[fybar]

I am sure this has been beaten to death here in the past and I have
searched google archives to find some advice but I am having a little
troubl sorting it out. I am looking for any recommended faq or a
particular post that could help me select a cable for my setup. I have a
Marantz SR8500 and a number of Monitor Audio speakers. Silver RS1's,
Silver FX's and the silver LCR for the home theater and the S8's for purely
music, using the multi-room capability of the receiver. So, I am looking
for speaker, sub and optical cable rec's.

Thanks,

fybar

[Laurence Payne]

I am looking for any recommended faq or a
particular post that could help me select a cable for my setup. I have a
Marantz SR8500 and a number of Monitor Audio speakers. Silver RS1's,
Silver FX's and the silver LCR for the home theater and the S8's for purely
music, using the multi-room capability of the receiver. So, I am looking
for speaker, sub and optical cable rec's.

What's to sort out? Use something reasonably thick which reaches.
Professional audio knows nothing of magic cables. Home audio doesn't
need to either.

[Richard Crowley]

"fybar" wrote ...
I am sure this has been beaten to death here in the
past and I have searched google archives to find
some advice but I am having a little troubl sorting
it out.

The reason is that there is nothing to "sort out".
There is nothing about "magic cable" that is superior
except for the price and the profit to the manufacturer
and the retailer.

[AZ Nomad]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 06:29:23 -0700, Richard Crowley wrote:


"fybar" wrote ...
I am sure this has been beaten to death here in the
past and I have searched google archives to find
some advice but I am having a little troubl sorting
it out.

The reason is that there is nothing to "sort out".
There is nothing about "magic cable" that is superior
except for the price and the profit to the manufacturer
and the retailer.

There's a lot about magic cable that is incredibly inferior to a
properly made cable. It isn't easy making a CD sound like an LP,
having a rolloff in the high audio spectrum.

[Walt]

Richard Crowley wrote:
"fybar" wrote ...

I am sure this has been beaten to death here in the past and I have
searched google archives to find some advice but I am having a little
troubl sorting it out.

The reason is that there is nothing to "sort out".
There is nothing about "magic cable" that is superior
except for the price and the profit to the manufacturer
and the retailer.

Agreed, but avoid the really cheap stuff. Once the manufacturer has
spent a dollar or so making a cable there's not much opportunity to
improve it by increasing the cost of manufacture, but there's always a
way to cut costs and make it worse.

No reason to spend more than ten bucks on an RCA patch cable, or more
than 50 cents a foot on speaker cable.

//Walt

[fybar]

Stuart Krivis wrote in
:

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:18:00 GMT, fybar
wrote:

I am sure this has been beaten to death here in the past and I have
searched google archives to find some advice but I am having a little
troubl sorting it out. I am looking for any recommended faq or a
particular post that could help me select a cable for my setup. I
have a Marantz SR8500 and a number of Monitor Audio speakers. Silver
RS1's, Silver FX's and the silver LCR for the home theater and the
S8's for purely music, using the multi-room capability of the
receiver. So, I am looking for speaker, sub and optical cable rec's.


You mean you're looking for someone to tell you that some expensive
gonzo cable will improve your system 1000% and will cure your asthma
too? :-)

If you're just looking to spend some money, then check out Blue Jeans
Cables. They make very high quality cables, don't charge a lot, and
they won't try to BS you.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

As for optical jumpers, how about
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=180-944

Something like
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=240-027
and
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=100-145

are what I'd recommend for speaker and RCA cable if you don't want to
go with Blue Jeans.

Nope, I don't want to spend money, I was actually looking to see if
someone would recommend a 16 gauge lamp cable or something similar. I
have been given the 'opportunity' of buying some MCX-1s Monster cable at
$5/ft, which is half of the normal $10/ft, because I am such a valued
customer. No thanks. I can get it for $1.50/ft US if I order it from
monstercable.com in 500 foot spools. That is $750US. I could recoup
some of that by selling my left overs to people after I use what I want
but that would be a hassle and TOO MUCH MONEY. Then I would have to
become a snake oil salesman. My soul couldn't take it.

I just dropped my specs in case someone had similar components and had a
comment or two to make.

Your bluejeans cable suggestion is about $4US/ft plus shipping, as I
stated above I can get the best quality*highest priced that the vendor
has* Monster locally for less than that after currency conversion,
shipping and tax. I am NOT looking to spend money.

I think I am going with 14 gauge speaker wire from Home Depot at $1.47/m
cdn. It ends up just under 45c/ft cdn. 12 guage is 2.08 a meter, just
over 63c/ft cdn. Is there any benefit to go to 12 gauge? My longest run
will be less than 50 ft. If anyone has another suggestion with regards
to cost and/or performance I would welcome it.

I was also just looking for a rec on a sub cable. I got a reply by email
that pointed me to markertek.com. It was suggested that I look there for
a high-end low-noise cable suggested for microphone usage would be an
over-kill sub suggestion. Not sure exactly what to look for there. What
do people here use for subs?

I have one question about optical; I really don't know how much you need
to spend to get a decent cable, but is optical really worth it? Is it
that much better than coax? I just ask as I wonder how good a connection
is available to my receiver and from my DV/CD/Computer? Will there be a
loss if the end of the cable is dirty or if there isn't a perfect union?
The connections look decent, but not air tight so I know that dust will
get in there eventually. I work in process control and fiber optic cable
coupling is expensive and taken very seriously. Nobody wants their plant
to crash because of a flakey connection. Is there any conventional
wisdom on this subject for home theater?

Seriously, I didn't think my post looked like a plea to recommend some
snake oil, I just wanted an opinion on a basic cabling schedule. If I
wanted to spend money, there are many experts locally who are more than
willing to empty my wallet! :-)

Thanks for the comments,

fyb

[Laurence Payne]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 22:16:56 -0000, fybar
wrote:

I have one question about optical; I really don't know how much you need
to spend to get a decent cable, but is optical really worth it? Is it
that much better than coax?

Theoretically slightly worse I imagine. The signal has to start and
finish as electricity, two conversion stages aren't going to IMPROVE
anything.

[AZ Nomad]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 23:33:40 +0100, Laurence Payne lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote:


On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 22:16:56 -0000, fybar
wrote:

I have one question about optical; I really don't know how much you need
to spend to get a decent cable, but is optical really worth it? Is it
that much better than coax?

Theoretically slightly worse I imagine. The signal has to start and
finish as electricity, two conversion stages aren't going to IMPROVE
anything.

You really shouldn't post when you haven't slightest ****ing clue what
you're talking about.

Every single bit of your post is bull****.

the signal starts and finishes as audible waves, pressure fluctuations
traveling through the air. Or do you have an optical port on your belly?

The signal on the optical is digital, just a stream of numbers. The
bitstream coming out of the player goes through stages to drive the coaxial
output or the optical out. The optical stage doesn't make any difference
anyway. Putting the data through one port versus another won't change the
content of the stream.

[Laurence Payne]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 23:05:51 GMT, AZ Nomad
wrote:

I have one question about optical; I really don't know how much you need
to spend to get a decent cable, but is optical really worth it? Is it
that much better than coax?

Theoretically slightly worse I imagine. The signal has to start and
finish as electricity, two conversion stages aren't going to IMPROVE
anything.

You really shouldn't post when you haven't slightest ****ing clue what
you're talking about.

Every single bit of your post is bull****.

the signal starts and finishes as audible waves, pressure fluctuations
traveling through the air. Or do you have an optical port on your belly?

The signal on the optical is digital, just a stream of numbers. The
bitstream coming out of the player goes through stages to drive the coaxial
output or the optical out. The optical stage doesn't make any difference
anyway. Putting the data through one port versus another won't change the
content of the stream.

Got your period, have you? :-)

[bob]

fybar wrote:

Your bluejeans cable suggestion is about $4US/ft plus shipping,

Huh? I bought some 12-gauge Belden from them last year for less than 40
cents a foot. Check again.

as I
stated above I can get the best quality*highest priced that the vendor
has* Monster locally for less than that after currency conversion,
shipping and tax. I am NOT looking to spend money.

I think I am going with 14 gauge speaker wire from Home Depot at $1.47/m
cdn. It ends up just under 45c/ft cdn. 12 guage is 2.08 a meter, just
over 63c/ft cdn. Is there any benefit to go to 12 gauge? My longest run
will be less than 50 ft. If anyone has another suggestion with regards
to cost and/or performance I would welcome it.

Here's a (rather conservative) chart for sizing speaker cable:

http://www.pcavtech.com/techtalk/wire_size/index.htm

bob

[Richard Crowley]

"fybar" wrote...
I just dropped my specs in case someone had similar
components and had a comment or two to make.

A proper, decent cable is a proper, decent cable without
any reference to what brand/model equipment it is connected
to.

I think I am going with 14 gauge speaker wire from Home Depot at
$1.47/m
cdn. It ends up just under 45c/ft cdn. 12 guage is 2.08 a meter,
just
over 63c/ft cdn. Is there any benefit to go to 12 gauge? My longest
run
will be less than 50 ft. If anyone has another suggestion with
regards
to cost and/or performance I would welcome it.

14-ga would do it for me, and I would get on with my life.

I was also just looking for a rec on a sub cable. I got a reply by
email
that pointed me to markertek.com. It was suggested that I look there
for
a high-end low-noise cable suggested for microphone usage would be an
over-kill sub suggestion. Not sure exactly what to look for there.
What
do people here use for subs?

Why do subs need any special kind of cable?
Are you talking about speaker-level (passive
sub) or line-level (active sub)?

I have one question about optical; I really don't know
how much you need to spend to get a decent cable,

It is digital. It either works or it doesn't. People who tell
you that you can hear the difference between digital cables
(whether optical or electrical) are attempting to steal your
money without using a mask and a gun.

but is optical really worth it?

No.

Is it that much better than coax?

No. It isn't ANY "better" than coax.
And coax isn't ANY "better" than optical.

I just ask as I wonder how good a connection
is available to my receiver and from my DV/CD/Computer?

Do you really have a choice of both optical and coax for
each of these components? Use whatever fits the equipment.
Try to stop obsessing and get to the part where you just
kick back and enjoy the music.

Will there be a loss if the end of the cable is dirty or
if there isn't a perfect union?

Yes. Whether you are talking about optical or electrical.

The connections look decent, but not air tight so I know that dust
will
get in there eventually. I work in process control and fiber optic
cable
coupling is expensive and taken very seriously. Nobody wants their
plant
to crash because of a flakey connection. Is there any conventional
wisdom on this subject for home theater?

If a connection quits, unplug it and fix it. Presumably
your entertainment system won't crash and make dozens
of employees unproductive for a few hours.

Seriously, I didn't think my post looked like a plea to recommend some
snake oil, I just wanted an opinion on a basic cabling schedule.

Anybody who comes here asking about cables is suspect
of being under the influence of the snake-handlers. It
really is plain, ordinary common sense. There is no magic.

[Edwin Hurwitz]

In article ,
"Richard Crowley" wrote:

"fybar" wrote...
I just dropped my specs in case someone had similar
components and had a comment or two to make.

A proper, decent cable is a proper, decent cable without
any reference to what brand/model equipment it is connected
to.

I think I am going with 14 gauge speaker wire from Home Depot at
$1.47/m
cdn. It ends up just under 45c/ft cdn. 12 guage is 2.08 a meter,
just
over 63c/ft cdn. Is there any benefit to go to 12 gauge? My longest
run
will be less than 50 ft. If anyone has another suggestion with
regards
to cost and/or performance I would welcome it.

14-ga would do it for me, and I would get on with my life.

I was also just looking for a rec on a sub cable. I got a reply by
email
that pointed me to markertek.com. It was suggested that I look there
for
a high-end low-noise cable suggested for microphone usage would be an
over-kill sub suggestion. Not sure exactly what to look for there.
What
do people here use for subs?

I use a Monster sub cable only because I got it from a Radio Shack that
was closing and it was only $2 for a 12 foot cable. Otherwise, use what
you have at hand.


I have one question about optical; I really don't know
how much you need to spend to get a decent cable,

It is digital. It either works or it doesn't. People who tell
you that you can hear the difference between digital cables
(whether optical or electrical) are attempting to steal your
money without using a mask and a gun.

but is optical really worth it?

No.

Is it that much better than coax?

No. It isn't ANY "better" than coax.
And coax isn't ANY "better" than optical.


The only advantage that I can think of for optical is if you have a
ground problem between components. This is very unlikely, however. I do
recall a mastering engineer saying that he used optical wherever
possible for this reason, but in your case, use whatever is cheap and at
hand and get on with enjoying your movies and music!

Edwin

[MikeZ]

For the truth about speaker wire checkout
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

The author was Director of Acoustic Research at McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.
and the originator of McIntosh Loudspeakers and cuts through all the snake
oil, smoke and mirrors of Monster and others.


--
Thanks,
Mike

"fybar" wrote in message
...
I am sure this has been beaten to death here in the past and I have
searched google archives to find some advice but I am having a little
troubl sorting it out. I am looking for any recommended faq or a
particular post that could help me select a cable for my setup. I have a
Marantz SR8500 and a number of Monitor Audio speakers. Silver RS1's,
Silver FX's and the silver LCR for the home theater and the S8's for
purely
music, using the multi-room capability of the receiver. So, I am looking
for speaker, sub and optical cable rec's.

Thanks,

fybar