HDTV Hook Up Cables (1 Viewer)

[Mark J Graham]

I just got my cable company box that has HDTV and want to hook it up.
I picked up Monster 3 component video cables, and realize that both the receiver and the TV have the 5 cable hookup, the 3 component plus the Horizontal and Vertical sync. What cables would you recommend using for these connections? Do I need to go out and spend another $80 on a Monster 3 cable and just use 2 of them, or is there a better option?
Thanks.
Mark Graham

 

[John Coleman]

Mark,
You have a couple of options as to what cable to use for this application. However, if it were me, I would put a high-performance premium on whatever cables I chose. HDTV is very high-bandwidth situation, and in my opinion, this is the type of situations where quality in cables will really show.
More importantly, though, I would make sure all cables for all five channels were absolutely identical. For example, I would rather have five identical, average performing 75-Ohm video cables, then a mixture of two different brands and/or models. Some may argue that different channels have different characteristics, therefore different cable requirements. However, being that I work for a premium audio and video cable company, Cobalt Cable, my opinion is that identical cables are the priority.
As far as your cable options go, simply using two channels of an additional 3-channel component cable would work just fine. If you would prefer not to do that, though, there are several quality cables out there that come in a set of five. Personally, having a stray cable hanging out on both ends of an HDTV connection would bother me, but you have to choose what will work the best for you. Also, Monster Cables are typically a fairly high-margin product for A/V dealers; so many of them are pretty lenient with their return policies.
Anyway, I hope this helped you out. Please feel free to e-mail me privately if you have any further questions or concerns. Good luck with your cable quest!
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John Coleman
Cobalt Cable
[email protected]