Trevor Wilson coughed up:
"Thomas G. Marshall"
. com wrote in
message news:Ke2ne.5436$zb.4004@trndny06...

Note: I'm expecting to be flamed from here to china for asking this,
because variations have been asked a million times here. I've read
through a number of them, but would like another stab at it.

AFAICT, the /universe/ uses essentially three kinds of
AV/audio/s-video/component cables. I'll gladly accept correction
here.

**There are many hundreds of different types of interconnects.

I said "essentially". By far the greatest collection are the three
categories I listed, or so I think. I'm just as likely to be wrong here I
suppose, because I am not an av-phile.




1. The mostly inexpensive ~6 to 12 dollars

**Nope. Figure on about US$0.50.

I didn't say "the most inexpensive is 6 to 12 dollars". I was talking about
the breed of cable that is for the most part inexpensive and around 6 to 12
dollars.

Besides, the absolute cheapest of the cheapest I could find for a/v was $3
for a 6 footer. Where can I get even a 3' for $0.50???




2. Acoustic Research
3. Monster

**+ Several hundred others.

Are there really several hundred others? Several /hundred/ above $12 and
below $6? Even if so, I'm talking about the most common ones.


Is there a lesser known manufacturer out there than anyone
particularly loves that is cheaper, but of similar quality at AR or
M.

**Try Apature. The trick to buying cables, is to find a manufacturer
who does NOT advertise. Ultimately, it is the consumer who pays for
advertising. When I used Apature, they were very low profile and
thus, hard to find. They manufactured an identical cable (different
printing on the covering) to a major manufacturer, but at around 20%
of the price. Another of my favourites, albeit quite expensive and
relatively high profile is Cardas. I don't, for one milisecond, buy
their storyline, but the stuff does sound nice. I have no idea why.

INTERESTING!


One of the things I'm missing is a useful (yet conversational)
metric for determining the quality difference between the 3. Of
course, each situation is going to be different, but I pine for a
stake in the sand from which all things are measured. Right now,
all I have to go on is the vaguest of vague notions that monster is
probably a little better than AR, but only in some situations and
not really worth it.


**Whether it is worth paying any more than US$0.50 for interconnects,
will depend on several factors:

* The type and impedances of the sources and loads.
* The 'transparency' of the equipment used.
* The hearing acuity of the listener.

For instance: If you're using standard HT gear and watching movies,
spend US$0.50 on cables. There is no point spending any more. If you
have good sound only system (not SET crap) and you like listening to
quality music, which has been well recorded, then you MIGHT hear a
difference between SOME cables.

Thanks for the information---it helps.


--
Forgetthesong,I'dratherhavethefrontallobotomy...