Upgrade to Monster Cables?

[amfoeckler]

I think I know the answer to the following question, but it will help to tell my wife that you all told me I should upgrade the cables when she sees that I dropped over a hundred bucks on cables:

Should I upgrade my hd coaxial cables (to toshiba 57hdx82) and s-video cables (to tivo and then to tv) to Monster Cables (or some other high end cables)?  Why?  What brand (monster or some other brand)?

[Greg Oman]

Oh geez... I'll be brave.

Coaxial probably won't matter if you've got RG-6 already.  I often see some of these using RG59, which is slightly smaller diameter.  Personally, I buy bulk RG6 and do my own crimped ends, that way I control which cable I buy and I custom make the lengths when necessary-- it's really not that hard.  I don't do the push on's, threaded only.  

Whether or not any premium brand cable is worth it's cost, I'm mixed.  I do like the much nicer quality ends that come on these, however I have a hard time telling a difference between the various premium offerings-- Monster & Radio Shack are probably the most common, and from what I've seen somewhat price fixed.  Home Depot (stop laughing) sells a few cables from RCA's premium line, they are pretty affordable-- between bargain and Monster mostly, but the selection is somewhat limited here.  I think even AR 'makes' cables now, sold at Best Buy in addition to Monster.

My approach has always been to treat the cables like a separate component-- ie. if you spend an average of $500 per component, $500 for interconnects isn't outlandish for them all.

You may want to do a search on one of the big boards like AVS for options, there are some choices out there that are not highly visible here in Milwaukee.

Hope this helps a little.

PS: Yes, I do have a mix of stuff presently, some Monster, some generic, some RCA from Home Depot.

[Joseph S]

One thing I don't buy anymore are Radio Shack RCA gold and Monster cables.

I find the Monster cables to be overpriced and not near the quality of some of the stuff available from internet dealers of canare/belden cables at the same or lower prices. That said I still have Monster cables for my analog 5.1 for DVD-Audio and one Monster digital audio cable interconnect. I plan to replace these in the near future.

I once lost the red signal on my Monster PS2 cable. I was embarrassed to see how overpriced these things were when looking at the pathetic connection and lack of protection for it. I would recommend Acoustic Research Pro game cables for those that need game console cables.

I don't buy Radio Shack gold RCA because the ends grip so tight that the chance of damaging my receiver on unplug seemed very likely.

Home Depot 12 gauge speaker wire has very difficult strands to separate, but it provides a noticible difference in my setup for very little money.

The more expensive options include Better Cables and the Silver/Copper Cats. Other options at a reduced price are Rhinocables and BlueJeanscable.

[stevenq99]

do you have a specific problem you are trying to correct?  Are you just trying to inprove on the picture?  I doubt new cables will make that much diffrence.  You might get more bang for the buck with an ISF calabration on your projection monitor.

[P a u l]

For video RG6 is the way to go. Greg O makes some good points here. First and foremost, making your own cables. It will save you tons of money in the long run. Invest in some wire stripping/crimping tools, and if you are pretty handy with a soldering iron get one also. Usually $75 will get you started with some quality tools, don't get the radio shack cheap stuff. Try this place to start, Ness Electronics, they are on Silver Spring Drive. they deal alot with TWC:p and Ameritech (double:p) and ahave tons of cable (RG6) and tools in stock. There are a few other places around town also like Grangier, they are near the Summerfest grounds, and also Industrial Electronics they are on 5th and National near all the construction. There is one more place across from Industrial Electronics but I can't remember the name off the top of my head.
Now most of these places will sell you cable in bulk only though, 500ft or more, so unless you have tons of wiring to do Home Depot is a good place to check. You can buy cable by the foot. But this requires you to get the measuring stick out and figure out exactly how much you need. I usually add about 10 extra feet just to be safe. You can always cut off the extra or just stuff it back into the walls.
I try and stay away from radio shack as much as possible just because I hate giving my zip code, e-mail, DOB, SSN, and being pestered about their great cell phone service just to buy a pack of batteries.

[mr_yeti]

In fairness, I went to Radio Shack the other day, and they had posted the fact that there is no longer an interrogation process when making purchases there.

I did, however, have to listen to the clerk talk to me about how he wasn't afraid of viruses, and that the one that hit over the weekend won't affect him. Not unless you're running SQL Server in your home it won't!

[GJC]

As an FYI, Target is selling Acoustic Research and GE branded cables.  They had 6 and 12' length Component video cables for under $20.  Quality looked good on visual inspection.  Ends were well molded and you can clearly see a heafty shield through the clear outer coating on the cable (on the GE brand at least).

[pestario]

Yes I bought similar cables from Target and have been very pleasently suprised with the results.

[jlegge]

Grrrr.........

Heh heh.....  :bang:

[P a u l]

Lets not forget about Flanners. In my quest for some Monster cable for the station I actually called Monster looking for a specific type of cable and Monster told me that Flanners was the only "authorized" Monster dealer in the area. Now I have seen Monster cable at American and Best Buy, but I was looking for a 500ft. spool. And oh yeah, I was at American the other day and their Monster cable is way over-priced. Now you might not need 500ft. of monster cable, but Flanners told me that whatever I don't use bring it back and they will buy back the un-used portion. Ask for the Monster cable Standard Series. It's the stuff they wont put on the shelf, but works just as good as the expensive stuff. The cable is black not the see through type.

[veyj]

It appears that Monster is everywhere.  I was at Menards this past weekend and saw many different Monster cabling products.  In regards to cable, they carried both the XP and the Standard Series.  No idea if this is competitive, but here some numbers on the standard series cable.

150 ft   16-4   $100
  75 ft   16-4   $50
150 ft   16-2   $55


John

[mcq]

Originally posted by P a u l
Lets not forget about Flanners. In my quest for some Monster cable for the station I actually called Monster looking for a specific type of cable and Monster told me that Flanners was the only "authorized" Monster dealer in the area.  

I did the same thing almost three years ago at Flanners. I feel that I was totally oversold on a Monster Coax Digital Cable... this was well before I did any research. I know I paid over $100, but I rationalized it (s compared to a $3500 TV and $700 Progressive-DVD player.) With all due respect to Flanners I felt fleeced, as they were the only ones in town with the cable I needed (at that time.)

Just a bad experience from a Naive newbie. As I know that Flanners sells quality gear, someday I'll have to put aside my perceived gripe and stop in there.  :confused:

[AndrewP]

I was very skeptical about upgrading my cheap cables (most of them from units and RS). But finally I bought Phoenix Gold 620 cables and yesterday tried them.
So... I am very impressed with overall PQ and audio improvement.
I will recommend this upgrade for everybody. Of course, it is not a priority. I did it mostly to clean up cable mess in the back. But the result is very impressive.
If somebody interested I recommend "reading" about products at http://www.crutchfield.com and then buying at //www.beachaudio.com.

Andrew

[Steve_Miller]

I don't know how American could be 'way over-priced'. Monster Cable's prices are set by Monster. I used to sell Home Theater at American, and I can tell you that the same cable will cost you the same every where you go. The company does this because there is a huge amount of mark-up in the product, and they don't want the stores to cut the price and thus create competition that would drive the price down further. A lot of companies do this (ie Bose)  

That said, Monster itself tents to be over-priced. A lot of the other brands mentioned here will do you just as good of a job, and won't hit your pocketbook so bad. If you are going buy Monster, pay attention to what grade of cable you buy. Monster cable goes from expensive to insane, and you rarely need above the first grade (ie Monster Video 1).

[GJC]

I gotta mention this here, it was so funny!

The other day I was at Target picking up another component video cable and I saw there were a lot of opened and resealed packages on the shelves.  Well, in one spot, labelled "Video Cable", there was a package with piece of RG-6 cable in it that had obviously been cut open and taped back together.  This cable had the signature TWC F-type ends with the blue plastic insulators.  So I can only assume that somebody bought the cable that was originally in there, then returned the package with a leftover piece of RG-6 laying around there house!  Not only did it get past the high school girls working at the service counter, they actually restocked it too!  I almost died laughing right there in the store!