Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions cables and wiring help

Hello and thanks for your support with the newly purchased Denon 3808. I have calmed down a bit and will attack this thing one step at a time. It looks like it may be 5 weeks before I get the Epic 60/500 from the outlet, allowing me plenty of time to tinker with the receiver's settings.

I currently have my Sony Bravia KDL-XBR4 40" plasma hooked up with coaxial cables to my HD comcast cable box. I would like to purchase HDMI cables for my TV and Denon receiver. Monoprice looks like my best option for wiring and cable, and I want to make sure I order the correct products. I believe I will need 2ea HDMI cables, one from TV to receiver and one from receiver to HDMI Comcast cable box.(just ordered updated HDMI box through comcast). I am also in need of 1ea subwoofer RCA cable for the sub right? Also, what guage wiring are most people using for Epic 60/500 5.1 and are bananna plugs a must for connecting to the speaker terminals of the Denon 3808? It was very difficult for me to connect bare wire to the plastic screw terminals of the Denon during my test connections. I will be using only a PSP 2 for video but will soon upgrage to BD after I get situated with the audo system. After I get the proper cables from monoprice I will fiddle more with the Denon settings. Please let me know if I am missing anything. Thanks for all the great advice from the forum and I'm sure I will soon be enjoying incredible sound.

demetrios

My guess is that you are going to know that receiver inside out before the wait is done.

A number of people, myself included, use 12 gage wire, but I think thats probably overkill unless you have really long runs. I had a little trouble fitting all that wire into the connections on my receiver. My longest run is ~ 35' and by the guides, I could have used 18 gage. Its better to have too thick than too thin, but I would probably use 14 gage if I were to do it again.

Mono price seems to be a great place for cables. I actually picked the speaker wire at Home Depot (really any copper wire is just fine) and the sub and some other cables at a local surplus store. If you are looking for a more flexible wire, Axiom has a great price on some fine stranded wire as well.

I bought Axiom's 12 gauge wiring and their Banana Plugs for the 3808 and then decided, due to the amount of speaker moving I do, to go with babana plugs all around. You can just use 14 gauge wire from Home Depot as has been suggested and it will be fine. You can get 12 gauge wiring into the Denon's connections with out too much trouble just hook up the wiring when you are in a comfortable position first, if possible, then run the wires to the speakers.

Yes, 1 RCA cable of the appropriate length works well, or some coax cable with RCA ends works very well too.

You will not want Banana plugs for the QS8s if you are going to be using the "T' bracket that they come with as the plugs stick out too far.

monoprice.com is the only way to go. impossible to beat their prices or service if you ask me. their 12ga is good stuff and cheap enough to buy a whole 250' roll. they also have great subwoofer coax, hdmi, vga and bananna plugs.

Thanks guys, I placed an order with monoprice this afternoon. Very nice experience and the prices are amazing! I ordered

2ea 24awg 1.3a HDMI cable 3ft $6.66ea
1ea 14awg CL2 rated speaker wire 100ft $23.40rl
1ea 35ft coaxial/rca composite subwoofer cbl $7.77ea
6ea pair copper screw type banana plugs $1.50pr

Everything came to $53.49 + $11.00 shipping. WOW!!!

I've been very happy with MonoPrice.com. I'm sure you will be, too. I've ordered from Blue Jeans Cable a couple of times, too, but mainly because they're in Washington and I get the stuff a day after it's shipped, not because I think I need higher-quality stuff.

Hopefully you got enough speaker wire. I thought 100' would be enough in my setup and I ran about 20' short (talk about bad measuring!). You're off to a better start than I was though... I think I ended up with at least 3 separate orders (in 3 days) to Monoprice before I had all the wires I needed.

It's funny how speaker euphoria can lead to rushed, poor planning. Fortunately you have a bit more time.

100' of wire is used up very fast, I just had enough. Wire your surround speakers first, if end up short on wire just get what you need at the local home center.

Also good advice, and also not the way I did it. I should have posted these questions back then too.

Same here. I now have an extra 24 feet of wire in my 'stuff closet'.