What cables to put in before the plasterer comes?

[admin_exported]

I've ordered an Onk606 and some Jamo's, and am about to order a BD55. At the weekend I'll probably order a Pana TH46PZ81 (changed my mind about the Sony 46w4500 - again). So with that in mind i.e. HD Freesat and Freeview already within the set, the only HDMI feed in, will be coming from the Blu-ray to the Onk to the TV, so what other cables do I put in in preperation to get the best sound out from the Pana into the Onk?

 

[Andrew Everard]

There's an optical digital output from the internal tuners on the Panasonic, so you might want to run an optical cable back from the TV to the Onkyo so you can feed TV sound through the system.

Not sure how long a run you're going to need, but Maplin does them up to 5m or so, which will cost you £50, and various other retailers such as TVCables do them for less, and in longer lengths if required.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, I'll offer some advice as best I can. I didn't do the install and got the retailer to do it for me (about 2 weeks ago) but from memory it was the following. Installed a 52 " Pioneer LX-508 on wall bracket, Jamo A102HCS5 (cracking piece of kit for the money), Sky HD+, Televes Magic Eye and all rigged up to a Onkyo SR606. I am waiting for the release of the Panasonic DMP-BD55 so no Blu-ray yet.

ALL of the kit / units are in the next room on the other side of the wall in a cupboard. So all you can see is the screen and the speakers in the living room. To achieve this I've hacked the walls back and plastered and redecorated over all the cables.

For the Jamo's I've used QED Micro Bi-Wire. I was going to use QED Silver Anniversary, but as the speakers were only £190, and I needed about 35 metres in total for the install so decided the QED Micro was a lot cheaper and more suitable for the Jamo's. Plus the cable is not a thick meaning a less invasive chase into the walls.

For the connection for the Pioneer to the Onkyo I bought a 5m QED Performance 1.3a (which was just long enough). Also like Andy said have ran a optical cable from TV to Amp. Pioneer didn't come with speakers but as running it from the Jamo's there isn't a sound issue.

Oh, don't forget the cable for the sub-woofer to amp as well.

Hope this helps !

 

[Anonymous]

If I were you I'd get as big a length of trunking you can find... or 2 come to think of it and chop out the wall to allow trem to sit under the plaster. This will allow you to feed cable up to the tv anytime you want. Try and get some that allow a scart up there if you aren't having HD cable or Sky.

The second trunk is for the power supply which you may want to keep seperate from the other feeds.

Have you thought about doing the same for (potential) speakers for a surround syatem ?

 

[Anonymous]

If you put in some trunking, run a piece of string in it too. That way if you forget to put in a cable you tie your new cable to the string and pull it through... Voila.

When you pull your new cable through with the string, tie a new piece of string to the end as well so you always have string to add in more cables...

 

[Anonymous]

Brilliant info, cheers guys.

>Have you thought about doing the same for (potential) speakers for a surround syatem ?

No not yet. I'm going to place them on internal walls so I'm hoping I can do it myself, by somehow making 2 holes top and bottom, feeding it through with some wire coathanger contraption, then a bit of pollyfiller and quick sand down over the holes.

ps

How do the 606 and the Jamo's sound together?

 

[Anonymous]

To be honest I'm not an expert and am not hypercritial of systems. Basically I want a movie to look good and sound great. I was considering the Q Acoustic 1010i system but needed to save a bit of cash, therefore opted for the Jamo's. To be honest to my ears it couldn't sound any better (but I didn't have anything to compare it to). There is a debate about speakers 'fizzing' but heard none of this. I haven't pushed the speakers to their full limit yet but couldn't do it anyway as I have neighbours to consider, they do pack some punch. They are small and discret and look great. What more could you want. Installation seemed easy as well. If I'd have known how easy it was I'd have attempted it myself.

I do know they aren't as good with music playback as 'other' systems and think that's a fault with both the speaker package (they are only small after all) and the Amp, but I've only listened to the likes of MTV etc of SKY HD and that sounds great too, again even if pushed.

Some more seasoned AV'ers may have other opinions but to a first timer like me I am VERY happy with the results.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

You might want to think about adding in some spare cables like an extra hdmi if the cables are going to be buried in the wall by plaster. Last thing you need is to have to rip a big hole in the wall if you ever needed some more connections for future gear.