No you won’t.
I am a satisfied customer of cable purchases from: http://www.monoprices.com/
Check their prices, then check bestbuy or the good guys. You’ll be amazed. And no, they are not shirking on quality. Only place I can get a decent price on DVI to HDMI cables.
You bought one of those from monoprice too? It was the only place I could find one for under $50, since everyone else seems to carry only Monster brand. I’m sorry, you’re carrying a digital signal here, a little interference is NOT going to mess with the signal quality unless you’re way too long a distance.
I’m willing to listen to people who tell me that audio cables make a difference, they are carrying a detailed analog signal, and small changes can be audible. Not that I’m interested in buying them, but I can at least see a potential source for audible effect. On the digital side, the whole point is that cables/interference aren’t supposed to affect the signal, that’s why you go digital.
If you like Monster Cables, You’ll love the high prices at Marigo Labs for their power cables (6 ft, $900) and speaker cables (6 ft. $2000). And don’t forget to check out their “VTS tuning dots,” $159 for a set of 8:
Yeah, right. :rolleyes:
Oh goodie! I’m currently suffering terribly from lack of openness in my midrange bloom. I thought the problem was lack of sun or insufficient fertilizer, but I see now that what I need is Marigo Labs cable. What a lifesaver!
Everything audio is a scam.
Your ear may be able to detect minute variations, but in practice, if you tried to use your hearing to guess the pitch of a randomly generated sound (say, the pitch of running your finger over the rim of a crystal goblet) you wouldn’t come within a full note of what a tuning fork would register.
If you have a set of tuning forks, try it and you’ll see what I mean.
Nonsense. I’ve actually sat down and listened to many high end systems, and what I heard is certainly not a scam. Done right, with quality equipment, an audio system can do things that go well beyond just reproducing a particular frequency. You don’t need a golden ear to hear it any more than you need a golden tongue to appreciate fine wine, you just need to take the time to listen and appreciate the qualities.
Some people get caught up in the desire for the best sound possible and buy silly products that they think will help, but that doesn’t invalidate the entire hobby.
It’s a scam only if you were convinced to buy Monster Cables for your Bose entertainment system. If you own a high-end system (about $3000+ for speakers and receiver) then you should use high-end cables. If not, you have other places to worry about where the distrotion is coming from.
Cheesesteak ,
So you wouldn’t recommend purchasing optical audio or coaxial audio cables from monoprices.com? They seem to be constructed fine and have proper shielding.
The digital shouldn’t be affected; it is inherently more noise tolerant than an analog signal. This has to do with the fact that as long as you can distinguish between the ones and zeros even with noise riding on the signal, the signal is still “good” as far as the magic decoder ring is concerned. With analog signals, any noise added is going to show up on the output.
One example of the difference between analog & digital is comparing an old standard analog NTSC STV (the US’s standard TV signal) against a DTV (digital TV). As you move further and further from the antenna (assuming line of sight), the analog signal will become weaker and weaker with more and more snow on the screen, until the screen is more a less a blizzard.
With a DTV, as you move away from the antenna, the screen will more or less remain unchanged; the noise will not have an obvious affect. However, at some point the picture will start pixilating into pieces (at least the one I’ve used). This will occur very quickly over a short distance (as the decoder is unable to distinguish between the ones and zeros) and you will end up with the “blue screen” with a total loss of picture. In other words, the STV will gradually deteriorate over a distance, whereas the DTV will more or less drop out a particular distance.
Note: I’m didn’t include “error correction” in this discussion, which plays a critical role in digital communications.
I would definitely use monoprice for cables for any normal audio/video system. The DVI-HDMI cable I got from them looks to be very good quality. My first post may not have been clear, I was looking for one of those cables and couldn’t find one that wasn’t ridiculously priced because everyone sells Monster brand. I found monoprice and got the same sort of cable for less than $15. I don’t see any reason to buy a premium cable for a digital signal. Digital signals only need to get transmitted intact, small changes in the signal result in no change to the final product, small changes in analog will result in small changes to the final product.
I might be convinced to go with high end cables for a high end system, but I’d really have to test both normal and high end cables to see what the differences are. I’ve never listened to a high end system using standard style cables, so I don’t know if there would be any difference. Even so, I doubt I could convince myself to buy a premium digital cable.
I own a high-end system by your definition - my speakers alone were c. $6000 - although high-end is not defined by price. The total cost of the cabling in my system is <$50. Magic cables are simply bollocks.
You can get cables with perfect performance for hardly any cash - you always have other places to worry about.
Thanks for clarifying. Personally I would never invest in monster Cables if i can find an alternative. I have heard that Liberty Cables are just Monster Cables under a different brand name.
Boldface Type
Have you experimented with high quality cables for your setup? I believe another factor would be wire length for your speakers. If any are over 25’ distortions might be noticed (which is subjective to the listener). Are you using a higher gauge wire for your surround speakers?
If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford them.
They are painting the lily and guilding the florin!
Pure hog wash!
Should I also use high-end furniture polish to clean the speakers? Perhaps someone has some that costs $3,000 a can but is guaranteed to make my system sound more airy and open.
Sorry, but if I had a $100,000 stereo system, I’d think absolutely nothing about connecting it with $10 speaker wire from home depot. At audio frequencies, wire is wire. All that matters is that it is thick enough that is does not have a high resistance.
In fact, I’m building a custom theater in my house. It is fully treated acoustically to THX standards. Custom wall treatments on all walls, bass traps, I even designed the dimensions of the room to minimize standing waves and room modes. My speakers are Paradigm studio series all the way around, about $4K.
You know what’s in the walls for speaker wire? Home Depot 12ga wire off a reel. It’s about 20 cents a foot.
I’ll spend my money where it does some good - in room acoustics and speakers. Electronics next. What kind of wire it is hooked up with is irrelevant.
This is not necessarily true for line-level wiring and video cabling. There, spending some extra money for good shielding and solid connectors is money well spent. But I make my own audio cables out of RG-6 quad-shield cable and crimp connectors. That’s all you need. If you don’t want to make them, just buy cables from someone that uses a good quality cable like Belden, and uses good solid mechanical connections. There is absolutely no reason to ever pay more than $100 for any cable.
BTW, what really astonishes me are those ‘golden ear’ types who spend thousands on cables, but have rooms that are acoustically rotten. The room has FAR more effect on the sound you hear than anything else.
In terms of bang for the buck and effect changes have on audio perception, use the following scale:
Room - 10,000
Speakers - 1,000
Electronics - 100
Wire - .0001
Spend your money and time accordingly.
Well you seemed to have done your homework. Using 12 gauge cable and know how to crimp your own cables. I bet they are oxygen-free too. My concern with your setup is the longevtiy of your cables (that and no cable is longer than 31ft). Home Depot cables don’t have the greatest of insulation which can lead to corrosion. Check out
All Low Cost Wires Are Not the Same There is reliability in big brand cables. Granted they won’t commit miracles, but they are ideal for people who don’t want to or can’t make their own cables. Plus, they um look pretty. I really don’t want to defend this argument but if you have money to spend, the gains will be miniscule but to some, worth it.
Well… currently my “setup” is laughable, I could connect it up with coathangers without damaging the performance. None of the high end systems I’ve worked with have been my own, but I’ve done a lot of setup, listening and comparisons with my brother and old roomate over the years.
Well, given that my cables have essentially ‘perfect’ performance, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘high quality’! But anyway, I have not tried very expensive cable in my own system, though I have heard other systems linked together with Bat-Fart Supremo Mystic 106% Pure Cablemagic. It was wonderous - the Air and Magical Sparkliness was enhanced by 8.33%!
My speakers are active, and the cabling from pre to speaker terminals is around 25’. I use microphone cable, and the wiring is balanced.
I do not have a home cinema - there are no surround speakers. I just have 2 speakers in yer Olde Worlde stereo setup, none of this new fangled nonsense. In fact, I don’t have a TV at all. (Cue - lived in cardboard box, ate gravel from road, etc.)
If you believe you can hear differences between different ‘competent’ cables, there’s a Usenet challenge (see the various HiFi groups) out there where you can collect $1000+. Thus far, no-one has collected.
Sam Stone has nailed the hammer home in his post.
What are you talking about? Generic lamp cord sold at Home Depot or wherever will be UL or CSA certified. If it’s good enough to carry 110V AC current, it’s damn sure good enough to carry a speaker signal. And 31 feet? Hell, I’ve installed speakers in auditoriums, gyms, bars, and churches with wire runs well over 100’ using 12ga wire (TEW, not lampcord, but there’s bugger all difference - it’s all just plain copper braid) for systems pushing more watts than most any home stereo, and it all works just peachy, thank you very much.
Installation for churches, bars, etc. are different than home setups where SQ is more important and the potetnial for increased impedence should be be factored in.
Expensive cables have their uses, though are not needed for the average consumer or most prosumers.
SQ = sound quality?
You’re wrong. Sound quality is more important in your typical sound reinforcement system in a church or auditorium than it is for the stereo in your basement. Low distortion and flat frequency response are critical for maintaining intelligibility of speech. If plain 12 and 14 gauge copper had any detrimental effects on sound quality, I assure you we wouldn’t use them in those sorts of applications. But the fact is that expensive speaker wire is not measurably different from cheap stuff.