Nice layout drawing Ross. Don’t worry now about what speakers and TV to buy. Put in enough wires now so you have many options in the future. I personally don't like the sound from in-wall speakers I have heard. I prefer speakers that are not flat against a wall. Others may disagree, so listen for yourself.
Your idea for an equipment cabinet looks good, but make sure you have room to replace your hot water heater.
To show possible locations of speakers, I drew in a floor plan with a TV screen (I drew it as a large plasma set
) located along the 11' wall. I did not draw in a subwoofer because you may want to move it around some to find a good sounding location. An alternative is to put the TV along the opposite wall, but saving that area for a wet bar with ready access to water supply pipes from the bathroom is a good idea.
Along the same wall with the TV screen will be the 3 front speakers. I drew the center front speaker in front of the TV screen, but it really goes under or over the screen. In multi-channel movies, those 3 speakers are the most important for sound content. You should choose them carefully. Make sure that they match each other in sound quality (get the same make and model line for all 3). This helps create a seamless sound field across the front. If you plan to use a cathode ray tube TV you need shielded speakers for the center front channel, and any other speaker within 1.5' of the TV tube. If you use a projector or a plasma or LCD flat panel set you don’t need to worry about shielded speakers.
The rear channel speakers (drawn on either side of the sofa) are next in importance. They can be small speakers not capable of bass signals below 90 Hz. This is fine for HT, and makes installing them easier. You may want to add 1 (in the center) or 2 (as drawn) more speakers along the rear wall for the 6th channel. In my opinion it/they are the least important speakers. Spend your money accordingly.
For wires, there are two basic types: 2-conductor zip cord to connect speakers to a receiver and shielded coaxial for audio or video signals such as between a DVD player a receiver and TV. Speaker wire may be used bare ended or with terminals like banana plugs or forked spades. Coaxial cable is used with several different types of terminals depending on use. For video signals (and digital audio) the cable must have 75 ohm impedance; for analog audio impedance doesn’t matter. You can use the same coaxial cable for all these uses, only the terminals differ. You can buy bulk RG-6 cable and terminate them yourself. Be sure that they are UL approved with a CL-3 rating to meet code requirements if they will be behind walls.
TV signal from an antenna or cable providor uses F connectors
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=090-331. Audio and video signals typically use RCA terminals
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-1265.
For bulk wire, wall plates and numerous other items for installing HT, you may want the Parts Express catalog
http://apps.pesupport.com/catalog/catalog.cfm. They have a good online shopping site, but I find the catalog shows many items that I didn’t know existed. For example they have a great selection of wall plates at good prices
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=251. I used their Decora wall plate inserts and covers for my own home. You can buy terminals that accept RCA plugs, F connectors, or speaker wire for these wall plates and use them for any connection.
For speaker wires that are behind drywall, such as these
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=3&ObjectGroup_ID=376&manufacturer=0&sm=1&so=2&filter=14 ga 2 cond hq. Speaker wire that is not behind the wall can be of any type such as these
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?DID=7&WebPage_ID=3&Start=1&searchorderby=3&Manufacturer=195&CATID=56&ObjectGroup_ID=374&sm=1&so=2. 14 or 12 gauge should be plenty thick enough.
As you can imagine, there are unlimited possibilities here. You should familiarize yourself with the rear panels of HT receivers, TV sets, DVD players, etc. that you might buy. Know what wiring possibilites there are. I would use in-wall wire with wall plates for all the rear and surround channel speakers, but not for the front 3 speakers. I would install wall plates in the ceiling (where you might want to hang a video projector) and along the wall (where you might place a large TV set). Don’t forget the AC power at the same place! These 3 RCA jacks (color-coded red, green, and blue
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-1211 ) are for the so called component video connections. You can buy terminals for these wall plates with the appropriately colored jack on the outside and the threaded F type on the inside so you can use inexpensive RG-6 antenna cable for all the in-wall coaxial cable.
