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And if you have any left over...you can use the cat5 to make some nifty DIY speaker cables.

Interestingly, and coincidentally, Cat5-e RJ45 cables make damn fine speaker wires.

Actually, there are people who use cat5 for speaker wire. I've never tried it myself. Looks like a lot of work.

Excuse me for getting a mop...the sarcasm was dripping a bit from you post.

:-)

Actually...I think different wires do make a difference...but, not necessarily something expensive. I'd been reading about the virtues of using Cat-5 cabling. Some were pretty extravegant like THIS ....the using of the teflon coated wires being best do to I think 'dielectric' properites of it. Anyway, I had some lying around, but, rather than going to all that trouble of separating and brading it all, I just opened up each end of the cable, stripped the ends off each little wire, and twisted all the stripes together, and all the solids together, and used that as my speaker cable.

I'd had some generic, decent gauge wire I'd been using, and wired one channel with each type wire...and had a friend come in. He immediately could tell which speaker sounded better...clearer..etc. Turns out it was the Cat5 cable. I've gone with that ever since.

But, like with speakers....it is personal taste I say. If you liked brand A speakers much better than brand B...go for brand A. It is really nice if A happens to cost less than B.

But, in some things....you DO get what you pay for. I think in all things, especially good audio, it does make for good advice to research as much as possible, but, in the end...it is your ears that do the decision making. If on occasion your ears are bigger than your wallet....save up a bit and get it later.

I mean...you wouldn't spec out a computer without a bit of research would you?

If you're going to build speakers, might as well build your own DIY cat5 speaker cables...

http://www.venhaus1.com/diycatfivecables.html

http://www.venhaus1.com/diycatfivecables.html

Cables are a *very* contentious topic for audiophiles. Some will pontificate endlessly about how brand X of cable made out of precious metal Y has done wonders for their system. Still others claim that expensive boutique cables are not perceptibly better than rat shack cables of sufficient gauge. Needless to say, there are some very entertaining threads on the topic when people of these two opposing schools meet.

Personally, I fall into the latter school with one important caveat. Namely, I am a firm believer in the psychoacoustic properties of cables. If you believe a set of cables should make your system sound better, they will. The converse is also unfortunately true.

For example, say your audiophile friend comes over to your house and you sit down to listen to some music. He finds the system not up to his own standards and, when he sees your rat shack cables, tells you to upgrade. Assume that you are swayed enough by his advice to actually lay down the cash for an expensive set of cables. You take them home, rip out your rat shack cables and lovingly install the new ones. If your old cables were not even thick enough to provide suffiently low resistance then you may actually hear a very real difference. However, even if your old cables were perfectly adequate you are still *going* to hear a difference. It may or may not be entirely in your head, but you will hear it and swear by it to anyone who asks. Your friend will probably notice a marked improvement in your system the moment you point out the new cables too.

Am I telling you to brainwash yourself into believing in expensive cables? Hell no. However, if there is a shadow of a doubt in your mind over that rat shack cable then you may actually be unsatisfied by the sound! If you really want to believe, try building a set of DIY cables. Many "believers" claim such cables meet or exceed the performance of all but the most horrendously expensive boutique cables. If your audiophile friend notices the new cables, tell him they cost were imported from switzerland and cost $1000/foot. You may find he comes over to listen to your system a lot more after that. :P

Having that off my chest, I would also advise you that there is a difference between speaker wire which is meant to carry a strong amplified signal between an amp or receiver and your speakers, and interconnects which are meant to carry unamplified signals, for example, from your computer to your receiver. As a general rule of thumb, it is better to have longer speaker cables and short inteconnects than the converse. This is because a low power signal is more succeptable than an amplified signal is to the effects of resistance and interferance over a long run of even the finest cable. Were I you, I would be more concerned with having such a long interconnect than the quality of wire you are using. If you are really concerned with the quality of sound when it reaches your receiver, build a HTPC specifically for the purpose and put it right next to your receiver. Personally, I'll take a few inches of rat shack inteconnects over 50' of exotic boutique silver interconnects any day!