Is expensive wire and HDMI cables worth the money?

[nate2002]

I have read up on reviews and tried to pick up what I can from forums. I'm about to be hooking up the new reciever to my speakers this weekend. I have a yamaha rx-a3020 and klipse speakers (as few years old) and I am wondering if I should spend the extra money on "nice" cables. I see a lot of reviews and people saying no and I have a good friend that works at best buy that swears by the stuff...monster, audioquest, panamax...Is it worth the extra money? Does it make a difference in the functionality of your home audio/video???

Thanks

 

[Irvrobinson]

The audiophile brands are not worth the money.

For speaker cable, no, any 14, 12, or 10 gauge wire will do. There are goo dbuys on Monoprice and Amazon. Same for unbalanced (RCA) interconnects; the stuff from Monoprice works great. Because they operate at higher frequencies HDMI cables are a little more sensitive to quality, but even then the stuff from Blue Jeans Cable is as high quality as you need to go.

 

[bikemig]

I'll buy the name brand stuff when I can buy it really cheap. I know it doesn't make a difference but it looks pretty. Otherwise I just stick to monoprice, .

 

[Steve81]

The audiophile brands are not worth the money.

Come on now. Read this marketing blurb:

Flat Rock

With all the impressive sounding engineering that goes into these cables, how could they not make a huge difference

 

[nate2002]

would you say the same for panamax/monster power conditioners? Would one of these be better for your components than a run of the mill surge protector?

 

[Steve81]

would you say the same for panamax/monster power conditioners? Would one of these be better for your components than a run of the mill surge protector?

I've never noted any huge audible differences when I switched from a run-of-the-mill surge protector to a fancy shmancy APC C10 that I got on clearance for cheap. The APC looks nifty though

Of course, sales/deals like this give you a good idea of what a product is really worth:

Amazon.com: Monster Cable MP HTS850 Home Theater PowerCenter: Electronics

Regularly $130, but now for $35!!!

Edit: I would note though that the Monster does provide provisions to filter your incoming coax (cable) lines, and not all surge protectors do this, or do it without some signal loss. OTOH, you don't need a high end power conditioner to achieve this either.

 

[ImcLoud]

I think to a point quality cables are a good thing, but the good news is, there are real nice cables available for cheap money...

As far as speaker cable goes I make my own fancy shmancy cables...
Buy some banana connectors Amazon.com: Sewell Deadbolt Banana Plugs with Fast-Lock Technology, 12 Pair (24 Pieces): Electronics, some techflex 3/8 BRAIDED EXPANDABLE SLEEVING RATTLESNAKE TECHFLEX 25ft | eBay, some wire pants Amazon.com: Speaker Wire Pants - 10 Gauge (Y Boot) -10 Pack: Electronics, and pick a good wire Amazon.com: Karma Kable 50' Twisted 12 Gauge Speaker Wire: Electronics

make your own sweet wire cables..

As far as HDMI cables go I have really good luck with Blue Rigger, I currently have them in every HDMI component I own, 5 cable boxes, 3 ps3's, ect... I have 3 25 footers ran in the wall behind my TV to my media center, never have any problems, very good quality HDMI cables, read the reviews they are nice... And SUPER CHEAP $8 for a 10 footer!!! http://www.amazon.com/BlueRigger-Speed-Ethernet-Supports-Return/dp/B003XM1WE0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1350505961&sr=1-2&keywords=blue+rigger Not too bad for a nice hdmi cable, they have braided covers too, {not the inwall ones though, just the regular ones}

It is essentially Media Bridge, Because I order mediabridge Toslin cables and they come with the same shmpment in the same exact boxes, just different names...

RCA cables, Tartan, Acoustic reseach, and C2G are good, even the amazonbasics line is OK, The acoustic Research are my favorite though, a lot of sizes available and they are directional, so you have to make sure the signal is going the way the wire points..

For XLR cables I like Emotiva, they are about the best quality for the money, that I have seen, I used a couple of their Toslink too, but they are more money than media bridge and do the same thing, just look better....

So, I hope this helped, dont go buying $80 speaker cables when you can build 50ft of them for less than that, and dont spend more than $1 a foot on HDMI, blue rigger is my favorite, but monoprice has nice ones too... For the speaker wire itself if you dont want to go and make them yourself just wnat wire, that Knu Karma cable I linked you is really nice, I just got a roll the other day, very nice stuff...

 

[j_garcia]

Regularly $130, but now for $35!!!

"regular" price is irrelevant They can put anything in there.

Amazon.com: Belkin PureAV Do-It-Yourself Gold Banana Plugs (4-Pack): Electronics

Price:$14.34 Eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime.
You Save: $2,586.65 (99%)

 

[bikemig]

"regular" price is irrelevant They can put anything in there.

Amazon.com: Belkin PureAV Do-It-Yourself Gold Banana Plugs (4-Pack): Electronics

Love it, .

 

[slipperybidness]

cheaper cable pants, gotta love P.E.
Cable Pants 11mm 2-Conductor Black 10 Pcs. 082-782

 

[slipperybidness]

"regular" price is irrelevant They can put anything in there.

Amazon.com: Belkin PureAV Do-It-Yourself Gold Banana Plugs (4-Pack): Electronics

I'm not spending $14, I'm saving $2600

 

[zieglj01]

I have read up on reviews and tried to pick up what I can from forums. I'm about to be hooking up the new reciever to my speakers this weekend. I have a yamaha rx-a3020 and klipse speakers (as few years old) and I am wondering if I should spend the extra money on "nice" cables. I see a lot of reviews and people saying no and I have a good friend that works at best buy that swears by the stuff...monster, audioquest, panamax...Is it worth the extra money? Does it make a difference in the functionality of your home audio/video???

Something to read
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

 

[ImcLoud]

cheaper cable pants, gotta love P.E.
Cable Pants 11mm 2-Conductor Black 10 Pcs. 082-782

I like the knu better, they look cleaner when all finished, I have some of the PE ones the knus are longer and fit better, feel thicker too.. but they will both do the job for sure.. $10 is $10 after all...

 

[j_garcia]

I like the knu better, they look cleaner when all finished, I have some of the PE ones the knus are longer and fit better, feel thicker too.. but they will both do the job for sure.. $10 is $10 after all...

I use the Knu ones also.

I have a good friend that works at best buy that swears by the stuff...monster, audioquest, panamax...Is it worth the extra money?

I wouldn't buy anything from him.

 

[slipperybidness]

I like the knu better, they look cleaner when all finished, I have some of the PE ones the knus are longer and fit better, feel thicker too.. but they will both do the job for sure.. $10 is $10 after all...

Thanks for the feedback. I have never used either, but the P.E.s are on my wishlist.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have read up on reviews and tried to pick up what I can from forums. I'm about to be hooking up the new reciever to my speakers this weekend. I have a yamaha rx-a3020 and klipse speakers (as few years old) and I am wondering if I should spend the extra money on "nice" cables. I see a lot of reviews and people saying no and I have a good friend that works at best buy that swears by the stuff...monster, audioquest, panamax...Is it worth the extra money? Does it make a difference in the functionality of your home audio/video???

Thanks

To answer the title of your post, yes, it is worth the money but that is to the company and the folks they employ
It may worth it if looks matter. But, to performance that you can hear, nope.

 

[Irishman]

I have read up on reviews and tried to pick up what I can from forums. I'm about to be hooking up the new reciever to my speakers this weekend. I have a yamaha rx-a3020 and klipse speakers (as few years old) and I am wondering if I should spend the extra money on "nice" cables. I see a lot of reviews and people saying no and I have a good friend that works at best buy that swears by the stuff...monster, audioquest, panamax...Is it worth the extra money? Does it make a difference in the functionality of your home audio/video???

Thanks

I like Andrew Jones explanation about cables. In essence, he says that, when you're building a system or buying new speakers, you have to decide if your funds are better spent upgrading to the next product in the the line, or buying an expensive cable. Now, if you're buying some company's flagship speaker, you've got no possible improvements to make by upgrading, so you can better justify buying expensive cables and interconnects.

I'm paraphrasing, of course.

 

[3db]

I like Andrew Jones explanation about cables. In essence, he says that, when you're building a system or buying new speakers, you have to decide if your funds are better spent upgrading to the next product in the the line, or buying an expensive cable. Now, if you're buying some company's flagship speaker, you've got no possible improvements to make by upgrading, so you can better justify buying expensive cables and interconnects.

I'm paraphrasing, of course.

I disagree with Andrew Jones as expensive cables only provide better aesthetics (aesthetics is purely subjective at that ) and not sound. Take the money saved from not buying expensive cables and put it into either your video or audio library. One will soon forget about those pesky expensive cables.

 

[Irishman]

I disagree with Andrew Jones as expensive cables only provide better aesthetics (aesthetics is purely subjective at that ) and not sound. Take the money saved from not buying expensive cables and put it into either your video or audio library. One will soon forget about those pesky expensive cables.

It was in an interview he did recently with Scott Wilkinson on the TWIT network's "Home Theater Geeks" podcast. They have a youtube channel, too.

 

[mtrycrafts]

It was in an interview he did recently with Scott Wilkinson on the TWIT network's "Home Theater Geeks" podcast. They have a youtube channel, too.

Don't know either one but I still disagree with Andrew. He is just wrong.