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Philips / Wal-Mart cable weirdness (1 Viewer)

Chris_Cur

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Dec 1, 2002
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I'm a little confused here...

For my bedroom, I recently picked up a few cables (S-Video and Component) from Wal-Mart. The cables are made by Philips, and they seem to be part of Philips "Gold Series." The weird part is this: they don't have the black tubing like most of Philips stuff. They have some sort of silver weave, with a clear plastic tubing on top. I've been very pleasantly surprised with the quality... I can't tell any difference between the performance I get from them and from my other cables (mostly AR, with a few Monster products that I picked up cheap).

I've been doing some searching for information online, and I haven't really been able to come up with much of anything. The only site I've found that mentions these cables ( THIS SITE ) says these cables are produced by Philips Canada. If so, I'm curious why my local Wal-Mart would be carrying them.

For comparisons sake, if you visit that website, the products that begin with an "M" product number are the typical black cables I'm used to seeing at Wal-Mart. The products that begin with "P" are what I've seen recently.
 

GordonL

Supporting Actor
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Feb 14, 2000
Messages
771
I've seen the ones with the silver weave at Target under the GE brand. I think they're all made in China in the same factory. They should be OK quality - at least as good as the Radio Shack Gold Series cables.

I just picked up a couple pairs of the Philips PXT series cables dirt cheap ($5/pair!) from a local weekend computer show. Here's a closeup view of the subwoofer version. The quality seems to be very high - they have a boutique cable feel about it. May have to pick up more at the next show. :)
 

Chu Gai

Senior HTF Member
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Jun 29, 2001
Messages
7,270
I used to go to computer shows (been maybe 3 years now) but found the prices to be on the high side compared to what was online. Have things changed where you are Gordon?
 

GordonL

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Feb 14, 2000
Messages
771
It's kind of hit or miss. CPU/motherboard/case prices are consistent with mail order price if you look at total cost, i.e. S & H vs sales tax so I end up buying those at the shows. Hard drives are much cheaper from the big chains like BestBuy, CircuitCity, or CompUSA because they usually offer huge rebates. Nowadays, I find the only thing consistently cheaper to buy online is memory. Sometimes the big chains have equivalent deals on memory but involves rebates.
If you can get to the Trenton Computer Festival this weekend, look for these guys http://www.thecloseoutguys.com/. They have great deals on cables of all kinds. They have Acoustic Research Master/Pro/Performance cables for pretty good prices.
 

Danny Tse

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Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Messages
3,185
The link above pretty explained it all....despite the Philips, RCA, or GE brands, they're all made by Gemini Industries. Gemini is a major accesories manufacturer and just purchased the AR (Acoustic Research) brand for cabling (not speakers - that went to Audiovox). I wouldn't be surprised if all if these are the one and the same.
 

GordonL

Supporting Actor
Joined
Feb 14, 2000
Messages
771
That explains why there seems to be a glut of AR cables on ebay for dirt cheap prices.
 

Danny Tse

Senior HTF Member
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Nov 1, 2000
Messages
3,185
accessories4less.com is having sale on AR cables....check it out. AR cables have been well-received, so I hope Gemini will continue to make great AR cables at an affordable price.
 

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