I understand, the entire system is going to run into those $$$'s, not just the cables. You certainly can place your cables before finishing the basement. I suggest purchasing shielded cables though so that you do not get interference from electricity. Speak with a reputable home theatre shoppe, they're know. If you select to install conduit, use PVC as it is non-metallic. If you simply place the wire, then carefully measure and keep a record so they can be located when needed. That's what I did in our basement. Are you going to have a projection TV? You'll need HDMI cables for it. Had a similar situation for our Family Room where the components are on the opposite wall from the TV. I ran a 1 1/2" PVC in the basement rafters for feeding the wires across the room. 2" would have been better. Make certain to use wide sweep corners. Hope this helps.

First, Square D makes an interlock kit for several models of their panels. When the architect is planning the dwelling, he needs to be aware of your desire for a generator backup in case of loss of utility power. By segregating lights from plugs, the refer, furnace, AC if necessary, Microwave and a plug circuit or 2 that will be available in the required locations,(Alarms,TV, computer, modems, phones/chargers) but at least one receptacle per room. With the interlock kit, it has a pair of two pole breakers for the feeds, of which it will either be fed from one or the other. IE, normal conditions it is fed from the house panel or grid, power interruption flip the interlocked breakers and you are now set for gen power to all the loads in the second panel. It is the expense of an extra panel and not automatic this way, but it allows you to use the same brand, type, style of load centers and breakers. AND IT IS NEVER OK TO LOCATE A GENERATOR INDOORS IN A RESIDENTIAL INSTALLATION THAT I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED. NEVER! IN A GARAGE. CO IS A KILLER. And keep in mind a generator is one of those things that is better off a tiny bit too big than a tiny bit too small.

I was hell bent on keeping any and all electrical outlets from interrupting my kitchen backsplash, so we wired for undercabinet outlet strips. It's all good, except they mounted the strips right up against the bottom of the cabinet. So any plug that's bigger than 'standard' can't plug in because the plug overhangs the outlet strip and hits the cabinet. So my Alexa or Google Home can't plug in my kitchen outlets. Which is where I use the dang things! I'm sure they can be moved, but I'm not sure how easily.

Brad covered this well. I had a single duplex outlet installed above all of my fireplaces, as well as 1x coax and 1x cat6 in the another duplex box. True I don't want a TV in every single room over every fireplace, but I wanted the option to. A picture or a mirror over the fireplace covers these. Something Brad posted (and most people miss) is the studs which a TV mount bolts in to. Most TV mounts are 16" wide, but you want the mount centered. If you have a telescoping arm on the mount, they almost never sit centered and are offset. This is why what Brad did is great, as it lets you put the mount wherever it needs to go without modifying anything. True they make very good toggle bolts that just grip the sheetrock, buy why not use wood studs if you can? Also, take good photos of every single one so you know what you working with once everything is done I also ran extra conduit (smurf tube, flexible pvc, etc) from each of these to my unfinished basement. IMO all of my "over the fireplace TV's" will never have any boxes connected to them, but ya never know. You can also transfer HDMI signal over cat6 if you really need to (say for security cameras, not a 4k movie...) so some people run 2x cat6 cables everywhere just to future proof. I didn't Plan an "IT rack" space somewhere in your house. Most use an unfinished basement room, the cabinets can be locked etc so that part is up to you. Yes everything is wifi today, but hardwired is always better and more reliable. Depending on the size of your house, most will do a WAP (wireless access point) system instead of a single bulky wifi router that sits on your basement IT rack or another bad spot. Planning a WAP puts your wifi router in the best possible location in your house, or you could do 2 or 3 WAPs to make sure there's no dead zones etc. Anyway, these need cat6 ran (from your rack) to their location (and sometimes 110v outlet so plan hardware now). Same with security cameras. If you want them or to wire for them, that all needs to feed to your IT box Put your IT box on its own circuit. It might not pull a ton of power on it's own, but you don't want a vacuum cleaner tripping a breaker on accident and killing your data signal for the entire house.