I like wires, they are *simple, cheap and if a little care is taken on set up by solidly attaching good quality terminations, very reliable. My favorite terminations rather than bare copper strands are a type of dual banana jack that fit into the back of my amp and plug into the back of the speakers. Only better equipment have these kind of jacks but you can make a couple of pairs of adapters. The advantage is quick connections for trouble shooting or moving speakers/receiver/ amps. Good terminations also avoid bare wire strands from unraveling and shorting out. At least crimp on some terminations with anoxidation proof coating, like gold. Gold/ soldered gold terminations seem to work better for speaker terminations used outdoors or in damp places otherwise the copper or "tinned" (soldered) wire surfaces oxidize quickly and make for bad connections. I put smaller speakers outdoors in nice weather and will usually bring them in at night, but a garbage bag over the entire speaker then twist tied keep out rain and allow sound to come through clearly. The speakers that are weather proof seem to be very small and don't sound very good or the larger ones that can handle some volume and extended frequency range cost seem overly priced but are a good choice for some situations.
* (Usual disclaimers apply: Leave work to a qualified, licensed professional, including state Licensed termite inspectors. Observe local building codes for acceptable installation for under floor/in wall codes and proper wire covering ratings types. )
Simple is not always easy, like having to crawl in the basement stringing a pair of speaker wires from computer room to front room/bedroom speakers etc. Once set up the connection is very reliable. Besides it's a good idea to check the crawl space or basement for signs of termite/beetle activity, plumbing leaks, drainage issues etc. In fact I just helped a friend prepare a home for "Vicane" gas tenting for beetles, this week, which is very expensive, once an infestation goes undiscovered for some years.
So, it's good idea to be down there for an inspection anyway. In fact finding and treating a termite/beetle problem early, can save several thousand dollars (US) or more on costly repairs and/or whole house tenting later. So stringing up speaker wire, while doing a inspection, can save you thousands of dollars
You can't save thousand of dollars while hooking up airtunes, now can you? ;-)
When drilling a hole in the floor to pass the wire it's best to have someone above and below and start with a very small diameter drill bit first if your not able to measure where a hole will come through in the basement!
Just don't drill into electrical wires, alarm wires, plumbing or especially gas pipes:-0 It's difficult to hit something, but the awareness that there are other things inside walls and under floors is
I have speakers in several rooms and the garage so there's great quality itunes music and the perfect play list available everywhere. I used an old preamp and multichannel amp near my Mac. A remote would be nice If I had a preamp/receiver with a remote, a remote extender kit of some kind would be nice, if only for changing the volume, but not a deal breaker.
Just remember, if to use a special circuit or external switch box designed to keep the resistance (ohms) up, if hooking two or more sets of speakers. Especially with 4 ohm speakers or 2 sets of speakers that will be playing at high volumes. Multiple speaker pairs on a single speaker output can reduce the resistance the amp "sees", so much more current is pulled than designed for, which can lead to dangerous overheating and failure.
