Are high performance cables worth it????

[Iceman]

I have read where some were curious about high performance cables (Monster,etc); if they really made a difference, etc.

I have all high performance cables on all of my "stuff" and can tell a noticeable difference.

I am sure those of you that are curious about upgrading your cables want to know a straight answer to the question of how much better will it be and is it worth the cost? That is kinda a trick question. The truth is that it all depends on how quality the cable/cables you are replacing.

I own some Monster cables, and I own some other brands. Of course all manufacturers will claim how your set will deliver 50% better picture, blah, blah, blah. Don't believe these claims. All high performance cables I have used, I saw or heard a noticeable difference in quality. Night and day difference? No, but a noticeable difference. If you are like me and want your audio and video equipment to deliver the highest potential it is capable of, then buy high performance cables. You will thank me later.

I am no way bashing Monster or other name brand manufacturers in any way, but my personal opinion is their cables, though nicely made, are overpriced. I have recently found a company that makes their own cables at a very reasonable price and are much higher quality than Monster and other name brand high performance cable makers. They have a on-line store set up on ebay and they carry a lot of other nice accessories too. Take a look at their feedback rating. If you are interested follow this link.
http://stores.ebay.com/HDTV-Supply_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZ1QQdptZ9QQsclZallQQsotimedisplayZ2QQtZkm

Hope this helps you.
Thanks and take care.
Ice

 

[TNGTony]

WOW,,,,nice commercial!

If talking about DD signal, any reasonable quality cable will deliver the same signal as the most expensive cable on the planet.

If talking analog, there is a point of deminishing returns. 16 or 14 guage lamp cord (available for pennies a foot) will provide more than enough performance for the average listeners. And for the true maven that insists on being able to tell the difference between lamp cord and $3 + a foot cable, I challange him to a BLIND test. I'm not saying there isn't a difference. I'm saying that the average person, or I should say, the average person who claims to hear a difference, in fact cannot. Call it the audio placebo effect.

Good quality cables www.lcom.com. Won't find any super-duper stuff there. But you will find cable and connectors most professionals use. Just make sure interconnects are shielded to prevent RF incursion and that is all that is needed.

See ya
Tony

 

[Iceman]

reply

1. I disagree. With my "stock" DD cable, I could hear a slight hiss. I could not hear it at all with the performance cables. However, shielding does have a lot to do with it as you stated.

Picture quality is definitely improved with performance cables. Again, depending on how good your stock cable is, of course will determine how much better your picture quality will improve. I have seen some manufacturer's stock cables that were decent quality, not leaving much room for improvement. I have also seen some stock cables that surprised me that it was able to produce a picture at all. Go to the link I have posted on this reply and read about picture degrading.

2. The link you have listed doesn't work.

3. Like I said, if you want the absolute best out of your equipment, buy the cables. If you are completely satisfied with the way it is, don't waste your time or money.

Go here and read: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32835&item=3070094036&tc=photo

 

[DarrellP]

Then there is Nordost who wants $2k for a 1 meter interconnect.

 

[antonikarl]

I will be upgrading from a DISH 300 to a "legacy" DISH 500. My current cabling running between the DISH 300 and the reciever is an RG6. I was just going to keep this cable. Will it work if I reconnect my existing cable to the new Dish? Do any of you recommend an upgrade to a higher performance cable? I don't want to make any more holes in my walls for new cabling unless it is absolutely necessary.

 

[snathanb]

1. I disagree. With my "stock" DD cable, I could hear a slight hiss. I could not hear it at all with the performance cables. However, shielding does have a lot to do with it as you stated.

You were hearing a hiss on DD? Your stock cable was somehow inserting noise into a bitstream... interesting.

 

[Tony S]

I have to agree with TNGTony. Most of the so-called high performance cables are simply not worth the money. I have been in the electronics industry for over 30 years, and all of the blind tests that I have seen show that there is no difference between a the expensive cables and a decent quality regular cable. Moster cables are OK, but they are way overpriced. You do not have to spend a lot of money to get good quality cables.

BTW, I think that this is the company that TNGTony was referring to.
http://www.l-com.com/jump.jsp?itemID=0&itemType=HOME_PAGE

For example, they sell a 6 foot 3-line component video cable with RCA connectors for $13.00. I would challenge anyone to compare these with a $100 Monster cable (or even the "cheaper" $49 Monster cables). In a blind test, virtually no one will be able to tell the difference.

 

[mini1]

simple answer-NO "high end" cable are not worth the money. I have found Monster to be amoung the biggest rip-off of all cable makers. your paying for the hype about their products and not the products themselfs. online retailers such a pacific cables is a great choice for high end cables at super low prices. they tend to beat Monster by at leat 50% on most stuff. DVI's cost about 70% less with them, and they perform just as good, if not better than Monster. I have done testing myself and I just don't see why anyone would pay that much for a Monster cable.

 

[reedl]

If you heard Hiss on a Digital interconnect, you are hearing things that are being introduced by something else. There is no way that a digital interconnect could introduce noise like that.

As to cables, I always use cables from Markertek (www.markertek.com) which makes their cables from Belden wire. The cables are well priced, and used pretty much everywhere in the broadcast industry. You will NEVER find a "Monster" brand cable in a professional environment at all. They are totally a marketing company.

Reedl

 

[Wayd Wolf]

In cable, where we use RG-11 all the time, we have often joked that we could sell RG-11 jumpers with gold-plated fittings as "monster coax" and turn a $300 500-ft. roll of RG-11 into a $3000 collection of 5-ft. jumpers. Then I started seeing this sort of thing on eBay and then I saw Monster actually had giant coax...

P.T. Barnum had something to say about this.

 

[JStanton]

Yes, of course premium cables make a difference! Why would they be charging more if it was the same crap. Just feel them, they're heavier - more shielding = more performance!

 

[JStanton]

You moron, of course expensive scam cables don't make a difference. Study after study have proven that in double blind protocols, even the most experienced ears/eyes cannot tell the difference. The only difference that you think you can percieve is a placebo effect.

 

[JStanton]

I don't know about your scientific mumbo-jumbo, but I personally have seen the improvement on my system by throwing away the crap cables and buying top of the line (insert manufacturer here).

 

[JStanton]

If medicine worked like you select cables, we'd still be bloodletting to cure cancer. There is no proof that you can show me to support your claims.

 

[JStanton]

Repeat as necessary.

 

[video62]

I will be upgrading from a DISH 300 to a "legacy" DISH 500. My current cabling running between the DISH 300 and the reciever is an RG6. I was just going to keep this cable. Will it work if I reconnect my existing cable to the new Dish? Do any of you recommend an upgrade to a higher performance cable? I don't want to make any more holes in my walls for new cabling unless it is absolutely necessary.

If your existing RG6 between your sat antenna and the receiver is working properly then there is no need to upgrade it going to a new Dish 500. If it were bad then you'd be having all sorts of problems with the existing Dish 300. Note that this cable is bringing in the digital compressed datastream for ALL of your channels, so don't let someone convince you that changing this cable will improve your picture quality.

 

[video62]

I have read where some were curious about high performance cables (Monster,etc); if they really made a difference, etc.
...
I am no way bashing Monster or other name brand manufacturers in any way, but my personal opinion is their cables, though nicely made, are overpriced.
...

Go to a professional studio sometime and ask the techs how much "Monster Brand" cabling they use. They'll have a big laugh and say "none!". If Monster Brand is so good why would the pros not use it?

 

[Tina C.]

You moron, of course expensive scam cables don't make a difference. Study after study have proven that in double blind protocols, even the most experienced ears/eyes cannot tell the difference. The only difference that you think you can percieve is a placebo effect.

Well, everyone is entitled to thier own opinions.....

But...

I sell Home Theater for a living, and I can't begin to tell you how many people have wanted to return a TV or other item because of poor PQ.

But when I go out and use better cables to hook their stuff up, they wanted to know how I "fixed" their TV. This is even when I haven't told them I just used better cables.

Now, I do agree that there comes a point where a $500.00 is no "better" than a good quality $30.00 cable.

It all depends on your needs.

My own two cents.

 

[silversurfer]

Better cables sure! However, just because it has Monster written on it doesn't necessarily make it a better cable....

 

[Wayd Wolf]

Badly/wrongly stripped cables, improperly applied fittings, and kinked cabling are more to blame than supposed "low quality cables". I've seen people run their own line from a quad to receiver, using K-Mart bought RG-59 with the pre-made ends fifty feet long. Worked just perfectly fine.

I do an average of one trouble call per day and the two biggest problems are grounding issues first and fitting/cabling issues second.