Does anybody recommend a specific speaker wire and gauge? At the moment I have seen speaker wire as large as 8 gauge but that seems a bit extreme and some of the 12 gauge wire has a strand count as high as 294. What works best?

There's not a real good reason to go past 12ga, and even that may be more than you really need (particularly for shorter runs). I can't recall right now if my surrounds are run with 14ga or 16ga. If you are looking for a source online, I just ordered some short pieces from Blue Jeans Cables with bananas already on them (found that one of the runs from amp to wall plate for my surrounds had a loose connection on it and decided to replace it with something nicer). They also sell unterminated wire, as does MonoPrice.

If you are going to spend big $$$ on a HT system, protecting it from Ben Franklins kite effect and ConEds equipment failures should be a concern. I have APC H-15 power conditioners and they have excellent protective circuitry. I don't subscribe to the notion that a power conditioner makes your TV or sound system more better, but it does seem to ensure that the power going to my equipment is constant. I have had the same bulb in my DLP for the last 4 years of heavy use. The conditioner also gives me a pretty good way to eliminate pesky ground loop problems I hear about all the time.

As far a speaker wire goes, go down to Home Depot or Lowes and get some 12 or 14 gauge lamp cord in whatever length you need and tie it into you system using bare wire connections. Make sure none of the little strands touch any of the other terminals or the cabinet. 12 gauge lamp cord will handle much more power than you are ever going to put to your speakers, unless you amplifiers doubles as an arc welder. At $.30 per foot you can afford the $20 risk before you take the plunge into speaker wire which costs more than a car loan.

Has anybody ever used KnuKonceptz speaker wire?

Never even heard of them, I'm afraid.

Baseball Nut,
Don't waste your money on overpriced speaker wire. The more and more you research speaker wire, the more likely you are to get confused and paranoid. I say paranoid because it is really easy to worry about whether or not you are getting the best possible sound out of your system. Since the beginning of audio revolution, audiophiles have argued the benefits of one speaker wire over another. Go to monoprice.com and buy some 14ga or 12ga speaker wire. For most applications, 14ga. is more than enough. I ran 12 ga in my HT just because it was so cheap.
Here is the link to the speaker wire: http://www.monoprice.com/products/produc...&seq=1&format=2

Anyone else selling this speaker wire would charge 3-4 times as much. Also, another area in HT where a lot of snake oil is pushed is HDMI cables. I recently have been doing a test with $6 , 10', 28AWG HDMI cables that I purchased from tartancable.com (which is actually blue jeans cable). I have been running my $6 HDMI cables for over 6 months now with no problem. I actually have one running to my 55" Fujitsu panel. That panel sold for $15,000 when it was first released. It is the most amazing panel I have ever seen. The $6 HDMI cables are servicing it great. I can't tell one bit of difference when I switch back to $100 or $200 HDMI cables from Monster. Monster Cable is the biggest rip off in the Audio/Video arena. I have a lot of their product but I will never purchase another product from them again. EVER! Sorry for the rant but the whole speaker wire and HDMI debates get me fired up. Save money where you can if its justified, you worked hard for it. Thats just my two cents....

Baseball Nut,
I use KnuKonceptz products in most of my HTs. I believe they offer a great product for the price. I am now using their eKs line in two systems. I did have one RCA interconnect end go bad and they replaced it immediately for free. Their Karma and Kasa speaker wires are very nice and attractive but can get expensive for long runs. The silver plating on the Kasa may be appreciated by some but is hardly necessary. The Karma's twisted arrangement mimics another high end wire company's design at a fraction of the cost. An inexpensive 12ga wire I have used and prefer, because it is very flexible and comes in a large spool, is made by Dayton Audio and sold by Parts Express - http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=374. 12ga is most useful for those long rear speaker runs and buying a large spool allows for custom cut lenghts. I highly recommend using a component sized power conditioner. The APC H15 is a great product and can be had for under 100 shipped when on sale. I have both the older H10 (too many LEDs!) and the newer H15. I too credit mine for extending the life of my rear projector bulb.