a RJB/VGA converter from JSElectronics for Sky + and component video on the DVD (does that sound like the right way to go?)

But what I really need to get done in a matter of days is put suitable speaker cables in place as a new floating floor is going down next week.

Any recommendatios on cables for such a setup - think I read on other posts QED at £5-£10 a metre would be adequate.

But what about the connectors on the cable? Can anyone tell me what terminations I'll need on each end of the cable to connect the Egg's/AVR2803?

Many Thanks

 

[tony kop77]

I also have the egg speakers with the Denon 2803 and think the sound is great. I got the QED original wire which was about £2 a metre.
The sound is great but after a few hearings you just take it for granted and think nothing of it.
I have not had any problems yet touch wood and bought the eagles on dvd to hear what it sounded like. The amp goes up to about +18db but I have it on about -15db.

 

[Ian J]

Personally I wouldn't spend more than £5 per metre for KEF eggs and QED Bronze SE at £2.50 per metre would be more than adequate.

Bare wire will do for connecting up at either end but some people use banana plugs which can be useful if you fiddle around a lot disconnecting and reconnecting cables.

 

[systemsetup]

Thanks for the help Ian/Crazzy.

As a confused newbie I have a couple more questions I could really do with some help on

I received today my KEF 3000 sub and 2005 eggs.

Whoever wrote the instruction manual for KEF didn't seem to consider people such as I who have never setup this kinda thing before!!

I will be pairing up the speakers to a Denon 2308 (this wont arrive till after the decorating is finished so I havent a clue what connections are like on this and need to cable out the room beforehand).

Am I right in saying that:

a) I run a single cable from the amp to the sub (using line in left?)

b) The rest of the egg speakers are just wired to the amp (and do not need to loop back to the sub in anyway)

Is it as simple as that? Sorry if its a dumb question but the mutliple wiring diagrams in the manual making no sense to me

Finally a question on positioing of the sub. The houseproud missus is throwing a fit at the size of the sub in her nice new living room. The manual recommends the sub goes anywhere but near the listening position. How much difference will it really make. Do I hide the sub by the sofa for domestic harmony or fight the cause that it simply *must* go 'up front'?

Thanks!

 

[Ian J]

A single subwoofer cable with a phono plug on each end will do for the subwoofer and as you correctly surmised the speakers will be wired directly to the amp.

There are some exceptional subwoofer cables for sale in the Power Buy forum here at relatively cheap prices.

When the Eggs first came out a couple of years ago there were loads of complaints about the poor manual and it's a shame that KEF haven't taken the opportunity to upgrade the manual when they upgraded the Eggs.

The performance of a sub tends to vary in different rooms but it is normally best within the front soundstage or as close to that as possible.

Some people report good results from hiding the sub elsewhere in the room but others don't and it really is a matter of trial and error to get the best performance out of it.

 

[tony kop77]

I placed my sub just under my front right speaker, as long as it is not right next to the wal it will be fine. I thought the sub was big too at first but the glass on top makes it look nice and it is not in the way as I thought it would be.
The egg speakers are superb the sound is very clear though I dont notice how good they are now as I have had it for a few weeks. If I heard soemone else's system which was not very good I'm sure I would appreciate my system more then.

I am sure there are louder systems than the one you bought but for crystal clear sound i dont think you will find much better than your system especially for the price. It is easy to set up but I am struggling to connect my technics midi to my amp, I have connected the cd via the digital ouput but dont know how to connect it to get the tuner and mini disc via the amp.

 

[Nimby]

I think as the speaker cables are being hidden under the floor that you ought to consider something slightly better than the cheapest available. If you upgrade the speakers later on then you won't have to change the speaker cables to match.

I used original QED 79 strand for years until I discovered CableTalk 3 over ten years ago. Not doubt there is a later edition of both cables but the QED 79 strand sounded awful compared with the Cable Talk in my system. Slow, plodding, woolly, soft bass, tizzy treble.

Anyone else care to suggest some good cables in this price range with underfloor installation in mind? Something you have yourself in your system rather than something you've just read about.

Unless you fit conduit...? But some speaker cable is pretty stiff & bulky and might not slide in and out of the conduit nicely. You might need something like PVC plumbing tubing with slow bends.
Or the corrugated tubing designed to protect modern flexible plastic water pipes. This comes in various sizes for housing plumbing or underfloor heating as a form of conduit. Nice and flexible too.

Nimby