Splicing Shielded Speaker Wire

[Phil]

I just joined today, missed the disscussion about extending speaker wires last posted 4/7/04. I bought a Dell 4600 with 2 speakers and a subwoofer, want to run the wires through bookshelves but they came attatched to each other and a molded plug to the subwoofer with shielded wire. One speaker has volume control and a fatter wire than the other. Even if the wires were long enough, I'd have to make holes big enough to suck a speaker through to avoid cutting wires. Can I cut and splice the wire? Does the fatter wire have an extra lead inside? How do I know what size wire to get if I need extra? Can the wires be disconected at the speaker, and if so, how? Does the wire need to be shielded because it's attatched to a computer or is distance a factor?

Sorry to appear dumb but I'm brand new to the digital age. My last experience with electronics involved quadraphonic recievers and humongous speakers with 12" woofers. PS I had a horrible experience buying over the phone from Dell. I like the computer but as for Dell, they suck. Anyone else feel that way? Thanks in advance for any help.