New to the game, looking for help on this system

Do not get sucked into the psycho-acoustic phenomenon inherent in being a 'connoisseur of coloration'. The only significant issue in electronic playback of recored events is 'distortion'.

Find transparent speakers suitable to the environment they will operate in, power them with as low distortion amp you find (they can range in price from $200 to $8k, and more) and work on the setup/room acoustic problems.

Then as you change components, cables, and tweaks, you seet it is all nonsense.

Thanks for helping out on this one, Spencer.

Holy cow, he's stumped Rush! That's a first. We should all be struggling with our analog like my friend, Rushton!

Ghorton, go with Coax over Toslink every time. Toslink isn't on all gear, so it might limit your options if you ever upgrade. Coax cables can be digital(1 cable) or analog(sold in pairs--i.e. traditional audio interconnects). Make sure that you discuss with the seller what you are hooking up, just to be safe.
One followup on Kimberkable; some of their products are unshielded and meant strictly for audio use. Be careful not to put unshielded cables near TV. Any cable they label for home theatre/video use should be fine. Nice stuff.
Another brand that provides excellent value, especially at the lower price points is www.signalcable.com. They sell direct only. Have fun,
Spencer

"Coax or toslink" - that is outside of my experience to offer an opinion, sorry. (I'm just a struggling analog person.) Try a search of the archives to see what others may have said on this topic. Or, talk with the folks at The Cable Company.

Thanks much for the info Rushton, I'll be checking the sites. One more specific question I forgot to ask-coax or toslink?

Ghorton, two good brands for many application are "Kimber Kable" and "Straight Wire." They both sell various series of cables at several different price points and have been a reliable choice over quite a few years. They should have some cable at a price point that would meet your needs.
http://www.kimber.com
http://www.straightwire.com

Another good option at a moderate price is "Discovery Cable." I don't know the pricing on the Discovery Cable, it may start at a higher level than you're interested in for now.
http://www.discoverycable.com

There are certainly other options, but these are two to explore. It you are not familiar with The Cable Company (an online retailer devoted to cables from a broad range of manufacturers), you might take a look at their offerings. They will actually loan you cable to try out in your system: give them a downpayment that will be applied to your ultimate pruchase, they'll send you several different cables that you select to try in your system, and then you keep what works best for your system and send back the rest.
http://www.fatwyre.com

Good luck on your search.
.