IXOS vs. AR vs. ? Interconnects Through Receiver (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Blacklow]

I'm looking to start moving all of my AV through my receiver, which means I'm going to have to get more cable. I know that rabid wire-fans (Except for Chu Gai) will get pissed at me for this, but I need to go relatively cheap. That's what ac4l.com is for. So, no Belden-Canare for me here.

I'm going to be running everything through a H/K AVR320, which I hear has pretty good video switching. The monitor is a 32" non-HDTV Sony Wega. My question is, in a choice for video cables, would it be better to go with the AR Pro series or the IXOS Silver series? Both are in my budget range, but the IXOS is more expensive than the AR. Is there enough of a difference to warrant getting one over the other? Should I go with some of the cheap Monster stuff on shoppingmatrix.tv (Monster Vid 2 is comparable to IXOS in price). Or something else for less than $40/m?

 

[Jay_E]

With the level of equipment that you are using I can't imagine the AR Pro cables not being good enough. I have a 55" Mits. HDTV, (2) HDTV STBs, progessive DVD player, Onkyo 898 receiver, SVS subwoofer, etc. I use the AR Pro series for all my cabling (component, s-video, composite, analog audio, digital coax, toslink, and subwoofer cable) and am very happy with the results. I don't recall ever having read a bad report on the AR Pro cables. IMO if the AR Pro are less expensive then I would buy them without reservation. Good luck.

Jay

 

[BenK]

I use the pro series component cable to my 56" hdtv with excellent results. I also use the pro series analog audio cables that I found to be slightly better than a comparable Monster interconnects I use. For the money they're excellent.

 

[Chu Gai]

Heck I don't get mad at people buying cable, even if they spend oodles of money like $0.75/foot
That said, I can't see or think of a reason as to why a silver coated/plated cable would be of any great benefit in anyones system. These types of wires, at least to my knowledge, are almost invariably used in microwave applications typically for the purposes of dissipating and dealing with the heat that can be generated under high power conditions. Forget about any thoughts of skin effects being important here as it's a non-issue.
If you don't mind, rather than recommend one over the other or another type, I'd rather just set out some very very general thoughts and perhaps interject a personal preference.
First whatever cable you choose, it needs to meet the minimum requirements of your equipment...Bob McElfresh has already outlined what those are in various places. Assuming that your lengths are relatively short, then these minimum requirements (or somewhat above) are perfectly adequate. For longer lengths it only makes sense to overspecify somewhat. Mark Rich can certainly provide brands and assemblers of cables that vastly exceed the requirements of your present system and any system you're likely to encounter in your lifetime.
Were you the sort that was interested in making your own cables, then this place for example has a quite reasonable price (50 bucks for 250 feet) that'd allow you to recable your entire home, make your video cables, make some for xmas presents, etc.
Video cables will come in two basic flavors, RG59 and RG6 with the 59 having a somewhat smaller diameter for the center conductor. Then within those, the center conductor can be stranded or solid. Myself, I consider differences in the dielectric and shielding to be a moot point in typical home environments and the cost differential between say quad vs dual shielding is pretty trivial. The single center conductors are less flexible and don't allow you to make as tight of a bend. On the other hand, they will exhibit less localized impedence variations than stranded cable so if you're the kind of guy who's always moving things around and bending things into tight spaces that might dictate which sort of cable you'd be looking to get.
Understand that be it Radio Shack, Monster, AR, IXOS, Nordost, Better Cables...they're all having their cable made for them but they're doing so in such a way that any markings that may've identified the origin aren't on there. In other words they're being OEM'd.
So why don't you think about what kind of lengths you're thinking of, how tight the bends are going to be, whether you prefer the best possible specs out there, the nature of the RCA connectors and then maybe the list of available companies will start to shrink a bit and you can choose a cost effective solution to your needs.
See, I was nice

 

[Chu Gai]

Oh...lastly...I'm a general proponent of the defective cable/defective connection position. In other words, solutions to problems can be traced to that rather than to the purchase of a high end cable. That said, I'd simply look at spending a few dollars on some contact cleaner (tons out there www.caig.com for example) and that bit of prevention may go a long way to ensuring a good signal. Good luck!

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

So why don't you think about what kind of lengths you're thinking of, how tight the bends are going to be, whether you prefer the best possible specs out there, the nature of the RCA connectors and then maybe the list of available companies will start to shrink a bit and you can choose a cost effective solution to your needs.

The longest I'll be running for the video will be 2m. The receivers (my 320 and a separate receiver for Laserdisc RF demod and the rears in 7.1) will be under the TV in a TV stand. The TV stand has a back which is very limiting, and I'll probably end up taking it off (it's just dense carboard) for more freedom. The DVD, PS2, and LD will be located next to the TV--I don't know where yet, but within 2m. This config might change, especially if the receiver(s) cause picture distortion. Still, everything will be located within 2m.
Right now, the 1m component cable (which is made by GameShark, licensed from Recoton, who owns AR! Does it count as an AR cable?) for the PS2->Receiver connection is my highest-grade video connection. The connectors are gold-plated, and unlike other PS2 connections, is 3 separate lines from the PS2 adapter with their own insulation and shielding. It bends a lot like the thick Monster coax I use for the DVD sound, which is to say not a whole lot. I like that, but I'm not sure how good that is for short lengths. It was only $20 shipped. And finally, best specs are secondary to budget. I'm willing to settle for less-than-perfect but good if it costs substantially less.
Does that shrink the list?

 

[Chu Gai]

For quite decently and inexpensively made cables, consider the Dayton line (house brand) from www.partsexpress.com and if you don't see what you're looking for on their website, consider using their toll free # and ask. Your other choices that you suggested are fine also but considerably more bucks than the Daytons, the Daytons being a little less than 1/2 the cost of the AR pros. Should you decide to purchase from partsexpress, consider picking up contact cleaner, spare bananas, and other little goodies that you're likely to be needing to save on s/h (which is quite reasonable btw).

 

[Kevin. W]

Jesse,

If you plan on going with AR get the Master series. The extra $$$ will be well worth it.

Kevin

 

[Frank Carter]

Radio Shack has a new line of Gold series cables if you're interested. Don't know much about them other that what's on the site:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=15%2D1072
To your orig. post, I would go with the AR PRO from AC4L and be happy!