Preparing a room for first system

[anonymous-user]

I am just finishing off renovations to my home, carpets will soon be fitted but because I have spent what cash I had on the house, my first system will need to wait just a little longer.

However, it would seem wise to run any cables I can before hand. Can I just buy some good qualtiy speaker cable in the meantime? Do I need to keep all cables the same length regardless of where
they are going?

Is it likely that my speakers will need to be powered? If so should I look at power cables too?

My likely spend on a TV, DVD/BluRay and sounds would be £2,000 to £2,500 all in.

Apologies for the questions but I am new to this.

Thanks in advance

[cjs]

No, speaker cables do not need to be the same length. I always use standard mains flex for speakers, 1.5mm. Cheap, easy to install and easily man enough for a surround system.

Wire for 7.1, even if you do not use all channels.

I doubt you will ever use powered speakers except for a sub, so run a power socket for the sub as well as a signal cable and a speaker cable in-case it is passive.