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Component cables

Started by Tombanjo • Jan 21, 2005 • 4 posts
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#1
I was wondering why my cable HD channels looked better then my Directv HD. I discovered that my HR10-250 was hooked up with cheap component cables. I swapped them out with $120 Zu cables that I picked up for $40 on the used market. The difference was dramatic. Pt. Pleasent on FoxHD just jumped out at me. I had watched the first half with the old cables and the second half with the new ones. This was one of the better upgrades I ever did.

I also managed to greatly improve my center channel sound, which I was having trouble with due to it's enclosed location, by placing vibrapods under it and upgrading the quality of the speaker cable. It doesn't sound nearly as boxy as it had before.

Tweakers unite!!
#2
Keep at it, Tombanjo! In spite of what the theorists say (myself being one) there are improvements to be made in a system where our eyes and ears become better test equipment than what can be currently purchased. I can speak from 30+ years of field experience.
#3
There's plenty of pricey and inefffective cables out there that give the naysayers ammo for their argument that cables don't vary much.

I've hooked up 10 awg yellow Home Depot extension cords, terminated with bananas, which cost me less then $40 and they sounded as good as some cables that I have bought and sold in the $200-$600 range.

Then again my present cables, Kubala-Sosna ($800) sound heavenly and blow the others I've owned away.

I have found the problem to be the good quality cables, cables that will make you hear the difference, are mixed in the market place with a whole lotta snake oil type cables that won't due much more then those extension cords, except make your wallet lighter.

Following the "thicker is better" rule for speaker cable, I would love to move on past the extension cords and hook up some battery cable jumpers. Those babies got some thickness to them, no? Probably 4awg of pure copper wire. Think about how cool those giant aligator clips will look sticking out from the back of your amp. You'll need to find an amp with plenty of room btw the the terminals though, and you'll probably need to find a new wife also. :)
#4
Y'all just be sure that you understand that different isn't necessarily better. Cables with lots of reactance (capacitive or inductive) may cause an amp. to behave badly, but may add something to the sound that one interprets as better, when it really isn't. On the other hand, if you really like it better, go for it. Just don't tell me it's more accurate.