Cables

I have the 990/7700 combo and I am using optical cables for both my cd player and dvd players. Can someone tell me what cables I should use since I am considering the purchase of the 997 and want to get the best picture and sound especially when listening to music. Optical,coaxial?
Also the distance between my 990 and my projector is 35' and I have been quoted some outragious prices for HDMI cables at that length. Also I was told that unless I spend $400.00 for for an HDMI cable I would lose picture qualitly as well as sound.

I appreciate anyones suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

From an earlier post, might I repeat (forgive me):

Simply: if all the little ones and zeros are recognized properly by the receiving equipment in the proper order and are ‘captured’ within the ‘windows of time’ allotted, it matters not how pristine the actual electrical signals were or whether they arrived via gold, silver, copper, plastic, leather or horsehair. That is one of the basic reasons behind, and the concept/design of digital information, in the first place.

( http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/6/t/000989/p/1.html#000022 )

Yes, there is a limit to a cable's length and still have viable functionality. In a quick online search, I found some practical HDMI-HDMI cables in the length you need for under $100. One needs materials and construction that perform, but nothing esoteric - only the information has to get there and be interpreted properly - the cable does not have to preserve the exact waveform and a certain amount of non-linear attenuation can be tolerated (horrors for analog signal delivery, but not for digital). And, since the projector likely has nothing to do with your audio reproduction, any DVI cables that currently work in your situation will also deliver HDMI outputs with an easy-on-the-budget adapter.

I've heard various arguments regarding optical and coaxial. There are some who argue in favor of coaxial over optical because of the need to convert the digital bitstream from an electrical signal to an optical signal and back, but in my experience I've found it difficult to actually hear such a difference - and particularly for undecoded Dolby Digital and DTS bitstreams, I question whether audible differences can even exist if the signal reaches the processor intact for decoding. There's even an argument to be made in favor of optical, at least in theory, since the optical signal is not going to be subject to electromagnetic interference or ground loops. I'd suggest using either, unless of course you move to the Model 997 and either of the players in question have HDMI - you may as well use it if it's available. As for picture quality, the choice depends on the source player. If it has HDMI or DVI output, you are probably best off using that as it allows the video signal to stay in the digital domain all the way to your projector.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you were told that by someone trying to sell a $400 HDMI cable. Did you ask why the sound would be adversely affected by using a less expensive cable to your projector when that portion of the signal path didn't include audio? And if they were suggesting $400 as a minimum for a standard length of HDMI cable, I'd set aside any additional questions and settle for asking them where the exit was...

The HDMI video spec was taken straight from DVI, which was developed for the computer industry where long cable runs were anything past about 10'. As a result, there is a 15 meter limit on cable length in the spec. Once you get up close to the 45 foot mark, you start to push that limit pretty hard. If you start to exceed the spec'd limit, you can see "sparklies" (bits of white signal noise that look almost like snow or white specks all over the image) or simply get no video at all. Since it's a digital signal, you should see and hear no degradation prior to hitting that point - so unless you run into an issue like that, however, paying more for an HDMI cable is a difficult purchase to justify.

A 40' HDMI cable is quite a bit of copper, so it's not going to be cheap - especially since it needs to be fairly heavy gauge to compensate for the length of the run and the spec's limits - but you can find one for a fair bit less than $400. I've had excellent luck in all of my dealings with Blue Jeans Cables, and they have an assortment of HDMI cables that are well made and reasonably priced. I'd seriously consider their Series-1 for a run to a projector, because if any of your hardware ends up being sensitive to cable run lengths it's a nasty proposition to pull in a heftier cable later to compensate for that.

(disregard...)

My Adcom CD player only has Digital RCA, so I have to use it connected to the 990. But my Pioneer DV-37 DVD has both Digital RCA and Toslink Optical. With it, I decided to use the Optical since I needed a 2 Meter run.
I would say that my MIT Digital Reference RCA cable ($300 1m) is higher quality than the MIT Optical cable ($150 2m), but I've never used my DVD player to play CDs and do an A/B compare.

I also have a Straight Wire Optical cable from my Motorola DCH HD/DVR box to the 990.

Thanks all.
I did a little investigating and before I read the responses on the forum today and Gonk hit it on the head....Blue Jeans Cable. I can get a 35' run of quality cable from Blua Jeans at a very reasonable price.
Forgive me but I do not know if I made myself clear in my post but as of now I have everything hooked up with the optical cables and component. Also I use MIT Terminator cables to the mains and center. I do not intend to change anything until I get the 997.
Everything looks and sounds great...but we always strive for the premium quality in audio and video. I just wanted to know with the 997 if for cd decoding and listening should I continue to use optical or change to coax for better reproduction of sound? Hope that the Outlaws put some thought into the 997 for people who listen to music.
The projector will be HDMI.

Thanks again!

Sounds like you're on the right track, rubbersoul...

Here's another option. Have had good luck with there cables.

http://www.riteav.com/product_info.php?c...904dd912f54a6b1

Thanks again!

There's only one place to buy cables

www.monoprice.com


CraigerSS

Two places: www.bluejeanscable.com .

Monoprice when you feel like making a decision as they have many options at different price points or Blue Jeans when you know you want high quality at a reasonable price.

HDMI over Cat 5 extenders are starting to come down in price.
http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.a...&pagesize=10000

I started with MIT T2 interconnects, then went up to MI-330 about 7 years ago, and now Oracle 3.2 XLR this summer.
I couldn't believe the improvement the Oracle 3.2 cables made. I did a A/B compare with the Mi-330, and the difference was night and day.

For your CD player, you can pickup a MIT Reference, Shotgun, or Magnum RCA Digital cable used (ebay or audiogon) for a reasonable price.

Not sure if you guys have seen this but here is a controlled HDMI cable test with many lengths and manufacturers tested. Make sure to check out page 3 of the article where it has all of the test results. Also some good articles referenced at the bottom of the first page on HDMI in general. Bottom line is 35' at the highest data rates isn't going to happen with any cable by itself. At lesser data rates it might not be a problem.

As mentioned above, monoprice does very well on the cheap while some high $$$ cables boutique cables fall flat on their faces.

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests

Interesting premise at this company: each cable indvidually tested just before shipment on a rig similar to the one used in the audioholics article*. The flat HDMI cable looked interesting ... I won't re-type all they say, you can go there:

http://www.hdtvsupply.com/1080p-flat-hdmi-cable.html

Prices are not the absolute lowest, but nearly so - 10m to 35ft in the $100 range - with a performance guarantee. There just might be more technical knowledge than snake oil at this place, even if some sales talk is used.

Other HDMI constructions are also available, differing gauges, some with boosters for even longer lengths.

*(page 4 - real world results including cable compensation means longer lengths are practical).

Thanks to everybody. My fellow outlaws come thru with ample information. Lots of choices with reasonable prices and good specs.

I have all BlueJeans Belden HDMI cables. The one for my projector is 50' and runs fine at 1080p60.

One thing to note with the BlueJeans and other good HDMI cables, which tend to be be pretty thick and stiff. You will need a good 6-8" behind the prepro for them to curve up down or sideways, whichever way they are being routed, and since they are somehwat heavy (and HDMI is such a poorly thought out connector), you would be well advised to think out some way to secure them. I have seen many stories of their weight causing them to sag in the connection and give people fits until they have figured out that is what is causing their connection problems.

I have an industrial type middle atlantic rack, and have mine going over to one side from the prepro, where they are velcro wrapped to one of the uprights, so they are very slightly forced into their connection, and only about 8" of the cable 's weight is on the plug.

BB

There is also a "port-saver" option for those heavy HDMI cables: MonoPrice makes a short (~6") male-to-female HDMI cable that can transfer the strain of the cable's weight off of the port in the component.

In my opinion anything designed to run underneath carpet, with the quote, "Of course, it should not be walked on repeatedly." is plain stupid!!!

I realize this is not germane to the question but it upset my professional sense. Jim