Home audio and video: Premium vs. generic cables

Am I the only one that can't follow bus's answer?

I will have to agree with you. It was difficult to follow.

Indeed you're not the only one!
I think that whatever sense may have been in bus's answer was totally lost in his inabillity to string proper grammar together. I'm in no way a pedant but it does help to at least say what you mean!

But does that matter? He's winning in the poll ...... <eom>

Of course it matters! Look at politicians. There's always one who wins the poll and you can bet your sweet *** it's always the one with no brains...and I in no way mean to say that bus is without brains!

Particularly with long posts, readers won't read all the posts to the end and will stop at the first one (or so) that they agree with.
In short, the longer the posts, the more likely the first choice will get the most votes.
I agree with the previous responses. I thought his answer was the least informative.

I just wanted to read all of the answers and clicked the first one in the email, which simply said "answer by bus". I ended up voting for an answer I never read. If the hyperlinks said "Vote for [name's] answer" I'll bet there would be a difference in the poll results.

Personally I would just put voting hyperlinks near the full answer, so you can't accidentally vote for one you never read.

Bus must be that guy that sells you those highly expensive cables.

but it sounded sincere.

Not only it did not make sense, it is NOT USABLE as well... He states, as with many vendors, you can take items u r not happy back...

You will take wires from the within walls, make a mess, and run new cables? How about just rebuilding your house, once u r at it? The question is a smart one, the answer is NOT! The decision MUST BE MADE PRIOR to purchase, since then it will be too late (After installation)

It makes sense, again, it makes great sense to buy several types of cables and see which ones your "eyes and ears" like best". Then, of course, make sure you can take the ones you do not like back to the store for a full refund. Simple, I don't see the hang up.

Great note to remember: If any store will refund you a full refund for any product you are not satisfied with, then by all means buy multiple items and test them all -- after which you can take back the ones that do not work to your satisfaction! Simple.

It all makes simple sense, let us not get complex here.

It's simple like you said, but the difference between your answer and the other guy up there is the time it took to say what you said! You basically said what he said in 2 little paragraphs. It took him 4 paragraphs and a lot of useless babbling to answer a question! So, thats what all the hang up is all about. Keeping whats simple, SIMPLE!

No, you aren't.

I think that the Bus has long ago left the station with his answer still intact.I have NO idea what he was talking about...

I also do not have a clue what he is trying to say. Could be he is putting us on!
B

He's not real literate - or bright???

i found this answer to be technical but not difficult, providing you already have a basic understanding of audio components, etc... If, however, you are one of the "majority" you probably have just the "bare" understanding of audio components you may find yourself going Huh? And you'r not alone.

He's not saying anything, really. I think he'
s one of those salesmen who sell you stuff yuo don't need.
Ask Peter Walker, who designed the Quad II amplifier in 1952, what he thinks of cables on the sound quality...
I'll tell youi what I think, between a 50-cent albe and a $5000 there's a lot of cash being thown out the window for the salesmen and cable company to leisurely pick up... laughing.

Oh for Christs sake, it's not that difficult a question .
If you have a $15,000.00 system this would not be an issue,or are you opertating a recording studio.


So, buy a reasonable priced componet cable or hdmi (hdmi if amount of cables is an issue for you ). The "general public" will not be able to hear any difference between $100.00 or $30.00 cables.
Spend the differance on good beer , crank it up and enjoy.
I've been installing systems for 5 years and "us regular peeps" can not hear a difference.
Best Buy or Ram electronics will sell you good mid range $ cables.
( Ram is a web based retailer)

DaBaddog

SHORT, SIMPLE, and SWEET! Thanks for hitting the nail on the head!

excellent response! please keep your reviews coming as they summarize the more complex responses.

That was a very complicated answer. I am none the wiser to be honest.

This answer does NOT answer the question. However, I will offer an answer.

I have tried both generic cables and expensive, premium, name-brand cables, and there is indeed a difference.

I hooked up my cable box via the generic HDMI cable provided by the cable company to my HD LCD 43" TV and found edges to not be as sharp, colors to be either dulled or too bright, and quite a bit of pixelation. When I went back to the cable company to switch out for a new HDMI cable, same result. So, the next step to improve the picture quality was to either: 1) switch out the cable box or, 2) switch the HDMI cable.

Since it was going to take another week to get a new HD cable box from the cable company, I went out and bought premium, name-brand cables. I was lucky enough to buy a Monster Cable Ultra 1000 THX HDMI cable from a Radio Shack that was closing and had all Monster Cable gear for stupid prices. I was BLOWN AWAY by the difference in quality -- sharper edges, deeper blacks, no pixelation (I'm assuming due to no loss of data in transfer through the cable). I now run a TiVo Series 3 HD DVR, upgrading the source from the cable box HD DVR, and all I can say is AMAZING. This is why I bought HD components AND accessories.

If you're going to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on a HD television, why skimp on another tens of dollars for a generic cable that will degrade your picture? Having seen differences in both HD cables AND components, it's worth spending the money.

how can there be any difference in hdmi cables? unlike analog the data is digital so it is either there or it is not. sharper edges in my opinion may be your imagination to justify the cost of that expensive cable. i have a 12.99 hdmi cable on my 58" plasma and there is no loss with either my sat tv, hd-dvd or blu-ray.

I think Bus's answer makes sense.

When I go to purchase a component system (or a drill or lawn sprinkler, etc...), I always ask the salesperson about the store's return policy. Many times I will buy several items to take home and try. When I select the one that best suits my needs, I carry the others back for a refund. Be careful though, as some stores won't allow returns on electronic devices.

I suggest that what you need to do is to first find out what's available (in this case it's cables)from the store and then go home and do some research on-line. Check into user reviews and see what other consumers are saying. Some cables are VERY expensive and you may or may not need the fanciest ones. You may even find very excellent cables at a better price on-line, but be sure you deal with a reputable company (generally the sellers on-line have store ratings and/or customer reviews available to you).

Bear in mind that just having an HDTV doesn't give you HD. You need the box, or dish or whatever is necessary to send the correct signal.

I have DSL. When I purchased my Sony Bravia 32", I thought I was all set to receive HD, but when I contacted the dish company, I was informed that in order to get HD, I would need a new box and also have a second dish installed and that still wouldn't allow me to receive local channel signals in HD.

As Bus stated, when all is said and done, you are the one that needs to be satisfied. Hope this helps a little.
Mark

bus
Couldn't you have just answered the question instead of this long piece that never really goes anywhere? This is not journalism school.

OK. I went back and re-read this answer a couple times trying to figure out what the heck it was saying. I'm still clueless. I dont mind one bit if the sentence structure is bad as long as the info is good. This post is confusing and mostly useless.
I would humbly request Lee find a better way to structure the voting so we don't get such a flawed result. The first post is not always the best.

There is no signal degradation associated with digital cable. I have measured the output and the input and the signal is the same on low cost digital cable. Gold connectors are another rip off. If you plan to live as long as as they say they'll last verses a regular connector have at it. I'm spending my money on better equipment. The only reason there is a discussion is analog needed shielding from signals associated with it's frequency. Now their stuck with overpriced cabling and trying to sell snowballs in hell. You could spend 2-300 dollars just on expensive cabling. Now put that money back into your system.

roger48. I'd be interested in how many cables you tested, what names/brands, are any so-called "high-end" brands, were they the same length?, what was the equipment and the methadology of your measurements, what signals did you use to make your measures, and please post the results of your measurements for each cable. In other words, I am asking for evidence to support the rest of what you have said..

Everybody, you can stop stealing your music! You can now BUY it! For only $18.90 an album! Somebody remind me - why were we stealing in the first place?