Any cables better/comparable to Monster? (1 Viewer)

[Chu Gai]

Chris, if your goal is to obtain cables where sound quality is important, then certainly home depot 12 gauge fits the bill. AR RCA's can be obtained from a variety of sources and generally have good connectors that 'grip' well. Understand that cables are accessories and not components as many would have you believe and the use of precious metals in say speaker cables serves to do one thing very well and that is deplete your wallet. Generally one can obtain RCA cables, yes and even silver coated ones, for far less than what cable 'companies' are charging. Of all the information that you'll obtain at various websites, one will never be a convincing relation of what they're selling to audible differences. Plenty of anecdotal evidence out there, but then there's hundreds of thousands if not millions that swear we never landed on the moon. If you're going to spend more it won't be for any improvement in sound but for something else like appearance. Good luck.

 

[David Judah]

Bob,
Note that I said Z-series has more shielding, not that it is required for good speaker wire in every installation.
Many things about wire and interconnects are difficult to test and prove--alot of it is subjective--but some of us are willing to spend a little more money and time testing for "just in case".
Things like more shielding, different metals, and different dielectrics are all examples. It might be overkill to some, but some of us want to have all of the bases covered within the limits of our budget.
DJ

 

[dougW]

You see, the shield is connected to the electrical ground of your electronics. I believe this is the limiting factor in the ammount of interference a cable can handle, not the "ammount" or design of the shield.

Bob, I don't doubt what you say about the amount of interference most cables can handle being related to the grounded shield.
But the fact the ground is connected to the shield may be fairly universally true, but it's not globally true. EVERY digital, or component cable I build get's at least 2 runs of silver covered coax. So the ground receives the same shielded attention as the conductor. Simply, because it has it's own shield. In fact, our S-Video gets FOUR runs of coax, so each connection (2 conductor and 2 shield)! That's what the Quad stands for in Quadcat. Unparalleled in the industry? Maybe. But it's how things are done at CAT and how they will continue to be done for a very long time.
Regards,
DougW
"The Head Cat"
------------------
Lexman's Theater

 

[Brian Glaeske]

I just bought some RCA "High-Performance Digtial Cable" from Target. $14.95 for 6 ft of AV interconnect.
This looks to be the same as Radio Shack Gold, but you don't have to go to Rat Shack to get it.
Brian G.

 

[Christopher Chung]

Thanks ALL to the valuable info you guys put in on this. I appreciate all the help, and now I feel a LOT more knowledgable about this subject and won't be tempted to fold into the salesman's "expertise".
Thanks!
Chris