<font color='#000000'>ED27,
In general, I tend to agree with you about companies that just do mark-up. However, all things considered, I don't believe Cobalt is simply doing a mark-up. While I do recognize people can purchase the individual parts on their own from companies like Belden, and then solder or crimp them together to make a similar cable, I'm not sure most home theater enthusiasts would be willing or capable of doing this on their own. For example, my soldering skills are extremely poor as even Gene could tell you. When I'm done, there is more melted wire on my leg and on the floor than on the solder joint. I do very well with ground wires, bucause I can make a nice sized wod that will definately ground. But get me near that stranded wire and the inside conductor path, and we're going no where. All I'm capable of was making mush. You know I've been soldering when you see the floor around me has bright pieces everywhere, there are wholes in my pants, and I'm cursing. Even other folks I know who are Electrical Engineers don't do a much better job of soldering. Besides, keep in mind that not everyone is interested in making their own cables for a DIY. They'd rather just buy them and hook them up.
If you notice our article on Component Video Cables, one of the very first things we disussed and examined was the solder joint. There were very good examples of solder joints as found in the Tributaries Cables, and extremely poor examples that more closely matched what I would do on my own after a few beers.
I just want to present to you that perhaps Cobalt and others who buy cables and put them together and package them, "mark up" the parts. But from what I've learned, most manufacturers, if they admit it or not, do the very same thing. Most of the cable companies purchase cable of varying quality and types in bulk and they are not manufactured by the end packager. Most cable companies take these cables, and either solder or crimp connectors on them. The question is, “how much does it cost for them to order the cable, pay for having the cable shipped from overseas, handle and process the cable, order the connectors, solder/crimp the connectors, quality inspect the final product with tests of the solder joint, package the end product, market the end product, sell the end product to either distributors, custom installers, or end users, entertain tons of questions about how to connect things all at the same time they have to run a business? If it takes 300% (although I think that seems a bit high) to do this effectively and efficiently and turn a profit to stay in business, so be it, as long as it’s legit and they’re not promoting snake-oil. Another thing I can attest to is that many of the companies only have a few staff members and assemblers and work very hard day and night to get this together, and support their products in the field. Many of them work with custom installers who forgot to order cables and needs them built to a custom length and shipped over night. Many of them face issues where the installer needs technical help on installing the cables (go figure) and all this takes away from the time that they need to get product out the door. I’ve seen it first hand at a tremendous company right up the road from me who I will be interviewing and writing about soon. I’ve also seen it with our cables sponsors. I send them emails late at night and get shocked all the time that they are replying. I don’t think the legitimate manufacturers are all as wealthy as you may believe.
If you’re a DIY person, more power to you. In fact, we have a whole section on it. I’m giving you my honest perspective and with that, its as though I have cerebral palsy when I try to solder. Perhaps I should do it before coffee. Either way, I’m not a solderer. I’ll pay the extra few dollars and buy it bagged and tagged and ready to go as I’m sure most others will.
Component Video Cables</font>
