Need Help Wiring My Basement

[Spigot]

I'm in the process of having my basement finished (yay) and I'd like to wire the rec room up for surround sound and possibly ethernet while the walls are still open. I have until about Monday or Tuesday of next week to procure some cable and would like to take advantage of the tech wizardry here on CoG to point me in the right direction.

So...

Should I wire for 7.1 or 5.1? I'm not buying Monster cables, but what kind of cables do I need?

I'm not likely going to actually use the surround system or ethernet connection in the near future but once I get a new TV and the kids get a bit older, I would like to have it set up so I am good to go.

Thanks for your help!

[Murtaug]

I will not go into the cable debate, because honestly I am not as well versed on the subject as I once was. I have read a lot of articles that pretty much quash all the "high end" cable claims. But I am sure you will get a ton of suggestions on that route.

That said, I suggest wiring for 7.1, at the very least you will be a bit future proof for any upgrades you might decide to make.

[KingGorilla]

I would suggest not sinking this kind of time into the future. You may drop coin and then move.

Laying any sort of cable in a ceiling(especially in a basement) or wall is not that big of a deal. If you have a typical finished basement, run it in the fasle ceiling on the tiles.

At this point you have no real idea where you want/need the home theater to be set up, do that first and then run the cable. You do not want to set up the jacks only to find out that you are sitting near a noisy septic pipe, or the TV is right accross from a window that the setting sun casts through.

[Jboy001]

I have a 5.1 setup that I wired with 16 gauge speaker wire from www.monoprice.com
they have good prices and a good selection (ok this sounds like an ad)
I hear good things about www.firefold.com for cables as well.

Most speakers will do fine with 14 or 16 gauge wiring, if you're going in wall get the in wall variety, othewise the clear coated non-white stuff is fine too.

edit: incase you dont know, wire gauge is the smaller the number, the thicker the wire, so 12 gauge (12AWG) is thicker than 14 is thicker than 16
the thicker the wire, the higher the current it can handle.

[Spigot]

Thanks guys.

And I'm not planning on moving any time in the near future, what with having sunk almost $20K into getting the entire basement done. If I do, having it wired up for surround will be a nice selling point.

I actually know where I want to put the TV and receiver for when the room is done... It's just that I won't be using it as my TV/gaming room until the kids are a bit older and less prone to utter destruction.

Thanks for the tips on the wiring specs. Are there any good sites where I could go to determine where the optimal place to put the speakers are? I know how to position them for 5.1 sound but I don't even know where the extra two channels are in 7.1 :)

[Jboy001]

took this from www.dts.com
just posting it quick before i head to work

http://i33.tinypic.com/fad1tf.jpg

[Spigot]

Ah, the side! Why didn't I think of that? :)

[NoName]

Second vote for Monoprice.com. Great prices and they have cables specifically rated for in-wall. (as well as the wall boxes and everything else you'd need)

I'd say wire for 7.1 like Jboy posted. Even if you want to start out at 5.1, it'll be easy for you to upgrade whenever you feel like it.

[Jboy001]

www.avsforum.com is a great resource for anything home theater related.
Just watch out, if you read the site too long you get the itch for multi thousand dollar speakers and $10k projectors :)

Many industry professionals and super enthusiasts post there regularly.
I'm a rank amateur compared to the guys at AVS but it was a great help in deciding what tv, speakers and reciever to purchase.

[AniAko]

Easy, just pick speaker wire that's rated to be in the walls in your house, wire for 7 because you can always expand. If you ever had to fish wire through walls and ceilings before you wouldn't be asking this ;)