Are first party component cables good or is the extra money worth it? (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Hines]

In terms of the PS2/Xbox/GCN...

Are the first party cables good? Or are the Monster and other brands worth the price of admission? I just bought my first HD/1080p display (Westinghouse LVM-37w3) and I want do upgrade myself properly.

Fair warning, I'm totally new to home theater in terms of accessory brands.

 

[CaseyL]

I'm not sure that the monster cables are that much better if any. I've not done A > B comparisons, but based on the general quality of monster cables, I can't see them being much better than the 1st party cables.

 

[LS1 Sounds]

Monster cable is a ripoff in general. Check out www.bluejeanscable.com.

 

[Nathan A]

I haven't tried the more expensive Monster ones, but I do use the official 1st-party component cables for the XBox, PS2, and Gamecube on a 55" Mits, and I have no complaints. I doubt the Monster cables would really be worth it for most people.

 

[Mary M S]

I have not had good luck with a Monster S-V and a Monster component set.
The component gave my Sony RP LCD blooming reds and a softer pic.
I had a set of (I Think) Better Cables (mid line? they carry a good/better/best)
Cost was possibly same as Monster (I'd have to look it all up).

The PQ was noticebly improved with the Better Cables. In any future purchases, I'm planning on going with (some) other brand.

 

[Brandon Hines]

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[EricW]

i may be in the minority but i had the monster's for my 360 for about a month and i thought they were really good. whether they're worth it is entirely subjective.

i was hesitant to get them because A) i thought Monster was like the Bose of cables, and B) if the 360 ever goes HDMI then component is a waste as the 360 can't upconvert SD DVDs via component.

so i decided to get it at best buy since they have a no-hassle returrn ploicy. i connected it up and there was a distinct difference. colours were more vibrant and everything seemed a touch sharper - especially the HD trailers i downloaded. tfor the games, who really cares, but they did seem cleaner.

anyways, i returned it because of the rumoured HDMI. if by jan it's still not out, i'll probably go back the the Monsters.

my advice is just buy it and compare, then return it if you don't like it.

as for the 1st gen xbox, since it supported standard component cables off it's dongle, i saw HUGE differences between my 3rd party and 1st party component cables (and you didn't have to get ripped off by buying Monsters).

 

[RAF]

Another good source of cables (including component cables) is monoprice.com. Here's a link to their component cables. I find their prices much lower than competing brands and their PREMIUM cables stack up well against the competition at much, much lower prices. Scroll down to see all the offerings in a wide variety of categories.

 

[Eric Samonte]

I second Robert's recommendation on monoprice. Recently, I've had friends' order HDMIs, optical cables, etc off of them. Great price and good quality stuff....but it seems their popularity is slowing their shipping. It says on their site there will be delays. Then again it may be just the holiday season.

 

[CaseyL]

I do wish a few really high end cable manufacturers would make Console cables. It'd be nice to be able to have another choice.

 

[Ken Chui]

I use first-party and Monster component cables for my two PS2s and first-party component cables on my Xbox.

With regards to the PS2, I went with the Monster component cables because I was unable to find another set of first-party cables locally, plus the seller offered a bonus Monster PS2 power cable as part of the sale; excluding S&H, the Monster cables were actually cheaper than the ones from Sony. As image quality goes, I think both brands are comparable to each other and would easily recommend either in an HT setup; same goes for the first-party cables for the Xbox.

B&M retailers do charge a premium for Monster cables, but they can be found for significantly less online.

 

[Tuan Vo]

Unfortunately, for most game consoles especially the ones mentioned in this thread, you can't buy cables from bluejeanscable or monoprice because they're mostly breakout cables that require a special adaptor to the consoles themselves. The Xbox is an exception because it had a breakout component adaptor that required regular component hook up. I had this accessory but I tried different cables and it didn't seem to change the quality. I'm guessing the construction of the breakout box wasn't that good. The only other systems I can think that would use regular hook ups include the original Nintendo with it's two RCA outputs and the PS3 with the HDMI connection. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the other consoles require the manufacturer's adaptors or 3rd parter gamer cables for component connection.

However to answer your question, I haven't seen a big difference in quality because I had the PS2 monster cables and Sony OEM cables and they both seemed the same in quality. My setup was a 30" sony widescreen tv at the time so I'm not sure if that made any difference. Same thing for the Xbox. The gamecube only had nintendo branded component cable setup but those were pretty decent too. It was hard get progressive scan to enable on that system and it was only for certain games. So personally, I wouldn't pay more for the Monster cables or the fancy steel braided cables (I've seen these for the Xbox360). Having experience with the PS2 and Xbox 360, I think the OEM/1st party cables work out great for me on my current setup which is a Sony 42A10 tv. Thats it for my opinion...hope it helps.

 

[timZa]

Monster cables are snake oil.

 

[RAF]

As Tuan Vo correctly pointed out, if the cable is proprietary (i.e. it has a special connector unique to the device in question) then your choices are severely limited. In those cases going with the cheapest solution (unless it's obviously shoddy in construction) is probably the best choice. I've never been a big believer in overspending for cable (even in the audio spectrum) but just getting something capable for the job.

My experience with monoprice.com (and similar) cables has been extremely positive - and I have a wide variety of equipment in my HT and elsewhere, some pedestrian and some fairly high end.

 

[Richard_Fuentes]

blue jeans cables are my only choice for quality cables.