I you go with something in-wall or fairly straight-forward (priced under $2k for the whole surround set) you should be fine with 16 or 14 gauge copper wire.

If you go for something a bit more up market, get back to us once you've decided on them. Best advice is for you to listen to as many as you can and to avoid the big box stores if you are looking at spending more than $2k.

Best bang for the buck right now under $2k? There's a lot to choose from, but you could do a lot worse than going with Monitor Audio's Radius speakers. compact, sound great for the size (dynamic and detailed), come in many different finishes and also do a good job with music (not easy to find with surround packages) should that interest you.

Sig' begineth here: