I am in the planning stage for a remodel of a 16' by 19' room, vaulted on one side to 15' with a hardwood floor. I am using a Yamaha RXV 765 receiver feeding Polk Audio RC85i speakers in a 5.1 surround which can be expanded to a 6.1 in the future. Questions: electrical experience tells me to use 14 ga wire or larger, could resistance become a problem with a thicker wire due to the distances (over 50' to the back speakers) I have to run? What is a good wire that will not kill the budget? Insulation can kill sound, is there a better type to use over normal fiberglass? Should a plenum area be left for sound to resonate? Recent comments have suggested favorable reuse of my "Acoustimas" bass module. If, for some reason this doesn't work how can I plan for a "in floor" sub? If the sub is floor mounted what type of "radiator" works best, a wood grate (heater variety) built into the hardwood floor or?
William: 14 gauge wire is a good size and 50 ft is no problem. The thicker the better but using thicker wire can be a problem fitting to your receiver or speakers, especially those RC85i's cheap push in clips, use banana plugs on the receiver end. Vince likes Audio Quest but I will let him give you that info. Inwall speakers that are not contained can actually make the wall vibrate doing more bad than good. I am against reusing your "Acoustimas" bass module, in opinion that is the worst sub on the market. In floor sub, I will leave to some else I'm against that also, to be done right is very expensive. A regular powered sub like a Definitive Technology Super cube III $699 is only 10X10X10 and is quite powerful. I'm sure the other members here will have some good ideas for you.
Yes gotta agree with Casey Again Here and the Bose sub Please scrap the Bose sub And get a Decent reciever And mininum Paradigm Sub Pdr 8 or 10 or any axiom sub Audioquest wire is fantastic