Buy the cheap cables ...

Gadgetry's Golden Rule | Popular Science
""Buy the cheap cables": Remember these words and thou shalt never be ripped off"
http://www.popsci.com/gear-gadgets/article/2008-03/gadgetrys-golden-rule

Very true. The best place to get cables, imo, is monoprice.com. I have quite a few and they are very high quality for very cheap (compared to brand names). Many of the AV forums recommend them as well.

LEDdicted said:

Very true. The best place to get cables, imo, is monoprice.com. I have quite a few and they are very high quality for very cheap (compared to brand names). Many of the AV forums recommend them as well.

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Thanks for the heads-up on monoprice!

Anybody know what frequency is being piped through cables used for digital interconnects? (e.g. HDMI)

AFAIK at the signal levels used by home theater, the only difference between cables is the frequency. Cables with less shielding will attenuate higher frequency signals, but I don't know if the loss is enough to make a difference in the function.

Two other good places for cheap cables:

pchcables.com
bluejeanscables.com

When I think how much I spent on cables before monoprice it makes me ill.

scott.cr said:

Anybody know what frequency is being piped through cables used for digital interconnects? (e.g. HDMI)

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1.65 Ghz max

+1 for monoprice. I completely rewired my home theater for about $35...which still isn't close to the price for one hdmi cable at BestBuy. Don't buy into the Monster Cable hype!

+1 for bluejeanscables. High quality at a decent price.

Another place to buy quality cables at reasonable prices is heartlandcables.com.

*Looks at the bulk roll of quad-shield RG6 and at the cable crimper with F, BNC and RCA connectors*

What do you mean buy cables? :shrug:

cmeisenzahl said:

Gadgetry's Golden Rule | Popular Science
""Buy the cheap cables": Remember these words and thou shalt never be ripped off"
http://www.popsci.com/gear-gadgets/article/2008-03/gadgetrys-golden-rule

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Those Anjou cables linked from the article are incredible. Imagine the fidelity! And only $7,250 for a 12 foot pair.

Purchasing a more expensive cable in some applications can be more of an upgrade than purchasing a more expensive flashlight depending upon how one uses them. I'm sure there will 20 geniuses that will come along, and tell me how crazy I am, but my only response to them will be that it must be a pain to go through life being wrong.:kiss:

Bought several cables from monoprice with nary a problem. Will do so again soon enough.

CRESCENDOPOWER said:

Purchasing a more expensive cable in some applications can be more of an upgrade than purchasing a more expensive flashlight depending upon how one uses them. I'm sure there will 20 geniuses that will come along, and tell me how crazy I am, but my only response to them will be that it must be a pain to go through life being wrong.:kiss:

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Please enlighten us on what "some applications" are.

Often analog interconnects can benefit from higher quality materials and workmanship. For both analog and digital interconnects where there are negative environmental factors, higher quality cables can help minimize negative effects.

For everyday digital interconnects (eg. HDMI) you're only transmitting 1s and 0s so they either work or don't. I think there probably is a minimum level of quality necessary but it ain't the $99 Monster cable. Recently monoprice.com had 3ft gold-plated, ferrite core, 1.3 compliant HDMI cables for $2.43. Outstanding!

CM said:

Please enlighten us on what "some applications" are.

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Equipment of higher caliber will be more sensitive to cable rolling than a system of lower caliber. This means that an audio, or video setup with high-end equipment will benefit more from expensive cables than a system with low-end components. However, this does not mean that one should not roll cables into a budget setup; it means find the cable within your price range that works best within your setup.
As for the reason "why" cables sound different, here are some terms one could look up:
capacitance, inductance, geometry, dielectric, impedance, and conductance.

nobody said:

1.65 Ghz max

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That is a pretty high frequency for a shielded cable. But, high-quality cable that has low loss characteristics at that frequency isn't very expensive either. I work for an RF amplifier company... running frequency response charts on various home theater cables would be easy.

CRESCENDOPOWER said:

This means that an audio, or video setup with high-end equipment will benefit more from expensive cables than a system with low-end components.

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You mean "from higher quality cables" right?

"Looking at the six-dollar HDMI cable that I purchased at a computer fair"

TorchBoy said:

You mean "from higher quality cables" right?

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Well, most of them are better. It's not fair to compare a $20 cable to a $250 or $500 cable because in the more expensive cables there will be better parts used, and more research and development behind the product. But, sometimes there are manufacturers that buck that trend and develop products that are just a good as others costing much more; that's where your own research is supposed to come in. And, please don't roll your eyes at someone who has forgotten more about A/V cables than you will ever know in your entire life time. Thank you.