SCrubjay

Sorry to be so far behind the curve on this stuff but the last time I bought audio/video equipment I didn't get to choose the connection, it was all RCA jacks. Now I'm looking to upgrade everything, and I mean seriously upgrade so each of these is an option, and I'm baffled as to which connections are used for what and whether everything has to be consistent. Also I've been told that sometimes "worse" connections and cables will actually look or sound better on some equipment. Without buying every type of cable and experimenting, how do I know what to use?

Also, is anyone aware of a good primer on this stuff that WASN'T written by an electrical engineer? Most of the websites I've seen are run by such audiophiles that they tear everything down to the point that you'd think nothing sounded good or was well made.

Thanks.

minidiscuser

Well don't trust Monster.com. They do manufacture high quality cables, but it seems to me that they overexagerate the benefits.

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/1115.html


The forum above is a site that has a discussion on the different audio cables. I just set up a new entertainment system and had to go through all the damn research. I went with a DVI cable (Monster) from cable box to tv, component from DVD player to TV, optical audio from cable box to receiver and coaxial audio from DVD player to receiver.

For video I am of the opinion that DVI is the best. There was a slight, but definitely noticable difference when I received my DVI cable. In terms of audio, I really can't tell much of a difference. Monster makes great cables, but never buy them retail. My DVI cable was 75% off the list price on e-bay... Monster is a large fan of raping and pillaging the consumer. My other cables were just nice ones from radio-shack and I have not had an issue with them yet. I hope this made some help was of was some use.. if you have questions be sure to ask, and I'll do my best to assist.

brandon11983

Please buy your products from an authorized dealer. They are "expensive" because they are sold and guaranteed by a company and dealer that actually knows what the fuck they are talking about. All the major companies (Monster included) have cables at varying price points to best suit the needs of every customer. I abhor eBay and the Internet for everything it has done to the electronics business. Some douchebag customer walks in off the street, never bought anything from my store in the past, and expects me to bend over backwards to make him a customer, by discounting the fuck out of my products. Fuck that. I had some jerkoff wanting me to sell him an InFocus 7205 projector ($8999 retail) for $5500 because he saw it online at that price. When I told him no way, he said he would just buy it online then. I told him not to come crying to me when he doesn't get the product as advertised or it breaks or something, cuz I or InFocus won't even talk to him if the product isn't purchased from an authorized dealer.

Do yourself and all of us in the business a favor, do the right thing, and buy from an authorized dealer. They are there for you whenever you have any questions or need assistance in connection.

Also, I am obsessively anal and experimental with cables, feel free to ask any questions.

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gcbrowni

It's his money, he can spend it any way he wants.

The best place to learn anything about home A/v is the avsforum. Just do some searches in the appropriate forums in you'll find a wealth of information.

Briefly, the major innovation in A/V is digital. DVI & HDMI preserve the content in its digital form from the source (dvd player, cable box, sat, etc) to the display device. This avoids the A2D conversions that rob you of picture and sound quality. The biggest benefits are when the display device is a fixed pixel display, like an LCD, LCD-RP, DLP-RP, or one of the newer LCOS sets. Most Tube Tv's, CRT-RP, and plasmas are not digital.

DVI is video, HDMI is audio and video on the same cable. I believe there is another format called iLink which is essentialy a pure digital audio interconnect.

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SCrubjay

Thanks for both replies; and Brandon, I fully recognize the value of authorized dealers. I only wish that I had a local high end audio shop to deal with, but I'm stuck with either the Big Boxes or the custom installers who, at my price point ($8,000 for the entire project) seem disinterested. So I'm cobbling this together as best I can from the various retail outlets at my disposal.

Here's where I am so far; I'm moving everything I own into a bedroom and turning it into a game/workout room (XBOX and treadmills, etc.). The greatroom will be the audio visual area (room is 22 x 26 with 16' ceilings) and the bookcases are all built-in. This is limiting me in speaker placement and monitor size. The monitor I'm considering is the Samsung hl-p4663. To me it seems like the most bang for the buck without destroying the rest of the project, and the largest that will fit in the existing opening. I've researched the problems with dlp and think this will be the first item on which I ever buy the extended warranty. the speakers are the Energy C-3 with the CC1 center and 10 inch sub; rears will be inwall 6" Niles. Driving all this will be a yamaha rx-v1500. I'm baffled as to what DVD it add though I'm leaning toward the Denon 1910 (or Panasonic S97 when it arrives next month); the Zenith is getting good reviews, but there is no local support. I already have a multi-satellite dish, so adding HD feeds should be fairly easy; probabaly will add the Samsung Directv HD tuner. I don't have Tivo ... but I'm tempted.

SOOOO ..... now the cabling and wiring. The rears will be CL3 14 guage (12 maybe?). The fronts are currently using 16 guage Monster "flat wire" as it is less noticable in the bookcase; I haven't decided if I'm going to change that out. Sub cables are open for recomendation. It seems to me that I should use the "best" connection type available. The problem is "what's best?". I'll use optical audio, that seems a no-brainer, though the variance in cable cost is pretty surprising. It's tough to determine what is hype and what is an audiological difference. The TV will accept component, DVI & HDMI, and various sources swear by each; so that is a tougher read.

Have I missed anything? What do you recommend in cabling and wiring? Thanks

brandon11983

Everything in the gear list seems ok, save for the DVD player. I would recommend jumping up to the DVD-2910. It sells for $679, and it is a slightly beefed up DVD-2900 inside. You get the features and quality of a $999 DVD player in a $679 package. Now for cabling and wiring.... If you are going to use the system primarilly for home theater use, I would not be too concerned with speaker cabling. If you are going to use it for stereo as well, and are very picky like I am, then I would get better speaker cables. The cable you can fudge on the most is the sub cable, so don't get too worried on that one. You raise the question on digital connections. Both digital coax and optical have their respective virtues. If you are going to spend less than $100 on the cable, then I would recommend going with coax. The finishing on the ends of sub $100 optical cables is often sub par. The optical fiber needs to be cut off to exacting specifications and they are usually not cut as well as the higher end cables. This results in light spray and a theorhetical loss in sound quality. Long story short, on the under $100 coax cables to sound better than sub $100 optical cables. On the video cable issue, I would recommend DVI. HDMI is great and all, but I don't like the idea of my high definition video traveling along with my multichannel audio. To me, DVI just seems like the "purist" way to do things.

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catback

I just have to say though retail stores are nice and usual way to shop around, they usually carry a good size overhead and thus a good sized markup over invoice. Just because a online retailer/seller has something cheaper than a brick-n-mortar store doesn't mean it's black market or unauthorized (it can be but doesn't have to be). Cheap optical cables are better than cheap coax cables for digital audio, digital has a degree of error correction and with the bundles of cables behind a typical home theater setup optical is immune to picking up noice from adjacent wires. Coax cables need good shielding to prevent this so you want to spend more of your coax cable than your optical if you were to buy both. Lastly about the HDMI, it is a godly connection being all in one and also having both audio and video sent digitally across the cable. Since HDMI is all digital you don't have to worry much about signal interference between the video and audio, just avoid poor made or shielded cable and all will be good. Brandon you sound like you work retail, they've trained you well if you do. Personally I hate retail sales associates as they call them. They always try to get people to by the most expensive thing their wallet can charge even if it's not what the customer needed. Circuit city just did the like with my cousin, but in circuit city's defense he probably let them. Left with almost $8,000 in a new tv and home theater system plus accessories up the ying yang. It was good stuff 60" LCD-RP, bose lifestyle 38 but still a little overkill especially with the bose and the accessories for it-he's never gonna use the 200hours of cd storage capability on the bose. But yea I personally dislike those retail sales people who are really trained on making sales rather than giving me exactly what I came for.

brandon11983

If you think that cheap coax cables sound better than cheap optical cables, I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. I know what I hear between cables, and my thoughts are shared by Josh Clark, head R&D of Transparent Cable and Todd Waldorf of Kimber Kable. I discussed all things cable and digital audio with them at CEDIA a few weeks ago. I have played with cables ranging from $29 to $1000. At the low end, I have consistently found the digital coax cables to sound better than their optical counterparts.

Yes I do work retail. Most of what I know I have taught and experienced myself. I learned a lot from my friend Jamie, who was my first introduction to high end electronics. He has forgotten more about this shit than most know. I am a non commisioned salesman. I could say that I don't give a shit what a customer buys, because I take home the same check regardless. I of course, get the best product for my customer in any given situation. Some are best suited by a pair of Athena F2 for $599, and others for Von Schweikert VR-4jr's for $3999. I never push a customer into something beyond their budget. It's just not good salesmanship.

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