Home Theatre almost complete, dust almost cleaned up, budget almost depleted, interconnects not yet chosen (anyone have a suggestion for stopgap "get me into my system viewing and listening ASAP and then resolve the quest for the Holy Grail interconnect later?)

Here's what awaits:

Pioneer Elite Pro-750HD
Outlaw 950 Pre/Pro
Outlaw 770 Amp
Thiel CS2.2 L&R - Cardas cables
B&W HTM2 center -Cardas Cables
2 pairs - Boston Acoustics - VR-MX surround sides and rear - Apature cable
Hsu Research VTF-3 Sub - Straight Wire
Cheapo Panasonic DVD (for now)
Sony 400disc CD player (for now)
Aiwa tape deck - circa 1990, the last one I'll need assuming it holds up.
Pioneer Direct Drive turntable (old for old LP's, vintage 1976)
Radio Shack Kameleon Remote (worth the couple of bucks to give it a try)
Panamax MAX8 DBS for all but RPTV, dedicated circuit
RPTV - Kalglo Mini II Spike-Spiker, dedicated circuit

The only thing I sort of regret is not getting the Lutron Radio RA system ($$$$'s!)

Now, on to the interconnect shopping...I want to get this system up and running in the next few days.

Metal Mike,

As for interconnects, any decent quality interconnects will do. Forget the so-called "audiophile" cables: to my knowledge, there has not been a single study showing that there is any audible difference between quality cables. Sure, people claim to hear the difference, but then they've already spent the money on it and have an investment to convince themselves was worth it.

So what brands of cables should you get? My personal recommendations are Radio Shack gold series (just not the el cheapo basic cables), entry-level Monster Cable, or Accoustic Research cables (which I believe are rebranded Monster). Also, Ixos used to offer decent cables at good prices, so you could look into them, too.

Regardless, I would not spend more than $20-$30 for any given cable. If you feel compelled to spend more, buy a Monster Cable and then send me the difference in cash.

Jeff

Jeff,

Your response is mostly the way I see it. I don't have a problem buying more esoteric interconnects, piece by piece and then listening critically to the change. But I tend to agree with you. There is a value segment of cabling that gives a good balance of prices versus performance. Anything above that debatable segment and the performance increases asymptotically while price increases exponentially.

I find some of the claims by the high end cable maunfacturers to be interesting (laughable?) in theory (sometimes we might ask "what theory?"...more like qualitative BS). These seem to be techno types with a slick marketing background trying to stake out a premium market segment. There is nothing wrong with that, it is the way of capitalism and it is not a bad word (Caveat Emptor). There's no volume there so the revenue and subsequent profit has to be outrageously higher.

If you've got no money constraints and are so compelled to pay the most, I say go git 'em! Somehow I'd rather spend my few extra pennies on my kid's education rather than sitting there and saying for a thousand bucks more in cabling I can definitely hear the singer breathing that one extra time...
Priorities are a personal choice. Market hype and claims just cloud the exercise. Audiophile (snootiophile?) peer pressure tends to do the same. Some peoples' hobby is the joy of tweaking, some peoples' is the joy of listening. "Balance" is an operative concept here.

Repost from Interconnect Topic Forum:

I have a electrical engineer (EE) friend that works for a local broadcast studio here in Washington, DC. He has built his own A/V cable interconnects for special purposes to accommodate unique needs for his studio environments, and for home theater clients. I showed him SH's DIY cable primer, and he was very complementary.

He emphasized that for each A/V purpose, he considers the cable (including the type of termination) specifications for:
impedance
inductance
capacitance
velocity of propagation
shield construction and characteristics (including unavoidable proximity to sources of interference)
and the physical length, diameter, weight, flexibility and jacket (or wrap)

For those who do not build their own interconnects, or lack the expertise to select the right cable or terminations for their purpose, he suggested the source for much of the cable in his environment; AFAB Enterprises, Inc. (www.AVCable.com). This company sells specialty A/V cable to the broadcast industry for a small fraction of what equivalent (or often lesser) quality "boutique cable" sells for.

While I use Outlaw PCA interconnects between my 950 and 770 amp, I have used this cable for both component video, S-video, analog and digital audio interconnects, without complaint. They offer tremendous flexibility in cable and connector types. Custom cables can be ordered at only small incremental cost. They select cable from different manufacturers such as Belden and Gepco, and use RCA connectors by Canare.

I am interested to know what the gunslingers know about this company and/or its products. I may just have been lucky so far, but my experience has been very good. My EE friend believes that the product is of both excellent and consistent quality.

Also, the use of coax cable for analog audio (as opposed to twisted pair) has me curious. Do the Gunslingers have a preference for coax based on the specifications of the cable, or is it based on the something else, such as the ease of producing a quality DIY termination? Because "A/V Cable" also make a variety of balanced analog audio interconnects, they chose to use twisted pair cable for their unbalanced interconnects also. This seems like a topic that many of you might have strong opinions about.

I am NOT an electrical engineer, and I have not made my own interconnects. It seams clear to me, however, that cables built to their specific purpose, that optimize the characteristics for accurate signal transfer are both desirable, and can be purchased (or DIY built) for significantly less than the "Snake-Oil Industry" would want us to believe.

Allan

If you can solder, this is an excellent interconnect for audio, S/PDIF digital and composite video:

http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000069.html

The choice of using RG-59 coax was one which took into account all of the above criteria, and it performs extremely well at frequencies up to those of composite video. The propogration time of the particular RG-59 I use is something like 78%. The characteristic impedance is 75 ohms which matches digital audio S/PDIF pretty closely, and is compatable with the output impedance of any likely audio components. The only thing I would look out for is to get cable with good shielding. I have found the density of the braid varies greatly from different sources. Go with a cable that has a braid comparable to the one in the photos in my DIY project.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited June 08, 2003).]

Thanks everyone! I am looking for as good a price/performance deal on interconnects as we have all found in our Outlaw Audio products. Can't get any better than that.

If shielding is a concern, and it should be, look for a foil shield for any reasonably permanent installation. Even the best braided shield tops out at about 95% enclosure, foil (properly implemented) is 100% and, if a drain wire is supplied, makes soldering much easier. The downside is that if the foil ever separates (from excessive flexing, etc.) it makes a wonderful antenna thus defeating its purpose.

I roll all my own interconnect, but I tend to stick with (foil) shielded twisted-pair for my baseband audio. This allows me to use the same stuff for balanced and unbalanced connections and since the package is thinner it looks and routes better. At work, we have to concern ourselves with fill density; at home, it's more about "that rats' nest behind the stereo."

.

I'm sure they're decent enough, but I suspect that they're pulling a Monster Cable: introducing a "higher end" cable that's more hype than improvement. Pretty packaging, though.

Jeff

I bought the Fusion cables to connect my 950 to the 770. They make a very tight, secure connection. Outside of this I cannot say if they are better than any other connector. I purchased them because I was able to get them at 10% off which made them cost about the same as the Golds. Where I live Radio Shack is about the only place in town. Got burned once buying Monster Cables, spent a lot of money for no audible improvement, (even e-mailed Monster about the actual specs on these cables and to this day they never responded though they offered me a free Monster Cable license plate bracket). I feel the Fusions are excellent for my use, wait and see if they go on sale or if you can get a discount using the Radio Shack credit card.