So, I’m getting myself a nice little widescreen digital television for my birthday. Nothing too fancy, but it has component inputs, which I’ve been wanting for a while. Since I was using svideo before, I now have to buy a whole new set of cables, so I thought I’d ask here if it was worth shelling out the cash for the ‘monster’ cables. Does quality of the cabling really affect image/audio quality to any degree, on a component system?
If it does, what brand would you reccomend, if not Monster? 60 bucks per cable is a bit pricey, since I have to get new cabling for all three of my consoles and my DVD player. However, if that’s what’s needed for perfect picture quality, I’ll do it. Kind of stupid to shell out five hundred dollars for a television and then not get the full effect because you wouldn’t spend fifty for the cabling.
When we got our HD TV we sprang for Monster cables for the DVD and the Xbox (Monster makes a set of Xbox connectors that is really nifty looking and hefty). Dunno if they’re any better than other brands, but I couldn’t even find component cables under $50 a set no matter what the label on the package.
From my audiophile days (now, admittedly, long past) I know that in that realm the high-quality heavy duty cabling did make a difference at the high end. So I suspect it’s true now. I’ve used crappy composite cables and good composite cables and could see the results, though I never did find much difference between cheap S-video connectors and expensive ones.
I wouldn’t get monster cables myself or uber high quality unless we are talking about ultra hdtv, progressive scan dvds etc. and even then I’d be somewhat skeptical. Sort of like those “gold plated” usb cables you see.
Yes, that may be true, but don’t skimp out and grab the cheapie ones. The mid-range priced ones are worth your while. I love Bettercables (of Bettercables.com), but I realize they are in the upper echelon. Getting the highest priced cables at your local Best Buy/Ultimate Electronics should make one happy.
Oh, and make sure you know the difference between component and composite cables before you go. :wink: You’ll be wanting the component.
