I'm about to purchase a Home Theater in a box system. I've seen in a number of places, recommendations to upgrade the wiring package to improve sound quality. Can anyone give me advice on what sort of (financially reasonable) upgrades I should make at the time of purchase?
How are you wiring? Under carpet? Through walls? If you can deal with it use PLAIN OLD HOME DEPOT LAMP WIRE (or similar) at 16 gauge in less than 40 feet and 12 gauge thereafter. Do yourself a favor and before you start asking which speaker wire is best trust me as someone who has done at least 20 hours of research on this topic...THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS GAUGE. Plain old copper lamp cord works just as well as anything else. Speaker wire manufacturers get away with making claims because they are reporting gains in performance based on what sensitive electronic equipment can detect instead of the human ear. The equivalent of saying you should buy super dark sunglasses to protect yourself from the light of distant stars. You will NEVER know the difference. Now quick RUN before the audiophiles start stamping their feet.
I agree with Steve S. How much are you planning to spend? I have heard some Home Theater in a Box packages at friends' houses and I'm glad I spent the extra couple hundred. My setup is about $1000 for everything and I could have gone 2-300 less and achieved similar results. Save up and do it right! I did LOTS of shopping around and the Pioneer VSX1014 exclusively from bestbuy is a THX Pioneer elite (usually at least $1000 on its own) that can be had for under $500. Your TV speakers are probably better than what you are going to get in a HTIB.
lamp wire is fine for a larger gauge copper for cheap but it is not shielded and if ran too close to 110 or 220 it may pick up a buzzing sound. The sound quality may be close but with rca or other connections besides speakers, I suggest not sticking with the htib stock ones. As far as buying htib there are some good speaker packages out there by onkyo and polk but usually when the dvd and receiver are in the same unit they are not the best for the money. Most important is that you take our suggestions as just that and use your own ears and eyes for the final purchase, one mans blur is anothers hi def.