New Home Stereo Owner

[cbrasher1]

hello all, I am new to the home stereo field, current one is a 5.1 out of the box surround sound. I have recently purchased the following and could use some help with the setup.

Onkyo tx-nr555 receiver
(2) cerwin-vega xls-12 3-way towers

I looked in the look here first section, and it looks like I will need 14 gauge wire since the towers will be <100 feet from receiver. The connections on the back of the towers are 5-way binding posts, so do I need to run a positive and negative for the midrange & tweeter and then another positive and negative for the sub to 2 seperate locations on the back of the receiver? Also, should I use pin connectors on both sides, or another kind of connector? I did a little search before posting so I could have a general idea of what I would need to ask.....

 

[Bucknekked]

Onkyo tx-nr555 receiver
(2) cerwin-vega xls-12 3-way towers

Welcome to AH cbrasher1. Hope you have an enjoyable time here. There's certainly quite a wealth of experience to be tapped in to. A brand new out of the box system ? Wow. One string of verbiage comes to mind in these situations : RTFM. Read the........manual...........is always a helpful thing to do. Can't hurt.

In your case, the Cerwin Vega speakers should come jumpered together so you only need one pair of speaker cables per speaker. Buy a decent pair of cables (blue jeans, monoprice, choose your own poison) for each one and you'll be miles ahead. The woofer and tweeter come jumpered together out of the box so you don't have to mess with it. Banana plugs are fine and easy to come by. There are folks who swear by all kinds of connection methods, but good old banana style connectors will get it done.

You only mention 2 speakers in your list of equipment, so you will be setting up a stereo. If you have more speakers, then it can become a 5.1 system. The Onkyo will have a setup set of menus. Again, RTFM and setting up the receiver becomes a process of following the setup menus.

Good luck. get those first few cables in the right place and you will be off to the races

 

[lovinthehd]

You're asking about passive bi-amping your speakers with an avr ; don't bother, mostly a waste of wire, just leave the speakers jumpered together and maybe use this table to determine gauge for the length you need.

If you're planning on ease of connection I'd go with banana plugs but bare wire ends are actually a better connection and less fuss if you don't plan on moving stuff around a lot.

The speakers have woofers, not subwoofers....

 

[MarkTheShark]

Hello cbrasher, I'm new here as well, welcome. I would keep things simple as you set up your system. A 14 awg - two wire cable from Home Depot will probably be just fine as you learn about your system and build as you go. This cable is cheap and can be run out on the floor or overhead until you find your final speaker arrangement. Listen to your system in different stereo and AV modes for a while. Later you can research upgrading power, RCA and speaker wiring, a lot of it is BS, some maybe not, do your research before spending the $. I would wire your Cerwin Vegas' using the two wire connection, leaving the bridges in place. You can always Bi wire the speakers later just to do some experimentation. Also, don't commit too soon to cutting holes in your walls and making things permanent. You may be adding more components or upgrading, as well as moving your speakers around and setting up subs. Lay it out, listen to the system and then come up with a plan for a more permanent installation.

 

[lewb]

hello all, I am new to the home stereo field, current one is a 5.1 out of the box surround sound. I have recently purchased the following and could use some help with the setup.

Onkyo tx-nr555 receiver
(2) cerwin-vega xls-12 3-way towers

I looked in the look here first section, and it looks like I will need 14 gauge wire since the towers will be <100 feet from receiver. The connections on the back of the towers are 5-way binding posts, so do I need to run a positive and negative for the midrange & tweeter and then another positive and negative for the sub to 2 seperate locations on the back of the receiver? Also, should I use pin connectors on both sides, or another kind of connector? I did a little search before posting so I could have a general idea of what I would need to ask.....

100' from receiver? sounds like a remote cabinet. If you are in the process of building a house I would highly recommend to pre-wire for atmos, do not be afraid of in wall or in ceiling speaker. Also use conduit (you can get pvc from home depot where all the joints can be glued together) in places to up grade wire such as hdmi, optical, or more speakers such as in the ceiling. If you have an existing house then my advice is moot.