Acoustic Research cables at Best Buy, Good or Bad? (1 Viewer)

[Bernie Lomax]

Should I spend the money and get the Monster Cable brand ones for optical and coax connections? Is there a fit, finish difference? Thanks.

 

[Chu Gai]

well it does come with a lifetime warranty if you hold onto your receipt. however, I think you'd do better pricewise with the AR and as far as the optical goes, it doesn't matter who you get. just look for a decent connector. my kid's got an optical from Electronic Boutique that works just fine (don't know the brand). Online Lifatec has a one meter armor jacketed cable that ought to hold up to a ton of abuse, even walking on it...ok, not if you're rosie o'donnel, for $20.

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

You can also get the AR Pro series for cheap at www.parts-express.com

 

[DarrellC]

I have both the Monster Cable and AR. The AR have been very good to me. I think they are fine.

 

[LewB]

I used the AR cables from Best Buy to hook up my system and the only complaint that I have is that I found their packages a pain in the neck to open. I have no gripes with the cables. I'm not sure that there is that much difference between them and the Monster Cables to justify the price difference.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I'd give NXG cables a look (both their regular and pro line). They're just as good as the basic Monster and AR Pro stuff at a fraction of the cost. Check them out on Yahoo Shopping. I was able to wire my entire system (11 cables) for under $50.

Hope this helps

 

[Todd K]

AR will do you good. I second Donnie's suggestion of looking for the Pro series online. I did the same.

I also used http://store.yahoo.com/electronicsemall2k/ and one or two other stores whose websites don't seem to be working right now. No single store had the lowest price on everything so I had to shop around. Try shop.yahoo.com and then typing in your desired product, you'll get a variety of prices. Ok I'm going way beyond the info you wanted here, so I'll stop.

Todd

 

[Frank Carter]

Check out www.ac4l.com I got all my AR Pro cables for the same price as the AR Performance series that Best Buy carries. Their service was extremely fast for me as well. I'm gonna place another order this weekend for some new comp. cables.

 

[Mike Matheson]

(Frank's link should be www.ac4l.com)

 

[Tony-B]

I use AR cables on my Home Theater for a variety of things. I use them to hook up the video out from my receiver to the TV, the audio out from my digital cable box to the receiver, and the video and audio out from my Playstation 2. I think that they work very well. They are a good price, and perform extremely well for it. LewB is right when he refers to the package. They are a major pain to get open.

 

[Don]

has anyone here bought the pro series or the Master series. i'm wondering if it is worth the extra money. Don,

 

[Mike Matheson]

Hi Don,

Depending upon where you buy them, the Pro series doesn't necessarily cost any more than the standard "Acoustic Research" cables.

I've seen a couple past posts regarding the Master series--if you haven't, maybe try a search using terms "Acoustic Research Master" or similar. Be sure it's the "Slow" or "Slowest" search, not the quick search (which wouldn't find many if any hits).

Regards,

Mike

 

[Arthur Legardo]

Check the local Costco in your area, the ones up here have just started selling Advent (repackaged AR) cables for much less than Best Buy.

 

[Rick CH]

Are the Advent cables at Costco basically the AR Pros?

 

[Arthur Legardo]

Yes, both are made by Recoton, same gauge, same gold plated connectors; the only differences are the brown box (instead of green) and a slight brownish tinge on the colouring of the outer sleeve (instead of grey). AR now has two lines the Pro and the (I think) Performance line, with the Pro line being the more expensive of the two. The Advents at Costco are akin to the AR Pros.

 

[Todd K]

AR actually has as many as 4 series -- The Performance Series, Pro Series, Pro2 Series, and Master Series.

I only discovered the pro2 series a short time ago and would very much like to know how they differ from the regular pro series. I've seen the master series at Sears a few times and they are considerably more expensive.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

I'm confused on this as well. The official AR web site only mentions the "Performance Series" with little technical information. I have emailed their customer service department asking for a engineer/technical contact. We will see what happens.

 

[Arthur Legardo]

I think the Pro Series 2 is a repackaged Pro Series cable. Gone is the green packaging and replaced with packaging similar to the Master Series and a few cosmetic tweaks to the connectors. Futuershop is replacing all of their Pro Series cables with the Pro Series 2 and they are selling them at the same price too.

 

[Todd K]

Bob,

Try this link:

http://www.araccessories.com/

It allows you to explore their types of cables, as well as surge protectors and an "in wall" cable series. Still, it doesn't explain the difference between the two pro series.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

That is a better link. Thanks! I must have found an old site.

They have their own "fourm" and someone from Aug posted a question about the Master series and bandwidth - 0 responses. Lets see if the email to customer service gives any response. (I'm spoiled by all the custom sites like BetterCables/SVS/Outlaw where they are quick to respond to requests).

To get back to the original topic: The AR Pro brand has a good reputation and considering the price, it's an outstanding value. Several members also swear by the Master series for HD/Progressive sources. My only hesitation is that the price seems to rival the custom sites and since you have to mail-order them anyway, you may as well get the professional stuff.