Good Quality Cabling /w Affordable Price? (1 Viewer)

Derek Iverson · Feb 22, 2003

I'm currently setting up my home theater, but I'm having trouble finding some good quality cables and wires at an affordable price.

I was going to use Monster Cable for my speakers, but it can be pretty expensive. I've heard that just about any 12 gauge wiring will work great for speakers, is this true? If this is so, is this a good deal, or would I be better off going to a store like Home Depot?

What about for my subwoofer? I'm going to be getting an SVS. I'm not sure which one yet, but definitely one of the cylinders. I heard someone saying that RG6 cabling will work, but will I lose any of the signal? I don't think my sub will be that far away from the TV, so maybe it would be best if I just bought something pre-made.

I also need to get a good quality toslink cable to go from my DVD player to my A/V receiver. I've seen some really cheap ones, but I don't really know much about them.

I'll probably need some digital coaxial cables too (long ones; 25-50 feet).

I still haven't bought any decent component video cables to use for my HDTV (57" Toshiba 57HX81) that I've had for several months. It seems like most of the "good" ones are $80 and up. Anything cheaper, or are the expensive ones worth it in this case? I've been told that they are worth the money in the past, but this would really start to add up. I need one to go from my A/V receiver to my TV, one to go from my DVD player to my A/V receiver, and another one to go from my HDTV receiver to my A/V receiver.

Murali Kalapala · Feb 22, 2003

The sound king is a good deal. For video cables buy good coaxial cables and make your own....there will be no problems. The DIY forum may have more info.

Derek Iverson · Feb 22, 2003

Umm... I'm not going to use coax cables for high resolution video. I'm sticking with component.

TommyL · Feb 23, 2003

Derek, check out www.ac4l.com they have ar pro cabling, which is a great abng for the buck...and cheap too...I believe they have a big sale going on...12' component cables AR PRO, not the Best BUY cheap ones..for 24 bucks(last I checked) talk to Mark...he is good...tell him tom sent ya

Derek Iverson · Feb 23, 2003

Looks like a good deal. Thanks Tom.

Derek Iverson · Feb 23, 2003

Hmm... Does anyone know where to get long digital coaxial cable? I need it to reach from one of my computers to my A/V receiver (at least 25-30 feet).

TommyL · Feb 23, 2003

Email Mark at the addy above..he may have something, or a suggestion

tom

Camp · Feb 23, 2003

Digital coax doesn't need a special cable.
I put RCA ends on a 60' run of RG6 to go from my computer to my HT and it worked fine. Sounds great and only cost $25 at Home Depot.

Mike Matheson · Feb 23, 2003

Derek,

For inexpensive quality component cables, one option would be www.bluejeanscable.com.

(they'll still be "coaxial" component cables; I don't think you'd find much better though)

Derek Iverson · Feb 23, 2003

(they'll still be "coaxial" component cables; I don't think you'd find much better though)

Yeah, as long as there are three coax cables and not just one. Hmm.. I thought Mike was telling me to use just one for the video, but I don't know why I would have thought that now that I've reread his post. I guess I misunderstood. I feel kind of stupid now. :b

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Khoa Tran · Feb 23, 2003

Tara Labs

Derek Iverson · Feb 23, 2003

Tara Labs

They make cables, right? I went to their web site and it showed some of their products, but you can't buy anything from them directly. I did a search for stores that carry their products and I found two near me.

Chamber's Audio
Jonathan Tinn
2725 S.W Sherwood
Portland, Oregon 97201
United States
Phone: 503-221-0465

Stereotypes
Terry Inman
2627 NE Broadway
Portland, Oregon 97232
United States
Phone: 503-280-0910

I did a search on the internet and didn't find anyone that sells their stuff online, so I would probably have to pay whatever those two stores want for their stuff.

Can you tell me anything about them? Are they high quality cables? Are they expensive (an example would be nice)?

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Shane Martin · Feb 24, 2003

I use Tara Labs. They are a little more $$ than Monster(i've used them before too) and are an improvement on the video and audio side both. They make more expensive cables as well but I could only afford their basic entry line at the time.

My advice: buy both and see which ones you like and return the ones you don't. If you see the difference/hear the difference and think its worth the $$, then buy the better cable. I did and kept the Tara labs. Their optical cable 1 meter was $35 for me at my local store.

Generally you should spend 10% of your total home theater budget on cabling and this works out well. I sure would if I spent $2k+ on a new Toshiba big screen.

On Component cables, you don't have to buy strictly component cables, you can buy 3 75ohm video cables and be just fine.

Other sites to recommend are:
http://www.catcables.com
http://www.avcable.com

Keep also in mind the cable debate rages on daily with multiple threads on this and various opinions so do yourself a favor and go with what you like and ignore the rest of us because its your money you are spending not them

M_a_r_k^NE · Feb 24, 2003

Tributaries carries good value cable. Check them out.

Bob McElfresh · Feb 25, 2003

Generally you should spend 10% of your total home theater budget on cabling...

I have to second Shane's advice. I'd even limit it to "10% of the cost of the 2 devices you are connecting".

Derek: you can go budget for a long coaxial-digital connection, or a long subwoofer connection. But I'd really recommend getting high-def compatible video cables.

Yes, you can spend $$$$ on cables, but that is because there is a huge mark-up and cost associated with keeping cables in stock at your local store.

The smart money for video cables is to go to some of the custom-cable sites. They will build you cables with cable stock used in production studios/broadcast industry.

Keep this in mind:

$1.50 / ft - This is the bulk price for professional grade, 3 conductor, HD compatible coax. With good Canare RCA plugs (~$2.00 ea) this cable can match/out-perform the high-end Monster CV300 cable (at $220 for 12 ft).

Chris White has a great site telling you exactly how to build your own cables just like the techs in the industry do. The various custom-sites follow this exact formulia for the cables they will build for you. Highly recommended.

Hope this helps.

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Derek Iverson · Mar 30, 2003

When making component video cables, is it better to use Canare's V3-5CFB or would three seperate runs of quad-shielded coaxial cable result in better quality?

I got quotes for custom cables from people selling on eBay. Each quote is from a seperate person that emailed me back. Out of the five people I emailed yesterday, four replied. Only three were interested in making me custom cables. Tell me what you think.

We do not use much CFB series cable, because while it may be great cable for facilities wiring, we have found it to be ill-suited to most home and smaller commercial installations. As such, we do not stock any multi-channel CFB cables, only single channel L-4CFB and L-5CFB.

These cables are harder to work with than the ones that we prefer to use, so we charge a premium to build them. I will be happy to order some multi-channel CFB cable in for you, if that's what you really want, or alternately I will be glad to quote for you in single channel CFB.

We could also talk about cables that might be better suited to your needs, if you would like...we stock many cables that would cost less to build and that would probably be a better choice for you.

Should I ask him how much he would charge for component video cables using three seperate runs of quad-shielded RG6?

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kevitra · Mar 30, 2003

http://www.avcables.com/ sells Canare cable at great prices.

Derek Iverson · Mar 30, 2003

http://www.avcables.com/ sells Canare cable at great prices.

How is $52.61 for only 3 feet a good deal? BlueJeansCable and the prices that someone gave me above are both cheaper.

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Derek Iverson · Mar 30, 2003

This is what I want to know:

When making component video cables, is it better to use Canare's V3-5CFB or would three seperate runs of quad-shielded coaxial cable result in better quality?

Derek Iverson · Mar 31, 2003

Anyone?

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