Thanks guys,
I will go with the 12-gauge and send two runs behind the wall (not difficult in my case) for the surrounds.
That was news to me regarding the different wire lengths being OK. I thought I read somewhere (maybe Robert Harley's "Essentials of Home Theater", but may have been somewhere else) that keeping equal lengths was important to keep any potential "timing" issues in check so all the speakers' sound is heard at the same time. I guess one could be splitting hairs when we're only talking about a few feet, but I want to be sure before I make the "big cut" in my wire. The old measure twice cut once applies for me (or in my case, measure three or four times as I'm more Tim Taylor than Al Borlen).
.
Rob
