Wire in A/V cables? (1 Viewer)

[PeterK]

I am finding A/V Cables too much for my budget these days. It's like 25 bucks!! So I thought I COuld just buy the wire and buy some standard wire and put them together. I don't know what Kind of wire they use or what gauge. Any advice?

 

[NickSo]

heh, if you think $25 for a cable is expensive, check out som eother peoples' equipment lists... They have cables that cost 10 times more than that :p)

 

[Wes_G]

*just paid $99 for Monster DVI cables*

 

[KyleCT]

what kind of wires are you talking about here? I bought optical cable at Circuit City for 15 bucks, and Best Buy has coaxial cable for like 12. It might not be the best quality buy my equip probably couldn't tell a difference.

 

[Robert Cowan]

hehe, no offense, but $25 for cables? im running my sirius satellite off of $60 cables, those were the cheapest i had laying around...

cables are the best thing that ever happened to my system...

 

[John Garcia]

Start with cheap cables, and replace them as you go. Start with quality video cables first, then upgrade the audio cables over time. Digital cables are a worthwhile upgrade, but should be the last ones to upgrade. Making them is not going to get you decent cables, unless you are buying a quality DIY kit, and that will not be less expensive than your $25 cable.

 

[Chip E]

Oh man.. you think $25.00 is expensive your in for a rude awakening! lol.. Boy ohhhhhhhh boyyyyyyy...

 

[Bill Will]

Try www.partsexpress.com You don't say exactly what kind of cables you are looking for. But here are some that they have.

Code Number TYPE OF CABLE LENGTH PRICE
189-117 Regular RCA Audio/Video Cable 6FT $1.47
180-264 Regular RCA Audio/S-Video Cable 3 FT $2.90
180-266 Regular RCA Audio/S-Video Cable 6 FT $3.25
181-662 Dayton Heavy Duty RCA Audio/Video Cable 3FT $14.40
181-664 Dayton Heavy Duty RCA Audio/Video Cable 6FT $18.70

Myself I've gotten cheap RCA Audio/Video Cables from them to hook up stuff in kids room's for as low as 39 Cents each from Buyout Specials that they've had in their flyers.

 

[Steve Griswold]

Well, if he bought a $99 HTIB, then his cable budget would be $10 or so, so I guess it's understandable...

 

[Stephen Weller]

By the time you've paid for the raw materials, you'll have exceeded what "cheap" cables sell for. And ask your self this: Isn't my labor worth anything?

Get them from RatShack, CC, or BB. They be good enough.

 

[Garrett Adams]

Last week I in this or another forum I followed a link to this guy's web site where he sells speaker cables. The 6 up to 25 foot cables ran $6,000 to $18,000 each. Snake oil lives!

 

[Stephen Weller]

Not a bad price...if they're made from pure unobtaineum.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Here is a link to Chris White's How to make your own AV cables page. This should give you some idea of what type of coax stock and RCA plugs to buy.

 

[Ed Welker]

RE "unobtaineum"--is that more expensive than fauxtaineum?

A reviewer in Stereophile magazine, who writes about mega-dollar equipment, had a short piece last year about some $25 per pair cables he received from a colleague. Turns our they sounded just as good as some of the $$$/pair stuff he'd written about in the past. He even said in the article he was committing heresy even writing about such affordable cables in the first place. Go to Radio Shack and ask for some AR cables in the $25-$35 range. You probably won't be disappointed.

Ed

 

[PeterK]

What is an AR cable? It looks like it's not really worth it to make my own cables. And it's not a cheap HTIB setup. Not to say it's an expensive one either.


Here is a link.

Tell me what you think.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Sorry. AR is short for "Acoustic Research" a line of cables sold through Sears and Best Buy. Despite being in the $15-$39 price range they do a very good job even with HD equipment.

For HD video, the Canare/Belden based cables for about $50 are recommended and are not a huge jump in price over the AR component cables.

 

[KyleCT]

someone just recomended i get good video dubbing cable to use as coax. 5 bucks for 6 feet, it at least plays digital audio. there is a link in this post

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=179347

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Kyle - yes, the coaxial-digital connection is simply a Video Cable. The people who wrote the SPDIF (Sony Phillips Digital Interface Format) had a video cable in mind.

The exact text is something like "...75 ohm coaxial cable", but every video cable on the market is made with 75 ohm coax.

I'm not sure what brand/quality you get for $5, I personally prefer the $14-$19 cables from Radio Shack or the Acoustic Research brand.

There is a rule-of-thumb you may not have heard of:
This keeps you from over-spending. If you hit exactly the 10% budget you are doing fine. If you spend less, great. But just make sure the cables are well built and as thick or thicker than your CATV coax.

(There are some cheap $4.95 "patch cables" with RCA plugs and thin, walkman-headphone wires - these are not considered good quality.)