Purchased Speakers/Receiver... Now What?

[franklyfresh]

I'm building my first home theater and I just finished buying all the starting components. I have a Polk CS2 center speaker, two Polk Monitor70 front speakers, and a Yamaha RX-v567 receiver.

I have no wiring to connect the rig together, and frankly a bit confused as to what kind of wire I should be purchasing. Also, I'm looking to connect my receiver to my desktop computer so I can use my speaker system as my primary desktop speakers also. What should I buy for that connection?

 

[sholling]

Monoprice.com is your friend. There you will find discounted HDMI cables to connect the receiver to a flat screen TV, good quality yet inexpensive 14ga speaker cable, discounted subwoofer cables, and cheap tosslink cables to connect the optical out (if you have one) on your sound card to the optical input on your receiver. If you don't have a flat screen with HDMI then you'll just get whatever your TV uses.

Here's some light reading for you. Read it through then start with the basics and go from there.
http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/calibrate-your-system/home-theater-set-up-basics-101

 

[zumbo]

I have used Monoprice, and I recommend them as well.

If you want to spend a little more, I do prefer Bluejeanscable. Fantastic cable, fantastic shipping, fantastic service. Well worth the extra price $ IMO.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

 

[bhuskins]

for down and dirty and cheap...monoprice is your friend...they'll get the job done and they're as cheap as it gets

 

[franklyfresh]

Sorry, I read the links provided but I'm still a bit confused as what wires I will need to buy.

These are the connections that I will need to make with my receiver:
-PC
-Front speakers
-Center speaker
-TV

I have a bunch of HDMI cables already so I'm set with that.

 

[its phillip]

Sorry, I read the links provided but I'm still a bit confused as what wires I will need to buy.

These are the connections that I will need to make with my receiver:
-PC
-Front speakers
-Center speaker
-TV

I have a bunch of HDMI cables already so I'm set with that.

From the PC to the receiver, use hdmi or optical:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229

From the speakers to the receiver use speaker cable:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239#1023902

 

[franklyfresh]

What determines if I need banana plugs or other forms of wire termination?

 

[its phillip]

Banana plugs aren't required, they just make it easier when connecting/disconnecting things.

 

[Nestor]

What kind of outputs do you have from your computer?

 

[franklyfresh]

I looked up my motherboard (Gigabyte X58A UD3R) and I'm pretty sure I have optical out.

So 3 sets of speaker wire, and one optical cable, and I'm good to go for a center speaker, two fronts, and a desktop?

 

[sholling]

I looked up my motherboard (Gigabyte X58A UD3R) and I'm pretty sure I have optical out.

So 3 sets of speaker wire, and one optical cable, and I'm good to go for a center speaker, two fronts, and a desktop?

One roll of 14ga speaker wire that you cut for yourself and one tosslink optical cable. The ones without the fancy metal connector. They're only a couple of dollars from monoprice so it's not a bad idea to keep a spare just because optical cables can be ruined if you kink it.

 

[franklyfresh]

Great, sounds like I'm almost set.

Do the quality of the speaker cables matter significantly? I don't mind spending a little extra to get better cables.

If more expensive wire is not necessary then should this be a-okay?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023902&p_id=2791&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022901&p_id=2668&seq=1&format=2

Also, anything else I should add to my cart while I'm at it that I might need in the future?

 

[its phillip]

I always like to have spare hdmi/optical/usb/rca cables.

 

[sholling]

Great, sounds like I'm almost set.

Do the quality of the speaker cables matter significantly? I don't mind spending a little extra to get better cables.

If more expensive wire is not necessary then should this be a-okay?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023902&p_id=2791&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022901&p_id=2668&seq=1&format=2

Also, anything else I should add to my cart while I'm at it that I might need in the future?

Copper is copper - that wire is fine. As for spares I'm with Phillip, I like to keep spare HDMI cables, spare optical cables, and spare USB cables and tend to pick up spares whenever I place monoprice order. The first time that you have to run to radio shack or even walmart for a decent quality HDMI cable or a good subwoofer cable you'll faint at the prices.