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

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

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!

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

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.

but it sounded sincere.

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.

No, you aren't.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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..