Is there any difference between cheap cables and more expensive cables except cost?

[s162216]

Hi,

I am doing my first HT project. Its for my PC which has an old but excellent motherboard with Nvidia Soundstorm which has a digital output tested by Dolby Labs and an early form of Dolby Digital Live so everything is in DD!

I have now got the reciever (an old, but in good condition Sony STR-DE495) and I will have the speakers soon (Onkyo SKS-HT518 5.1 HTIB).

Now I am currently having a problem deciding what cables to get. I am not an audiophile so I am not seeking the very best quality sound, but I do want it to be good, so for the Coax output from the pc to the reciever so should I get a cheap £9.99 1.5m lead from Maplin which I can just pick up from the shop or get a 1.5m much nicer lead from Blue Jeans cables for about £19.50 including postage.

Will there be any noticable difference?

 

[Rickster71]

I'd buy the 9.99 wire and save the rest for fish & chips.

 

[Alex2507]

"Is there any difference between cheap cables and more expensive cables except cost?"

Yeah, the cost!

Seriously if you want the best sound get cheap wire and speakers that you really like. What ever extra you give the wire, you do at the expense of sound quaulity that you robbed from the speaker budget.

Having said that I do buy cable from Blue Jeans because they are from what I understand, as good as it gets and I flat out like them. They have some fine articles on cables also. Doing your reading over there will be much more informative than reading a post made by some monkey. AH has some pretty good articles on wire and cables too.

 

[Nemo128]

Doing your reading over there will be much more informative than reading a post made by some monkey.

Didn't Alex just advise disregarding his own advice? =)

 

[j_garcia]

Speaker wire makes no difference as long as it is sufficient AWG for the load. Interconnects can make a difference, but only when we are talking about bottom of the barrel in-the-box cables vs decent ones. For a relatively low budget system, expensive cables won't magically add something that wasn't there and investing money in better speakers will give you MUCH more bang for your buck than any other upgrade.

 

[Alex2507]

Didn't Alex just advise disregarding his own advice? =)

Yes I didn't.

Informative is the key word. Like this article is really informative so if people want to know something they can read it and the articles linked in it:

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/speaker-cable-gauge

My short and valid answer of going with BJC is good but less informative.
j_garcia's answer is more informative than mine because he mentioned guage.
Rick's response is the most mouth watering.

You have a beautiful mastery of the 'c' and the 's'. Bravo!

 

[j_garcia]

LOL, Rick's is most to the point and right on the money

 

[highfigh]

This is like someone being asked if they can be trusted and answering with "I'm a compulsive liar". Are they telling the truth?

 

[Alex2507]

Are they telling the truth?

Depends! LOL!

 

[lsiberian]

This is like someone being asked if they can be trusted and answering with "I'm a compulsive liar". Are they telling the truth?

The good ole Liar's paradox! All the residents in Fort Worth are liars!

 

[jamie2112]

Buy the cheap cable and go out and have a few pints instead............. No difference in sound quality....

 

[highfigh]

The good ole Liar's paradox! All the residents in Fort Worth are liars!

So you're in Dallas, eh?

 

[lsiberian]

So you're in Dallas, eh?

Based on my previous statement there is no way to determine where i live or where i'm from.

However in reality I am from Round Rock, TX home of the famous Round Rock donut and a very small insignificant computer company(Dell).

I live in South Fort Worth.

I've been in the Bus station in your town. I don't suggest it very run down. Wisconsin is very cold IMO. My Cousin's ex dragged him up to Green Bay. So I visited him over spring break a few years back. That was the coldest I've ever been in my life. Good cheese and butter though. He's back in Texas now so I don't have to freeze anymore hehe.

 

[highfigh]

Based on my previous statement there is no way to determine where i live or where i'm from.

However in reality I am from Round Rock, TX home of the famous Round Rock donut and a very small insignificant computer company(Dell).

I live in South Fort Worth.

I've been in the Bus station in your town. I don't suggest it very run down. Wisconsin is very cold IMO. My Cousin's ex dragged him up to Green Bay. So I visited him over spring break a few years back. That was the coldest I've ever been in my life. Good cheese and butter though. He's back in Texas now so I don't have to freeze anymore hehe.

aaggghhhhhh, donuts.

I just thought there might be some rivalry between Dallas and Fort Worth.

I'm using a Dell now- it's been great.

I don't recommend going to that bus station, either. Why they don't make Greyhound do something about that place is beyond me. They fix up all kinds of places that could wait or be torn down but the ones seen by people passing through look like crap. It took forever for them to finally do something about the train station, too. MKE government is sickeningly wasteful and irresponsible, IMO. I'm in a 'burb but we end up paying, one way or another. I'm not planning to spend the rest of my life here, that's for sure. It gets worse every year and I'm absolutely sick of the weather, it's affects on roads, vehicles, etc.

I was in Dallas for New Year '00 when you had the ice storm. Cars parked in the roads, on the sidewalks, grass, medians and we just went on our merry way. Stayed with some people eerily close to the Dunham's where the cop was killed by the escaped cons. Seriously bad people. We golfed at Riverside and it was about 41 degrees.