question about various "custom cables" need help... (1 Viewer)

[Zack_b]

hello everyone,

i am rather new and have a quick question. i am planning on upgrading my cables, primarily component video, sub cable, and dig. coax. at first i was planning on using all monster but after doing a lot of research i have decided this would not be my preference. i am now looking at various "custom cables" ie silver serpant, catz, rhinos, etc and there seems to be a somewhat large price difference between these although it seems they are all built with pretty much the same thing (belden, etc.) is there any major diff. between these or should i just go with the cheaper one that looks the best? also one more quick question that is unrelated...should i put some polyfill in my sub? will this make it sound any better? thanks everyone,

zack

 

[Howard_S]

Of the three you mentioned only Rhinocables uses belden based cables. Bettercables and Catcables are both believers in silver. Bettercables seem to have a pretty good reputation on their video cables while Catz is still pretty unknown.

It's hard to say who's better since there's nobody that I know of who have tried all three or any good reviews on them. As I said Catcables are relatively unknown while Bettercables have a pretty good reputation for their video cables while Rhinocables because of their use of Belden based cables are sure things. What this means is that the products that Rhino offers are of pretty high quality because of the Belden cables it uses (if you're a believer in Belden) but they're also limited by its design. You can make your own cables and it'll be just as good. Bettercables and Catcables have the boutique look to them that make them look like they're superior cables.

It really depends on how experimental you are. I had to make this choice and I still haven't really made my video cable choice. Reputation wise rhinocables and bettercables are better. You can find tons of people raving aabout rhinocables/belden based cables and bettercables products. While Chip E is the only one I know who raves about catcables. That's all I can tell you. With the lack of comparison reviews you'll just have to believe what they're advertising. Both bettercables and catcables look superior to rhinocables but you don't get any specifications from them unlike rhinocables. Take your pick.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Personally, I like the Canare stuff, mainly because of their wonderful RCA connectors. They are about the only company that makes such a high-quality, 75 ohm plug. And some sites will mate Canare plugs to Belden cable so you can get the best of both worlds.

So find a site that uses Canare plugs for the video cables would be my first criteria.

My advice would be to worry about the component video cable first. The coaxial-digital cable is trivial (any good video cable will work), and the sub cable can also be budget, but you want a nice tight connector. (I think this is why Monster has those 'turbine grip of death' plugs).

 

[John Doran]

Rhino uses Belden cables and Canare connectors, and the service is impeccable - the SVS of the cable world as far as customer service goes.
and the cables are fantastic.
check out rhino's site here
'nuff said.