pdutta2000

I would like to know which cables you guys think are the best for the following functions:

1. - Component connection from DVD player to 50" tv. I am not talking about RCA or S-video.

2. DTS connection from DVD player to Receiver.

3. Speaker cables to Energy Encore speaker system

tricky76

quote:<HR>Originally posted by pdutta2000:
1. - Component connection from DVD player to 50" tv. I am not talking about RCA or S-video.<HR>

Canare have a good reputation. Take a look at http://www.bettercables.com/, I beleive they sell them.

quote:<HR>2. DTS connection from DVD player to Receiver.<HR>

Optical or coaxial?? Again, look at www.bettercable.com

quote:<HR>3. Speaker cables to Energy Encore speaker system<HR>

Home Depot electrical wire (16 guage or higher). Very cheap and works as good as more expensive stuff. If you need to run long lenghts (ie: over 10-15'), then go a lower guage, like 14 or more).


[This message has been edited by tricky76 (edited May 17, 2000).]

Lush

I must respectfully say Home Depot/Revy/Radio Shack/Canadian Tire/Walmart 50cents/ft 12 gauge DO NOT sound better than $15/ft speaker cable.
But, for an entry level system and for a user who won't critically listen, then cheap wire will do the job just fine.

pdutta2000: If you are interested in cables and not just "wires", do not shop by "gauge", if you are using sub-20' runs. I know many people do that, thinking that diameter is the most important criteria. That type of logic is about as silly as shopping for a pairs of speakers by wattage or deciding between receivers that is 90x5 or 110x5 watts alone. Any cable of decent pedigree will take care of that. Decide what price level you want to play in, and buy what ever sounds best to you.

tricky76

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Lush:
I must respectfully say Home Depot/Revy/Radio Shack/Canadian Tire/Walmart 50cents/ft 12 gauge DO NOT sound better than $15/ft speaker cable.
But, for an entry level system and for a user who won't critically listen, then cheap wire will do the job just fine.

pdutta2000: If you are interested in cables and not just "wires", do not shop by "gauge", if you are using sub-20' runs. I know many people do that, thinking that diameter is the most important criteria. That type of logic is about as silly as shopping for a pairs of speakers by wattage or deciding between receivers that is 90x5 or 110x5 watts alone. Any cable of decent pedigree will take care of that. Decide what price level you want to play in, and buy what ever sounds best to you.<HR>

Well... since the guage of a (copper) wire is directly proportional to it's resitance, I would say that the guage is important, if not the most important factor in speaker wire. BTW, when running longer distances, resistance increases.

Yes, a high strand count helps but it has to be very high to match high guages.

I'm not sure what the "high pedigree" cables have in them, but copper works wonders

Cheers,
Patrick

[This message has been edited by tricky76 (edited May 17, 2000).]

svadas

I'm kind of curious as why you recomend home depot for speaker cables, instead of the bettercable place you mentioned for a simple digital cable? Why spend the farm on a digital cable anyways?

tricky76

quote:<HR>Originally posted by svadas:
I'm kind of curious as why you recomend home depot for speaker cables, instead of the bettercable place you mentioned for a simple digital cable? Why spend the farm on a digital cable anyways?<HR>

Personally, I'm using the best RadioShack RCA cable I could find for my digital cable.

It works just fine. I tried using a 100$ cable once (from a local B&M store), and there was no audible difference. So I returned it.

Bettercables.com seems to make a quality product, though, and the reviews have been good. So why not point him in that direction? I mean, he was looking for the best cables... right?

Cheers,
Patrick

KungFuMidget

Here's an interesting little article concerning speaker wire...
http://www.verber.com/mark/cables.html

I'm sure the people out there with "high-end" wire will disagree.

tdamico

What an absolutly fantastic document. I am interested to see what type of responses it gets. It makes me wonder if I overspent for my cables! Perhaps not, I bought the regular 12 gauge speaker wire that Circuit City sells.

Lush

Tricky 76:

I am sorry if I was misleading. What I meant by "not important" is that no decent $10/ft cable comes in 18G. (Can someone else confirm?) When you buy cables like that, they are at least 12G or less. There are Audioquest cables at $2/ft that maybe 16G, but that's not what I'm referring to. That's what I meant by "any cable of decent pedigree will take care of that." Of course, within a certain manufacturer's line up, you might have a choice of different gauges of the similar type of cable. For example: Audioquest Crystal vs Midnight or Alpha Core's Goertz MI2 vs MI3. The larger gauge generally delivers more bass, and it that respect, it is important. But not important when someone just wants something a cut above Home Depot.

Lush

svadas:

In my experience, you don't need to spend a farm on a digital cable. I can't distinguish between the toslink cable that came with my DVD player and another one that I paid $40cdn for. But speaker cables and analog interconnects are different and worth sinking a bit of money into. They say about 10% of your system's worth. And I tend to agree.

BEC

This is a good pro-quality-speaker-cable post. It lists quite a few brands of quality cables (BTW, Monster cable isn't listed):
http://www.audioreview.com/techtalks...ges/74992.html

The same author has some recommendations for high quality DIY (do it yourself), homemade cables:
http://members.xoom.com/Jon_Risch/s2.htm

Lists some places (other than RS and home depot) where you can get good wire.

[This message has been edited by BEC (edited May 18, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by BEC (edited May 18, 2000).]