Hey, Ive been reading through the messages left about cables, and Ive noticed that there is a mixed view on them...
I know you can pay nearly any price that you could dream of...but when it comes down to it, does the cable really make that bigger difference?
I my self havnt upgraded my standard cables that came with the equiptment...as they do the job, but have always intended on buying some new ones...
I have had a little look around n some stores and magazines, and well, the list of brands is exhausting!
They all claim to be the best for this or that, and you get more than your moneys worth with them, but who do you beleive, I mean, arent they all the same stuff, with different names on them?
Then to top it off, the salespeople are just as confused as me, I asked them some questions, and they just read out answers off paper, they had no clue!!!
Anyway, so I decided to ask you smart people, who know whats going on in the cable world...who have experienced some of them.
So, if you have any information that could help me, or just have something else to say about these cables, please do, as im way over my head right about now!!!
Also, if they really are worth the money, leave some brands if you can, thanks...
k, ciao.

For video cables and coax for sat/cable TV/antennas, yes, there is obvious difference to all sighted, unbiased people. At a certain price point the difference may not be visible to some, or may simply not be worth the price. Note that ALL video cables should be coax.

Monster Cable is overpriced. Some good choices are...
bettercables.com
rhinocables.com
kustomkables.com
wickedcables.com
catcables.com
avcable.com
do-it-yourself


Audio cable is a different story. It's a tough call here, but you can get 12 AWG speaker cable very cheap and please both sides of the arguments. Or make your own with CAT5 cable even cheaper. (8 wire CAT5=15 AWG) For interconnects, stranded versions of the above video cables would be good. Coax is not necessary, however. You need to shop carefully.

Cat 5 cable for speaker wire? What have you been smoking....I bet the loop resistance is terrible, you'd lose more power in the cable run that gets to your speakers.

Yeah, but he'd have the warmest theater room in town! : - D

Larry

Ok. It is not that crazy the idea of DIY speaker CAT5 cable. BTW there is a strong movement of people reinforcing this idea. Here you got a couple of links :

[Link: geocities.com]

and

[Link: tnt-audio.com]

are just samples. BTW I'm using the TNT Triple T for my Center channel and it is much better than Monster Cable. If you want more information, you can go to the Video Asylum forum ( [Link: videoasylum.com] ) and go to the Tweaks/DIY section. From the list Spiky gave, I'm using RhinoCables subwoofer cable and it is excellent. They are from Canada but they can mail by USPS with a fixed shipping rate of $8.

I have a degree in electrical engineering and have worked in the computer field for 16 years and the a/v business for 5. I have yet to see a formula that shows that one cable has any significant advantage over another one at frequencies below 20khz and certainly not at frequencies below 100hz (ie bass cables). All the effects manufacurers such as Monster mention (skin effect, distributed inductance and capacitance) are true, but only for signals of much higher frequency such as computer data and video. Resistance difference in different guage wire (14awg to 22 awg) are on the order of tenths of ohms. Lower gauge wire for audio will make your system slightly more efficient, but will not effect sound quality. If you are using thinner wire you will simply need to turn your amp up a tad higher and it will sound the same. You will not set your wire on fire or heat the room appreciably. There are people who claim to be able to pick out high end cables in a blind test, so it may be possible for the manufacturers to make the signal different, but not necessarily better. The main advantage of higher priced patch cords to me is that the connections tend to tighter and less likely to fall off if you move equipment around.

well, thank for your input, I am a little more confused about them now that Thon has enlightened us on his views...but, I feel I will at least upgrade my subwoofer cables. haha
If it ends up making no significant change, well, at least I can say Ive got some nice "snazy" a/v cables!
I havent chosen what brand I will go for, or even have a good look at yet, so please dont stop leaving posts here...thanks
ciao, decisions decisions :S

Thon,

THANK YOU!!! I have never understood how the cable companies can quote so many reasons why their wires are "better" on the one hand, and only self-professed "Golden Ears" can actually hear a difference on the other. (No offense is intended to those who can hear a difference, my point is only that the majority of the posters to this type of thread believe we cannot).

Cruel, I'm getting ready to standardize my cables as well (see my thread at [Link: remotecentral.com] ). Based on the advice of the great folks here (esp. thanks to Matt and Spiky), I've decided to save a bundle of money AND get better quality compared to what I originally planned to spend on Monster Cable.

-Bruce