Oh I forgot to add ... if your TV is a 27" CRT ... well you may NOT see it. I have a 55" RPTV ... and it is night and day. This just illustrates how many factors there really are and signal strength, contunity and quality all play a part.
At 6ft the gauge size makes little difference. What you are talking about is called skin effect. The electrical current travels on the skin. The difference between different types of metal is also negligible. The use of of silver and gold is for better conduction at the final point of attachment. In fact the gold is a little better only because it doesn't corrode. The silver is actually a better conductor but does have some problems with developing a non conductive layer when exposed to moisture or "smoke". The shielding provided only works for high frequencies and not low frequencies such as AC power lines. Routing the cables so they don't travel par allell is just as important as any type of shielding. Also in digital it is only necessary to keep the lines away from the power supplies. Reason is that most power supplies now have switching circuits in them. Switching circuits are on-off which can mimic the 0/1"s which is on /off in a digital circuit. The proof that the manufacturer's use are usually in house produced to come to the conclusion that they are looking to get. Now if you want to believe the salesman and pay the extra $$ go ahead I've at least given you the thumbnail sketch of electrical engineering 101.slacker9876 said:That is a simply inaccurate. Regular cables (those provided by hardware manufactures) are completely unshielded and have so much attenuation over 6' is is ridiculous. Monster has patents in the United States illustrating that their "stranded configurations" produce greater signal strength which is heightened though the use of top grade shielding. Anyone here that has ANY electrical background knows, electricity does not travel "through" conductors ... it rides the outside of the wires. So wires of the same gauge that have greater surface area are in fact BETTER. The conductor also make a difference which is why you can see the difference in cables that use tin or steel vs those with silver or gold connectors ... not to mention both silver and gold are more conductive materials. When you are talking current and signal materials make all the difference in the world.
For digital signals I agree SPDIF and HDMI there is a difference over 25' but nothing that would be observable to a user at less than 25', or an engineer for that matter.
While I will not do your research for you, it is quite provable ... go buy the cable and compare it yourself! Purchase from a location that allows returns with receipt, and buy over the Internet if you can, then you save tax and product cost. Ole boy is right about that 200% markup if you hit a Best Buy or Circuit City. Less overhead, less markup (and still more profit). No need to measure continuity ... just look at it! I would also like to add that I am NOT an installer, so I have nothing to gain by selling you a MonsterCable (lol, nor any cable for that matter). So if you disagree ... take it back!
...and the product you reccomend since we know "bayzbol" will excced the standard 6' length?whatchel1 said:At 6ft the gauge size makes little difference. What you are talking about is called skin effect. The electrical current travels on the skin. The difference between different types of metal is also negligible. The use of of silver and gold is for better conduction at the final point of attachment. In fact the gold is a little better only because it doesn't corrode. The silver is actually a better conductor but does have some problems with developing a non conductive layer when exposed to moisture or "smoke". The shielding provided only works for high frequencies and not low frequencies such as AC power lines. Routing the cables so they don't travel par allell is just as important as any type of shielding. Also in digital it is only necessary to keep the lines away from the power supplies. Reason is that most power supplies now have switching circuits in them. Switching circuits are on-off which can mimic the 0/1"s which is on /off in a digital circuit. The proof that the manufacturer's use are usually in house produced to come to the conclusion that they are looking to get. Now if you want to believe the salesman and pay the extra $$ go ahead I've at least given you the thumbnail sketch of electrical engineering 101.
Not recommending a product. Just telling you that ultra expensive cables are a rip off that are sold to make the manufacturer and the sales force $$. I personally go w/ the low/mid price. Reason is that the construction quality is usually good. The cheapest are just that. Example for speaker cable I go for 12 AWG or 10 for longer runs. Oxygen free copper is nice because it shows quality control. Not that the oxygen changes conduction but not having it will reduce the chances of deterioration over time. Don't use aluminum with copper these react to each other and cause a major conduction problem over time. For RG-6 (coax) quad shielding there is no choice of center conductor it will be steel covered w/ copper. I just don't know of any RG-6 that uses a copper center conductor because it is to soft and breaks to easily when pulled.slacker9876 said:...and the product you reccomend since we know "bayzbol" will excced the standard 6' length?
slacker9876 said:whatchel, I am glad to see all you did was reinforce the points I made above. I am NOT here to argue with you, I am here to help out another member ... this should be the final objective. In light of this fact...
MY MONSTER CABLE EXPERIENCE: I had recently purchased various new entry level consumer-grade products. They were a 16:9 Samsung RTPV, Yamaha RX-V650, Hughes H68 (was that it? don't remember) and a Denon DVD-1910. I was unhappy with the picture quality of my new home theater and asked what should I do to improve the quality. I purchased various Monster Cables for interconnection at the advice of the salesperson. At the register, $400 later for various cables, I was quite sticker shocked, I specifically told the salesman "Don't spend your commission, odds are these will be back before the end of the night." I was right, kind of ... I kept and am still using ,three 1m, series 2 component video cables, one 2m component video cable, 1 coax .5m audio cable. 5 cables, roughly $225 worth. I returned all the SPDIF cables as there was no difference, that was audible to me. I have also purchased the monster product for my Xbox (since then). WHAT I SAW (SEE) WITH MY OWN EYES: far superior color saturation, "fluttering", as I would call it is eliminated, especially in fast moving scenes (Hockey). Not that much right? WRONG! My Xbox colors are amazing, my satellite receivers (HR10-250 & ViP211) have the best color of anyone I know. So, one of two things has happend. I have gone crazy and need to be locked up (as do my wife, son, neighbor (Ron) & dad) or my picture was improved. I am going with the latter.
That is why I told him try cable A, then try cable B ... use the one that looks the best ... then post back so the rest of us know what your experience was.
Too easy I guess.
Without "diggin" I gotta say ... monstercables have nitrogen injected dielectric, stranded SOLID copper (no steel, tin or other metallurgical anomalies) and their medium end line (S3) is certified by the ISF. Now since the ISF is all about the NTSC & ATSC standard ... they know what they are talking about. I HATE spending HT money that is not toy related, cables are not toys and when I may buy an HD-DVD player for the price of my cables ... how bad could they be? I'll be the first to admit, I am an enthusiast, not a professional, needless to say I am deeply enthused with the result.whatchel1 said:Not recommending a product. Just telling you that ultra expensive cables are a rip off that are sold to make the manufacturer and the sales force $$. I personally go w/ the low/mid price. Reason is that the construction quality is usually good. The cheapest are just that. Example for speaker cable I go for 12 AWG or 10 for longer runs. Oxygen free copper is nice because it shows quality control. Not that the oxygen changes conduction but not having it will reduce the chances of deterioration over time. Don't use aluminum with copper these react to each other and cause a major conduction problem over time. For RG-6 (coax) quad shielding there is no choice of center conductor it will be steel covered w/ copper. I just don't know of any RG-6 that uses a copper center conductor because it is to soft and breaks to easily when pulled.
slacker9876 said:How about instead of being a jackass, you post useful information if you know of a better product. Oh I guess perhaps because for analog cables MonsterCable has been the reference series for 12 years.
Jackass ....
Here in Loveland ... we have WalMart. There is a BB, CC & UE in Fort Collins, but why go or buy there when I can do it from the couch I KNOW what I needosu1991 said:You obviously either have not visited a big box retailer lately or are not in a very competitive market.
slacker9876 said:So ... let's end the flaming and move on to helping our co-member.