"Accessories4less.com" product quality (1 Viewer)

[Bert D]

I just purchased and received numerous audio and video cables made by AR from this e-tailer. I was surprised to find all cables except the optical cable NOT packaged in a "AR" package, but just coiled up and taped.

The 12' sub cable does not even have "AR" markings on the jacket, and no "directional arrows" like the 25' sub cable has. It makes me think the 12' sub cable is not all AR, even though the connector ends are "AR". The 25' sub cable says "AR" all over the jacket, so this is strange.
Also the 12' cable looks like it was attached to another cable and peeled apart from it, (made into a single cable)

I never knew that sub cables were "directional" ?

Anyway I am a little concerned about this, and before I contact the CO. I wondered if anyone had similar experiences ? Maybe this vendor gets all this cable in bulk/loose packaging, that is why it cost so much less ?

 

[DaveHo]

I have ordered from them twice, however I did not buy any AR products. The Monster products came in factory packaging. The IXOS in-wall speaker cable came looped and taped, but I expected that as it is generally cut off of larger spools. I would e-mail them and ask for an explanation.

-Dave

 

[Hank_P]

I just received an order from them yesterday. I ordered an set of Pro Audio and a Pro S-Video. The S-video was in the original packaging, but the audio cables were like you mentioned.. just bound in a plastic band/wrap.

I carefully inspected the audio cables to see if they had been used or returned and they appeared to be brand new. It was the first time I had received something this way and was very cautious.... but I have no complaints about the cables.. they look brand new and sound great. For the price and quick delivery, I would order from them again.

 

[Kevin T]

yup...that's how most of their ar pro-series audio cables come. my entire system used to be wired with ar. now i have custom made canare interconnects. all the cables i received from ac4l.com came as you mentioned (without the packaging). i never once had a problem with any of their cables and if it helps me save 30-50% off of retail pricing, i can do without the packaging which i'm just going to throw away anyways.

kevin t

 

[Bert D]

Agreed, that is likely how they sell them for what they do, buy in bulk, sell w/o packaging. I have no problem with that now that I see that others received them this way.
I like you, do not want to pay for packaging I throw in the trash.

However, I have contacted them about the one 12' sub cable I am not real happy about, so we will see.

Again, I was surprised that the 25' sub cables had directional arrows, I though it would not matter how you set those up.

Thanks to all for the feedback, I am more comfortable with this now.

 

[Ralph Summa]

I have bought AR Pro Series cables on three or four separate occasions from AC4L. The first time I received them wrapped like that I emailed their CS team who confirmed that they buy in bulk and that was the reason for this packaging on particular cables. It shows in their prices. I have never had an issue with the performance of the cables.

Ralph

 

[TimForman]

Many electronics manufacturers offer wholesale discounts on very large quantities. Someone figured out the there are a lot of people that know what they want and how to use it. These individuals have no use for retail packaging and "user-friendly" instruction booklets and can save large amounts of money buying items this way. Just like you guys, I've never had a problem buying electronics this way.

 

[Andrew W]

Note: I have a 12ft AR sub cable and it came in a bulk back and was split from a double cable also. I eventually replaced it with a Rhino sub cable, but not for any performance reasons.

Hey, I took a look at my 12ft AR sub cable. It *IS* directional, but it's not marked on the cable. You need to unscrew the connectors and take a look. One end will have a black insulator under crimped strain relief. The other end will not. The end with insulator should attach to the sub.

 

[Rick J]

hi andrew

i just noticed your post here and i have a 25' ar pro sub cable. i went and checked my cable and didn't realize i had it connected backwards. the way it was sounded fine. after now switching it, it still sounds the same. a couple of questions for the group:

1) would having it backwards do any damage to my receiver or sub?

2) having hooked it up this way, the "signal path" should be going to/into the sub. is that correct?

3) should i hear any differences in sound quality?

4) do i need to go back and recheck the settings with avia?

thanks! rick

 

[Andrew W]

The arrows points to the sub.

There is no harm done or need for recalibration.

The grounded shielding only helps to prevent picking up RF noise and there is a lot of debate about whether it even works in practice. The audio signal remains the same either way.

 

[stephen_z]

Timely post by all. I just placed an order with accessories4less for AR PRO sub-cable, s-video, optical and coax (still waiting for delivery). It will ease my mind when I receive the cables with "minimal" packaging. Any comments on how these cables perform against any other reasonably priced cables? I'll probably go for a cable upgrade down the road, but with my HT in flux, I went the cheaper route until equipment positioning is finalized.

 

[Kevin/Da]

I ordered a bunch of cables from acc4less a couple of weeks ago. The four pairs of ATS audio cables I got from their closeout page (seemed like a bargain at $5.99/pr) were in retail packaging, but the AR video cable was just wrapped in the famous plastic band. No problems with any of them.

BTW, the $5.99 ATS cables really made a noticeable improvement over the 'standard' conx that came with the DirecTV receiver and Tivo (even to my highly UNtrained ear and on my somewhat humble HT). They are listed as 'Silver Series' on the site, but the packaging had 'Platinum' and 'Gold' all over it, so maybe even better than 'Silver'?

Anyway, I would definitely buy from them again.

 

[Jay_E]

FYI, AR's parent company Recoton has a local factory outlet store where I have purchased many AR cables. Sometimes they are in retail packaging and sometimes they are bulk packaged (i.e. no packaging). I have not noticed any difference between the two.

Jay

 

[Chuck Paskovics]

Well, I just got my 12' AR Pro series cables from A4less and they were in the retail packaging. I guess it's just what they have at any given time as to what you will receive.