Low end cable question

[Steve[_15_]]

Hi,

I don't believe in cable magic and use simple RCA cables to connect my
inputs (squeezebox, dvd, cable box, tv) to my stereo amplifier. There
is normally a red coloured cable and that goes into the red or +
socket so this is very simple for me.

I have a few cables that have 3 pins - red, yellow and white. Can I
use these instead of the two ways with no sonic degradation? If so the
does it matter if I connect the yellow or the white one?

Steve

[bob]

On Mar 27, 4:24=A0pm, Steve > wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I don't believe in cable magic and use simple RCA cables to connect my
> inputs (squeezebox, dvd, cable box, tv) to my stereo amplifier. There
> is normally a red coloured cable and that goes into the red or +
> socket so this is very simple for me.
>
> I have a few cables that have 3 pins - red, yellow and white. Can I
> use these instead of the two ways with no sonic degradation? If so the
> does it matter if I connect the yellow or the white one?
>
> Steve

Yes you can use them. No, it doesn't matter which pins you use. If
memory serves, the yellow was originally for composite video
connections.

bob

[Audio Empire]

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:24:47 -0700, Steve wrote
(in article >):

> Hi,
>
> I don't believe in cable magic and use simple RCA cables to connect my
> inputs (squeezebox, dvd, cable box, tv) to my stereo amplifier. There
> is normally a red coloured cable and that goes into the red or +
> socket so this is very simple for me.
>
> I have a few cables that have 3 pins - red, yellow and white. Can I
> use these instead of the two ways with no sonic degradation? If so the
> does it matter if I connect the yellow or the white one?
>
> Steve
>

You sure can. Usually, the "triplet" cable is an A/V cable. With red being
right-channel audio, white being left-channel audio, and yellow being
composite video. There's no electrical difference between any of them really.

[Harry Lavo]

"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I don't believe in cable magic and use simple RCA cables to connect my
> inputs (squeezebox, dvd, cable box, tv) to my stereo amplifier. There
> is normally a red coloured cable and that goes into the red or +
> socket so this is very simple for me.
>
> I have a few cables that have 3 pins - red, yellow and white. Can I
> use these instead of the two ways with no sonic degradation? If so the
> does it matter if I connect the yellow or the white one?

That trio is intended for composite television hookup. The red and white
are audio cables, the yellow is for the composite tv signal. The
construction may be the same, but why tempt fate. Just use the red and
white as the audio cables they are intended to be.

[Serge Auckland[_2_]]

"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I don't believe in cable magic and use simple RCA cables to connect my
> inputs (squeezebox, dvd, cable box, tv) to my stereo amplifier. There
> is normally a red coloured cable and that goes into the red or +
> socket so this is very simple for me.
>
> I have a few cables that have 3 pins - red, yellow and white. Can I
> use these instead of the two ways with no sonic degradation? If so the
> does it matter if I connect the yellow or the white one?
>
> Steve
>
Doesn't matter at all. The yellow cable is normally for composite video, but
can be used equally for analogue or digital audio.

S.

[jwvm]

On Mar 27, 4:24=A0pm, Steve > wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I don't believe in cable magic and use simple RCA cables to connect my
> inputs (squeezebox, dvd, cable box, tv) to my stereo amplifier.

The magic cables make your money vanish magically. :-)

>
> I have a few cables that have 3 pins - red, yellow and white. Can I
> use these instead of the two ways with no sonic degradation? If so the
> does it matter if I connect the yellow or the white one?
>

What you have is a video cable (yellow) with stereo audio (red and
white). It will work very well for just audio by just not using the
yellow plugs.


> Steve

[Steve[_15_]]

Thx all - its rare to see everyone agreeing here :)

[Kulin Remailer]

Steve, I'm sorry but your question is waaay off topic. If you are not
willing to spend at least $6,500 dollars per meter for audiophile cables and
don't see the benefits of doing that then this is the wrong newsgroup for
you.

That's a joke, son!



[ As the Guidelines state, high-end refers to the quality of the
sound, music and equipment, not the price tag. -- dsr ]

[Andrew Barss]

Steve > wrote:
: Thx all - its rare to see everyone agreeing here :)


Yes, except no one mentioned the most important factor, which is
to plug them in in alphabetical order. Otherwise any speech, or
sung words, will come out backwards.

-- Andy Barss

[Kele]

Piggy-backing on Steve's question...

I'm unexposed to HDMI cables, but think there will be at least one in
my future. They carry the audio signal as well as video. This is a
digital audio signal I presume, same as the composite (RCA) and
toslink type of digital signal carrier? Is the HDMI better than the
composite pertaining just to the audio side?

My preamp and five channel amp had an optional single wire connection
between the two so that a seperate wire needn't be used for each
channel. I tried a seperate wire for each channel and it sounded so
much better than the single unified cable. This is why I am wondering
if HDMI (single wire) is good for audio.

Holly smokes! Monster HDMI is almost a hundred bucks for one!

....one more thing - I have 75ohm "video" cables; it does work for
audio but I haven't done serious A/B comparison. Is it generally a no-
no to use "video" cable for audio or no matter? I wonder if Steve's
component cable set yellow wire is 75ohm.

[Audio Empire]

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:29:49 -0700, Kele wrote
(in article >):

> Piggy-backing on Steve's question...
>
> I'm unexposed to HDMI cables, but think there will be at least one in
> my future. They carry the audio signal as well as video. This is a
> digital audio signal I presume, same as the composite (RCA) and
> toslink type of digital signal carrier? Is the HDMI better than the
> composite pertaining just to the audio side?
>
> My preamp and five channel amp had an optional single wire connection
> between the two so that a seperate wire needn't be used for each
> channel. I tried a seperate wire for each channel and it sounded so
> much better than the single unified cable. This is why I am wondering
> if HDMI (single wire) is good for audio.
>
> Holly smokes! Monster HDMI is almost a hundred bucks for one!

Try:

http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=search_results&search=hhx

There's no real difference between these and Monster (except the price). I
use these folks for most of my cable needs.

[jwvm]

On Mar 29, 3:29=A0pm, Kele > wrote:
> Piggy-backing on Steve's question...
>
> I'm unexposed to HDMI cables, but think there will be at least one in
> my future. =A0They carry the audio signal as well as video. =A0This is a
> digital audio signal I presume, same as the composite (RCA) and
> toslink type of digital signal carrier? =A0Is the HDMI better than the
> composite pertaining just to the audio side?
>
Composite video is not a digital signal. Inexpensive HDMI cables work
very well so there is no need to spend anything over a few dollars for
one.

> My preamp and five channel amp had an optional single wire connection
> between the two so that a seperate wire needn't be used for each
> channel. =A0I tried a seperate wire for each channel and it sounded so
> much better than the single unified cable. =A0This is why I am wondering
> if HDMI (single wire) is good for audio.

HDMI works very well. It is also surprising that you obtained better
results using individual cables for each audio channel. That would
suggest either the hardware was not set up right or there was
defective hardware. Most likely, your problem was caused by improper
setup.

> Holly smokes! =A0Monster HDMI is almost a hundred bucks for one!
>

You can get an HDMI cable from Newegg for under $5 and even less if
you go to eBay. I have cables from both sources and they all work
fine. BTW, if there is a cable problem, the video is much more likely
to be degraded since it has much wider bandwidth requirements.

> ...one more thing - I have 75ohm "video" cables; it does work for
> audio but I haven't done serious A/B comparison. =A0Is it generally a no-
> no to use "video" cable for audio or no matter? =A0I wonder if Steve's
> component cable set yellow wire is 75ohm.

There is no problem using 75 ohm cables for audio.

[Andrew Haley]

Kele > wrote:
> Piggy-backing on Steve's question...
>
> I'm unexposed to HDMI cables, but think there will be at least one in
> my future. They carry the audio signal as well as video. This is a
> digital audio signal I presume, same as the composite (RCA) and
> toslink type of digital signal carrier? Is the HDMI better than the
> composite pertaining just to the audio side?

I guess you mean "better than S/PDIF." Yes, it is. HDMI can carry up
to 8 channels of uncompressed audio at 192 kHz; it can even carry 8
channels of DSD. Also, HDMI uses error correction, which makes it
more resistant to interference, and it's a balanced signal. This
should make it more resisstant to interference, even though it's much
higher capacity. You're talking about the difference between
something designed in about 1999 and something designed in about 1985.

> Holly smokes! Monster HDMI is almost a hundred bucks for one!

It's a good idea to shop around for cables.

Andrew.

[anthony]

On Mar 30, 8:56=A0pm, Andrew Haley >
wrote:
> Kele > wrote:
> > Piggy-backing on Steve's question...


>
> > Holly smokes! =A0Monster HDMI is almost a hundred bucks for one!
>
> It's a good idea to shop around for cables.
>
> Andrew.

Forget that old set of AV cables ... take a look at these and check
out the user-responses!
Strangely, these cables come in pairs where I think there's only one
suitable orifice to plug them into. ....
http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-K2-terminated-speaker-cable/dp/B000J36XR2/=
ref=3Dcm_cr_pr_product_top

Anthony

[Audio Empire]

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 06:43:10 -0700, anthony wrote
(in article >):

> On Mar 30, 8:56=A0pm, Andrew Haley >
> wrote:
>> Kele > wrote:
>>> Piggy-backing on Steve's question...
>
>
>>
>>> Holly smokes! =A0Monster HDMI is almost a hundred bucks for one!
>>
>> It's a good idea to shop around for cables.
>>
>> Andrew.
>
> Forget that old set of AV cables ... take a look at these and check
> out the user-responses!
> Strangely, these cables come in pairs where I think there's only one
> suitable orifice to plug them into. ....
> http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-K2-terminated-speaker-cable/dp/B000J36XR2/=
> ref=3Dcm_cr_pr_product_top
>
> Anthony
>

AND! They qualify for free shipping!

Heck, for that price, they ought to come with a year's supply of free
hookers! At least then you'd be getting something for your money. This way
you're getting NOTHING but an $8500 pair of lamp cords.