best component cables for progressive scan? (1 Viewer)

[Sean Patrick]

i'm currently using $10 radio shack components, and i assume these wont' cut it when it comes to a progressive scan dvd picture. i am pretty sure i should stay away from Monster (right?), so i was wondering what some good, affordable cables are.

thanks

 

[Kevin Coleman]

For some high quality very affordable cables do a search on E-Bay for "Canare Component" or "Belden Component"
Many people sell Canare and Belden brand broadcast quality cables at very low prices when you factor in the quality and costs of the parts.
Kevin C.

 

[george king]

Sean,

What is your budget? The BetterCables component cables are great (I own a pair, not the silver ones however), and there was a picture improvement. However, they run about $100/meter.

Other than that, the Acoustic Research cables are pretty good, especially at about $30/6 ft.

Hope this helps.

 

[Chris Hiter]

I use the AR cables and I am very impressed with them. I am sure there are much better cables but the AR's do a very efficient job.

 

[Andrew_Ballew]

Wal-mart carries some Gold-plated RCA (the brand) component cables for $20. I am almost certain they are the same ( at least virtually the same) cables as Radio Shack Gold.

I am not kidding. These cables are very good. I have had $200 audioquest component cables, $80 Monster component cables, and these $20 RCA component cables. I see no difference.

My two cents

Andrew B.

 

[Marc Rochkind]

Sean, what is your reason for staying away from Monster?

 

[Sean Patrick]

i just thought it was the consensus around here that Monster cables were overpriced junk. I have a monster optical cable that works fine, but so do the ones i got at radio shack for $10. If someone were to recommend Monster video cables, i might go for it but so far i haven't heard good things.

 

[Marc Rochkind]

Ahhhhhh... I see what you mean. Don't know about the consensus, but I halfway agree with you. Overpriced. As for the junk part, not so sure. Quality for what I've seen has been excellent.

But I do agree that you can get the equivalent for half as much or so.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Sean/Marc: Try looking at this link Better Cables vs Monster over in the Connections thread.
Sean - it will list a bunch of sites that will build you HD compatible cables similar to what the production studios use. It WILL be more than the $10 units I'm afraid.
I think I will move this post to the Connections fourm so others can chime in.

 

[Sihan Goi]

Monster is overpriced, but it certainly isn't junk. They make decent, but overpriced products. You can actually say the same thing about Bettercables...

 

[Roger Kint]

RCA(the brand) cables are pure junk. These are the ones you get from Home Depot - don't even work half the time. The connections are so poor that you'd get snow on their coax cables. The RCA (brand) RCA (type) cables didn't work for me out of the package.

For this reason, I am leaning towards Monster or some other hi quality brand. I just don't want the extra worry of not knowing if the cable works or not. At least with the extra $$$ I spend I know that I have a cable THAT WORKS.

 

[JasonDG]

I got a set of 2 meter Liberty component cables on ebay for $30. It's actually 3 seperate cables but they're still marked red green and blue. They seem to be better quality than what you get from RadShack. As for the picture quality...I'm waiting for Video Essentials to arrive from Netflix. My TV is obviously way out of tune because I really couldn't tell the difference between the COMPOSITE connection and the COMPONENT connection. If I don't see a difference after the calibration, I will seriously doubt all the talk of how component is the best quality you can get.

Or maybe I'm just blind.

 

[Marvin]

This is slightly off-topic but I once ordered one of those home-made Canare cables from someone on eBay. I think it was a LV61S that I got to see if it would be an improvement over the Radio Shack gold cable I was using as a composite video cable from my VCR.

Actually, the picture with the RS cable was noticeably sharper, which I didn't expect. The thing I don't like about their cables is that they grip so tightly I thought it would wreck the VCR output jack when detaching it. But maybe that's what makes the picture clearer. Or is the 61S too thin of a cable?

 

[Doug_Bbn]

For anyone who wants to make their own component cables... I would recommend any of the Belden HDTV coax... the only brand I see that claims 100% testing to 3GHz - beyond even what you need for HDTV but comforting to know the cable is capable of transmitting frequencies that high effectively.

The Belden web site lets you find all the coax types they specify for HDTV duty quite easily. If flexibility is an issue, smaller diameters will be more flexible (cable diameter is listed in the table) and smaller center conductors will be more flexible (center conductor diameter is listed in the table and stranded center conductors will be more flexible than solid center conductors (this is also listed). Once you have identified the cable you want (propagation speed as a percent of the speed of light you may want to look at too... the faster cables are 80% or higher) - finding reasonable lengths will be the only problem. It's easy to find 500' spools (prices vary from $70 to $250 for the same type of wire on a 500' spool so shop carefully!) and somewhat more difficult to find 100' spools. If you want 3 pair of 2 meter component cables, that's about 60 feet of wire - you'll have a lot left over - but the HDTV wire will make great digital coax too.

You should use RCAs for video and digital audio that have some sort of claim that they are "75 ohm" RCA connectors... they won't be true 75 ohm connectors - hard to do that in the RCA plug format, but they will be better than a generic audio RCA. partsexpress.com has "75 ohm" RCAs, gold plated for something like $4.25 per pair.

 

[Mark Rich]

The LV-61s series of cables is not the best choice for component video. Its a RG59 (24awg stranded) cable. What you gain in felixibility you lose in performance. The solid core Canare cables are better performers, preferably RG6 (L-5CFB) I find the Belden (1694a)is even better still.

 

[Brandon B]

Sean, just for reference, I went from a set of RS gold 6 foot components to a set of DIY Belden 1695A/Canare RCA 10 foot cables (per Jon Risch design). This is with a Pioneer F727 DVD player (their non-elite jukebox) and a Toshiba 36" standard def TV (their nicest non-progressive, non-flatscreen).

There was a noticeable (not stunning) improvement in spite of the longer cables.

So I would second (or third or wherever we are) finding a good Belden or Canare RG6 based set. Sure to be worth it with your nicer setup.

BB

 

[Rick Guynn]

Does anyone know of more 'local-type' shops (electronics chains)that are likely to carry the belden coax? I only really need a bit less than 50' to redo all of my connections... I don't want to buy 100' and I'd rather get it locally. I am mostly interested in the non-teflon (1505a, 1694a) cables...

 

[Chu Gai]

Rick: You could certainly use the Yellow Pages and locate suppliers and simply phone them. Newark Electronics is also located in Houston...(below comes from their website)
719 Sawdust Road, Suite 207
Spring, TX 77380
Main Office:frowning:281)296-6332
Main Fax:frowning:281)296-6331
Twyla Gray Office:frowning:281)296-6337
Twyla Gray Fax:frowning:281)-296-6317
I know they carry Belden but you'll have to check whether you can get it in the lengths you're looking for. Sometimes, you might find it's cheaper overall to buy the 100 foot spool. They also carry an assortment of connectors and can probably answer your questions over the phone.
Cheers

 

[Rick Guynn]

Well, after a few phone calls to several distributors I have failed to find anyone willing to sell the cable at less than 500' lengths. Markertek doesn't even list 1505A as being for sale in less than 500' lengths.

I did find something intersting during my search though:

Belden will debut its 1505F cable, a more flexible version of the company’s popular 1505A RG-59 precision digital video coax cable. The new cable is intended for patch panels, jumpers, and any applications requiring both superior signal transmission and flexibility, such as mobile units. The cable features a stranded center conductor and a double braid shield to provide for flexibility. It mates with all 1505A BNC connectors including standard and “True” 75 ohm styles. Every reel of the 1505F is sweep tested to 3 GHz to assure best-in-class return loss performance.

Rick