Please, a little help with cables...got a little money left! (1 Viewer)

[Christopher Rol]

First, my heartfelt thanks to all the experienced HT owners for sharing their knowledge so rookies such as myself don't totally mess things up!! I made the mistake of an impulse purchase 4 years ago of a package Sony HT system. It was an improvement over just the TV speakers, but MAN did it get outdated FAST!! As did the SHARP 36" TV (model 36K-S400) I hope I can get $200 for it but doubt it!! ANYWAY, I just picked up (after listening to LOTS of stuff as was advised by many..) a Yamaha HTR-5560 receiver, JBL SC150S1 speaker set, and Samsung DVD-P421 player, for $999 Best Buy. Also got 100 ft. 12ga. Monster cable, Home Depot @ .34 p ft. Then went ahead and grabbed a Samsung HDTV model HCM-4215W for another 1,600 bucks. The reason of choice being the relatively narrow body of the unit (a full 4" thinner than all the rest in that size range and pic was quite delightful even in the store) MY QUESTION AT LAST, thanks for bearing with me I am REALLY excited... Is it OK to just hook up the speaker wires raw to the binding posts or do I really need the banana plugs....also what component cables are the best for this set-up, not wanting to buy high priced Monster if unnecc. OH,YES...is the AVIA disc as good as the SOUND AND VISION disc?? THANKS SO MUCH!!

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Chris. Weclcome to HTF.
An HD television takes the signal and de-interlaces it and often up-converts it. This makes them more sensitive to the signal than an ordinary TV.
The best value for the money is to hit some of the custom web sites and have them build you a component video cable set using production-studio grade materials. This will be a bit more than Radio Shack or AR brand cables, but a lot less than Monster.
Look for Canare RCA plugs and either Canare or Belden coax.
Some sites are:
www.heartlandcables.com
www.bluejeanscable.com
Cable Solutions (go to eBay and search for "Canare")
www.bettercables.com (sells a sliver-coated cable. A bit more, but people rave about them).
Keep in mind the 10% rule: budget 10% of your equipment price for cables. That TV was $1600, so $160 for the cable is not out-of-line. But the above sites will run you less than this.
Hit the "Tweeks, connections, accessories" fourm for lots of this type of discussion.
Connections: Bare wire is considered the audiophiles choice. I use the dual bananas from Radio Shack because they are convient and make it easy to do a neat wireing job. If you use bare wire, make sure no strands of copper are left sticking out to cause a short later on.
Hope this helps.

 

[Greg_R]

OH,YES...is the AVIA disc as good as the SOUND AND VISION disc?? THANKS SO MUCH!!

I feel the Avia disc is better. Sound and Vision's disc has the basics, Avia has a lot of the advanced setup/calibration options.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

If you're looking to save a couple bucks on cables, I might be able to help you:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=77599
HTF members only.
-V

 

[Christopher Rol]

Thanks, I've calmed down now and have the weekend ahead to crawl thru the attic and drop spkr. wires to the rears, and did take a look at bettercable.com looks like a great scource and no doubt better that Radio-outhouse. (actually they do have some stuff I needed, found the bananas there...can't be much diff. than any others.
Thanks for the Avia disc info as being the one to get!
Hope I can someday be able to answer someone elses questions. LOTR should be lookin' good by next week...I'm waiting to see it til then (saw it twice at the big screen)