upgrading audio and video cables
 

what are the best cables?
Ultralink
Monster
XLO Cables
AudioQuest
right now I have Recoton cables.

Ultralink, XLO Cables, and Monster Cables
run about the same price but is AudioQuest that much better then the three.
I was looking at Monster Cable THX cables
if anyone has them how good are they?

The best cables are the ones that sound the best to you. Welcome to the forum... introduce your self to the search function on these forums. This is the best way to find answers to the most common questions (that and the FAQ).

Get the cables that make the most sense for your equipment/budget. For most people these are going to be the lower end Monster cables or Acoustic Research. Both are comparable. It doesn't make sense to spent $200 on cables for a $200 receiver or $99 DVD player.

As renaldow mentioned, your quality/cost for cables should be appropriate for the type of equipment you own.

What A/V equipment do you have?

I'd think for 99% of us out there, the Acoustic Research cables are MORE than adequate.

Buy.com sells them dirt cheap, plus you get free shipping.

Start with a search at buy.com for AR-070, and select the "Acoustic Research" link, which will take you to all of the AR products. I'm very satisfied with my audio cables of theirs. I have two digi optical cables, a vid coax I use for my sub cable and recently got an s-video cable for my satellite rx. I bought Monster cables for my component DVD player before I ever found out AR exists.

On a side note, I believe AR is owned by Recoton. They are simply the "Acuras" of the Honda line.

Beyond a certain (and reasonable) price range, speaker wire and interconnects will provide no further detectable benefits, regardless of the equipment price. Shielded 75-ohm cables with gold-plated interconnects (which are common and a good safeguard, but perhaps already overkill in non-salty oceanside environments!), or any 14-gauge-or-lower multistrand copper speaker wire, should do the trick. Definitely upgrade from the free, skinny, unshielded cables and 18- or 20-gauge wire, though!

A good source for cables is cablesamerica.com. They have Python brand that are very reasonably priced and excellent quality, plus fast and responsive service. Many folks also recommend Partsexpress.com or even the local WalMart. AR cables will be fine for even very good equipment. Proper speaker placement, room acoustics and monitor adjustments will have *much* more effect on audio/visual performance than the high- (over-)priced cables. Although paying too much for cables makes many people happier and feel their system is somehow 'improved' and 'better.' That money would be better spent on upgrading components, IMO.