Surround sound cabling

[Doodles19]

I'm currently in the process of having an extension at my house. Ultimately I would like to have surround sound in the extension with cabling in the walls.

I need to choose a cable but it seems like it is far from simple.

I am looking to get a normal AV receiver and 5.1 speaker package sort of setup. But the price of cabling varies so wildly.

I won't be spending more than £1000 on the AV / speaker package so I'm conscious that cabling doesn't have to be amazing.

Is anyone able to recommend a good value cable that would suit a 5.1 system of around the above cost?

Cheers!

[justin220]

I used the Amazon own cable for my surround sound, which all the kit was a similar budget to yours.

Ran the whole lot under the carpets and it works great.

I wish I had run double the cables as redundancy though

[Chris Hinds]

Cable on the speaker side, as long as it “thick enough” has no tangible effect on sound in my opinion (opinion is based on a decade working in Pro Audio). I say no tangible because of course people will hear what they want to hear, but speaker placement, appropriate listening angles and materials in the room will all have orders of magnitude more effect on sound. So pick something 2.5mm diameter and not too obtrusive to your eyes,. I’ve just bought KabelDirekt 2.5mm to do my new surround setup. £36 on the well known online shop for 50m

[craig1912]

Plenty here for around £1 pm.

https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/category/708/s...

Think I was recommended Van Damme Blue which is a little more expensive.

[B17NNS]

Cheap and cheerful 2.5mm oxygen free copper will be more than adequate.

[OldSkoolRS]

I used 50 metre reels of 2.5mm oxygen free cable to wire all my surround system, with some fairly low runs, feeding 4ohm speakers.

My LCR speakers had the longest runs (probably 10 metres allowing for going up and around the room) and they are over £2K each speaker (MK Sound MPS300), yet I didn't feel the need to buy anything other than basic OFC (as opposed to the type that is aluminium over copper):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0194WLXBE/ref...

I did use some Van Damme 4mm cable to do the 2 x 10 metre runs to my DIY 15" subs (again 4ohm drivers), but it was difficult to bend as it's got such a thick 'jacket' over the actual cable. In hindsight I'd have used the 4mm version of what I've linked to above.

I don't fall for the expensive cable, but as an Engineer I look for a suitable spec for the lenght/speaker impedance/power and that was all I needed.

[jas xjr]

Might be worth putting some cable in for Atmos in while you are at .

Is Atmos being used much yet,? I remember being set up for DTS many many years ago but I struggled to find any dvds with it as an option.

[B17NNS]

jas xjr said:

Might be worth putting some cable in for Atmos in while you are at .

Is Atmos being used much yet,?

Good idea. Any receiver the OP buys is likely to be 7 channel now anyway. And yes, plenty of Atmos content coming out.

[chris285]

Was going to ask similar question but luckily this thread was already going, going to get the OFC free cable off amazon for now to replaced some poor quality cables i managed to get

Hopefully will make my new Q Acoustics 3090ci and KEF Q Series pop a little more, well until i manage to complete my setup eventually that is

[Doodles19]

This is brilliant, thanks for the help.

Definitely saved me a bundle of cash.


Reading online it seemed like I'd have to spend hundreds on it! Thankfully not!

[Andeh1]

Chris Hinds said:

Cable on the speaker side, as long as it “thick enough” has no tangible effect on sound in my opinion (opinion is based on a decade working in Pro Audio). I say no tangible because of course people will hear what they want to hear, but speaker placement, appropriate listening angles and materials in the room will all have orders of magnitude more effect on sound. So pick something 2.5mm diameter and not too obtrusive to your eyes,. I’ve just bought KabelDirekt 2.5mm to do my new surround setup. £36 on the well known online shop for 50m

I fully agree!

[VEX]

jas xjr said:

Might be worth putting some cable in for Atmos in while you are at .

Is Atmos being used much yet,? I remember being set up for DTS many many years ago but I struggled to find any dvds with it as an option.

We always wire for it and yes, I can deffinately hear a difference and appreciate it.

My personal home system has a pair of angled GoldenEar Invisa7000 in the ceiling and sound epic

V.

[hornmeister]

I wouldn't worry to much about the quality of cable re sound for the rears, just make sure that you chose well made OFC cable if you're hiding it in walls etc as you don't want a breakage or oxidisation to cause problems down the line as replacing it will be a ballache.