High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv..

In article <Xns949453782BCEFmeprivacynet120.DeleteThis@130.133.1.4>, David Beamish wrote:
>
>
> Firstly I'd imagine it depends on what sort of home cinema equipment and
> cabling you have at the moment?

Assuming you have high-quality kit the cable does make a difference. The jump
from standard audio and video to something reasonable is quite a jump in
quality terms, but thereafter you will be hard-pressed to tell much of a
difference.

Personally I buy low to mid range cables as I feel you get good value from
these. IMHO an a/b comparison between mid-range and expensive cables would
cause you problems in telling any difference at all.

I find that the particular quality cables lend to your system is more
important. Take speaker cable, for example. Once I tried various cables
between my amo and speakers and was stunned by the difference in tonal
quality - one cable, for instance, made the system sound bright and thin,
another made it sound bloated and bass-heavy. I managed to find a cable that
just sounds perfect in my Arcam/Allison setup - Audioquest Type 4. I have my
speakers bi-amped using an Arcam AV50 amp and Arcam Alpha 8 power amp. Two of
the four inner cables of the Audioquest Type 4 feed the tweeter and the other
two feed the bass. I get a quality from my Allison CD7 speaker that I have
never bettered, even using equipment and cabled many times the price.

I have found that with video cables the quality difference for short runs is
less important - just go for something reasonably 'beefy'. Here I find that
VanDamme provide the best in terms of value for money - I connect my home
cinema gear to my plasma using the vandamme RGB cable - just four inner cables,
Regd, Green, Blue and composite for the sync.

--

To reply by email please replace 'news' with 'phillip' in my email
address

Phillip Deackes
 >> Stay informed about: High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv.. 

"Phil" <phv.RemoveThis@pandora.be> wrote in message
news:cqZYb.36$G57.30762047@hestia.telenet-ops.be...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm wondering if buying HQ cables for audio and video, like e.g. Monster
> Cable, is worth the investment.
> Do picture and sound improve (much) ?
> I would like to receive some comments from people who upgraded from 'normal'
> cables to the 'very expensive' cabling
> on their home-theatre.
>
> Thank in advance !!!!

I would say there is a reasonable improvement in performance with "mid priced"
cables, compared to the low cost, and free stuff that often comes with your kit.
But I would say the law of dimishing returns quickly sets in.
For example, a well specified £15-20 SCART cable is probably going to be
noticably better than the free one in the box, or the £1.99 argos job - if
nothing more than it uses decent shielding to prevent interference, and has more
durable construction.
However, the £40 and above SCART cable is unlikely to show any improvement over
the £15-20 one. And frankly the expensive ones are just peddling snake oil. Yes
they are better than the free ones, but not the mid priced ones.

Loz
 >> Stay informed about: High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv.. 

It all comes down to the 'law of diminishing returns' - dependant on how
revealing your system is of course. From experience top end cables do give
better definition - but whether this is a significant upgrade from mid
quality is debatable.

"Phil" <phv RemoveThis @pandora.be> wrote in message
news:cqZYb.36$G57.30762047@hestia.telenet-ops.be...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm wondering if buying HQ cables for audio and video, like e.g. Monster
> Cable, is worth the investment.
> Do picture and sound improve (much) ?
> I would like to receive some comments from people who upgraded from
'normal'
> cables to the 'very expensive' cabling
> on their home-theatre.
>
> Thank in advance !!!!
>
> Phil.
>
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv.. 

On 19 Feb 2004 09:17:11 GMT, Phillip Deackes <news RemoveThis @madgestevens.net>
wrote:

>In article <Xns949453782BCEFmeprivacynet120 RemoveThis @130.133.1.4>, David Beamish wrote:
>>
>>
>> Firstly I'd imagine it depends on what sort of home cinema equipment and
>> cabling you have at the moment?
>
>Assuming you have high-quality kit the cable does make a difference. The jump
>from standard audio and video to something reasonable is quite a jump in
>quality terms, but thereafter you will be hard-pressed to tell much of a
>difference.

There *may* be some benefir in using superior 'comms grade' video
cabling, but there is absolutely *no* difference whatever in audio
cabling. If you think you can prove different, there's a £1,000 prize
waiting to be picked up.

>I find that the particular quality cables lend to your system is more
>important. Take speaker cable, for example. Once I tried various cables
>between my amo and speakers and was stunned by the difference in tonal
>quality - one cable, for instance, made the system sound bright and thin,
>another made it sound bloated and bass-heavy.

Bollocks.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering
 >> Stay informed about: High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv.. 

In <lhfb30lm1hrld4h79lbh9ckmnhghkaqk4b DeleteThis @4ax.com> the right honorable
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
> On 19 Feb 2004 09:17:11 GMT, Phillip Deackes <news DeleteThis @madgestevens.net>
> wrote:
>
>>In article <Xns949453782BCEFmeprivacynet120 DeleteThis @130.133.1.4>, David
>>Beamish wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Firstly I'd imagine it depends on what sort of home cinema equipment
>>> and cabling you have at the moment?
>>
>>Assuming you have high-quality kit the cable does make a difference.
>>The jump from standard audio and video to something reasonable is
>>quite a jump in quality terms, but thereafter you will be hard-
>>pressed to tell much of a difference.
>
> There *may* be some benefir in using superior 'comms grade' video
> cabling, but there is absolutely *no* difference whatever in audio
> cabling. If you think you can prove different, there's a £1,000 prize
> waiting to be picked up.
>
>>I find that the particular quality cables lend to your system is more
>>important. Take speaker cable, for example. Once I tried various
>>cables between my amo and speakers and was stunned by the difference
>>in tonal quality - one cable, for instance, made the system sound
>>bright and thin, another made it sound bloated and bass-heavy.
>
> Bollocks.


heheh - I always used to read the mags and kind of believe the cables
argument until I had a decent system. to be honest I've never heard any
quantitive difference between the cheap red/whote phonos in the box with
the kit and the £30 or £80 interconnects I once believed were worthwhile
system upgrades. "Stunning" differences simply do not exist when using
different speaker cables - it's all snake oil.

video cables can make a difference, particularly shielded vs. unshielded -
but I'm with SP on this one - audio cables are a waste of money
--
Patrick

Your friendly neighbourhood Trendy Uncle
 >> Stay informed about: High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv.. 

see earlier postings on "good quality interconnects for DVD-A" "Phil"
<phv.TakeThisOut@pandora.be> wrote in message
news:cqZYb.36$G57.30762047@hestia.telenet-ops.be...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm wondering if buying HQ cables for audio and video, like e.g. Monster
> Cable, is worth the investment.
> Do picture and sound improve (much) ?
> I would like to receive some comments from people who upgraded from
'normal'
> cables to the 'very expensive' cabling
> on their home-theatre.
>
> Thank in advance !!!!
>
> Phil.
>
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv.. 

No
its nats whisker.
Spend ure money on good amp but cheap connectors
Thats what i reckon any way.
After trying all sorts.

"Tim" <tandr DeleteThis @mackey11.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:c1tbbt$op6$1@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
> see earlier postings on "good quality interconnects for DVD-A" "Phil"
> <phv DeleteThis @pandora.be> wrote in message
> news:cqZYb.36$G57.30762047@hestia.telenet-ops.be...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I'm wondering if buying HQ cables for audio and video, like e.g. Monster
> > Cable, is worth the investment.
> > Do picture and sound improve (much) ?
> > I would like to receive some comments from people who upgraded from
> 'normal'
> > cables to the 'very expensive' cabling
> > on their home-theatre.
> >
> > Thank in advance !!!!
> >
> > Phil.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: High quality audio- and video vables - is it worth the inv..