Community Newsletter: Q&A: Home audio and video: Premium vs. generic cables

QOTW 053207 bus Answer

In reply to: Home audio and video: Premium vs. generic cables by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

Question
Alright, so I've been trying to become involved in the high-definition era for a few years now. As far as I'm concerned, picking the right cables can be controversial. Whenever you go buy a new HDTV or an accessory component, the salesmen always ask if you have the appropriate connections. Then they always ask if you have "the best" connections that will provide the optimal picture and sound. So is there? Is a $15 cable going to provide equivalent performance to a $100 cable of the same type? And does this question have a different answer for analog and digital cables? I'd love to get the facts straight once and for all. Thanks! --Submitted by Derek M.

Answer
A good salesperson should ask you questions that produce the best choices for you that will allow your system to function at its highest performance level within your price range and living environment. In this busy world we live in, the sales interview is too time consuming to take place properly and the more common practice is the buyer finds the components/system at the best price and buys at the location of convenience with the understanding that the some system of cabling is included or in the case that no cabling is included the cheapest cabling available is bought to just make sure the system works.

After the components/system has been found to be functional the fine tuning of its performance becomes a consumer need, usually brought on by ads and a nagging feeling of having missed something along the way (what are all the connections on the back for). One of the areas that a consumer can upgrade at the component or system level is the cabling, just due to the fact that cabling doesn’t require a great deals of skill and tools. The industry/marketplace answers the need by providing cabling at various price levels. Once the marketplace has enough statistics a comfort price range is established usually incorporating, low end, good, and high end with very little reflection on true quality.

The final point, is your satisfaction. With most reliable vendors, you can buy what you want with the understanding you can and will return items your are unsatisfied with. So the next time you are faced with a salesperson asking the question “do you have "the best" connections that will provide the optimal picture and sound?” listen and then tell them you will take both with the understanding that you will return what is unsatisfactory. Take the purchases home and see what you think and based on that return what you don’t like. When you are using your components/system you are using your analog receptor systems that you were born with. The components/system is passing the signal through an analog medium (the speaker and display) so you can experience it as a reproduction of the original media. The only time digital comes into play is when the reproduction of the original media requires conversion from digital to analog to allow you to experience it. Until we can be equipped with digital input jacks you should not worry yourself about the shape and size of ones and zeros.