Are cables the weak link in your system?

[GrtGrfx]

Originally Posted by Captain Stereo

Well, apparently at 50 you bypassed getting educated on what it is that cables do and how they can contribute to the signal as the signal passes through them. Ever heard of speed-rated HDMI cables? Ever wonder why you get to a certain length after which virtually every manufacturer says it won't guarantee signal? Wait, it's just digital!!! But bottomline, if you enjoy your Vizio by way of $3 cables, then live it up. Careful though, I hear that tornados are hell on the trailer park you live in, and I'd hate you to lose your Vizio TV, $3 cables, and all that cheezwhiz in your minifridge.

That's a crap response. If you have a 6' HDMI cable (I do) and compare it to any other 6' cable, you get the same 1s and 0s on the other end. This discussion is NOT about signal loss. Further, while I think Vizio product is pretty amazing for the price, and it's rude of you to denigrate them for their accomplishments, I am more than happy to watch on my Panasonic industrial plasma. I happen to know how to calibrate a TV signal, because, duh, you CAN tell the difference between a blown-out TV fresh from the big-box store and a calibrated set that you watch in a dim room. But HDMI cables, not so much.

And nope, never heard of speed-rated cables, sounds like Monster voodoo economics to me. If you want to talk about HDMI 1.2 vs. 1.3 or even the new 1.4 standards for 3D (which some enterprising manufacturer has already announced for sale even before the defining HDMI body has even implemented TESTS), go right ahead. But cable companies are selling snake oil, and you, my friend, are lining up to buy it.

Finally, if you've ever lived through a natural disaster, (and I fondly remember the last big earthquake in West Los Angeles in, oh, '94) you wouldn't bring THAT up either. Get off my lawn!!

[Captain Stereo]

Originally Posted by GrtGrfx

That's a crap response. If you have a 6' HDMI cable (I do) and compare it to any other 6' cable, you get the same 1s and 0s on the other end. This discussion is NOT about signal loss. Further, while I think Vizio product is pretty amazing for the price, and it's rude of you to denigrate them for their accomplishments, I am more than happy to watch on my Panasonic industrial plasma. I happen to know how to calibrate a TV signal, because, duh, you CAN tell the difference between a blown-out TV fresh from the big-box store and a calibrated set that you watch in a dim room. But HDMI cables, not so much.

And nope, never heard of speed-rated cables, sounds like Monster voodoo economics to me. If you want to talk about HDMI 1.2 vs. 1.3 or even the new 1.4 standards for 3D (which some enterprising manufacturer has already announced for sale even before the defining HDMI body has even implemented TESTS), go right ahead. But cable companies are selling snake oil, and you, my friend, are lining up to buy it.

Finally, if you've ever lived through a natural disaster, (and I fondly remember the last big earthquake in West Los Angeles in, oh, '94) you wouldn't bring THAT up either. Get off my lawn!!

You are clearly one of those people happy to live in ignorance, so be happy. If you think cables are snake oil, that certainly is in keeping with saying you're happy with your $3 video cables. Anyone with an open mind, and this clearly would not be you, can see the difference in cables and hear the difference as it regards audio cables and speaker cables. Funny how people who say it's snake oil always own cheap crap. So be happy with it. And google speed ratings for cables. It's not complicated. You might have to turn off Judge Judy and actually pay attention while you read, but it's plain science. And I'm not even going to bother responding to your feigned indignation over living through an earthquake. Glad you and all the chatchkies on your laminate shelving made it through intact.

[GrtGrfx]

Originally Posted by Captain Stereo

You are clearly one of those people happy to live in ignorance, so be happy. If you think cables are snake oil, that certainly is in keeping with saying you're happy with your $3 video cables. Anyone with an open mind, and this clearly would not be you, can see the difference in cables and hear the difference as it regards audio cables and speaker cables. Funny how people who say it's snake oil always own cheap crap. So be happy with it. And google speed ratings for cables. It's not complicated. You might have to turn off Judge Judy and actually pay attention while you read, but it's plain science. And I'm not even going to bother responding to your feigned indignation over living through an earthquake. Glad you and all the chatchkies on your laminate shelving made it through intact.

You know, while my original post was meant to be ironic, you've deftly moved into the arena of clumsy, sputtering diatribe against people you know nothing about, using petty, jingoistic "cracker" trash talk to make your points. I don't get where you're coming from, but judging from your condescending remarks, you seem to have a real chip on your shoulder about poor people. Unfortunately, I...

a) do not, nor have I ever, lived in a trailer park, housing project or "the other side of the tracks"
b) do not collect, keep or own tchochkes (note the actual spelling, you're not Jewish either) or use laminate shelving,
c) do not watch or pay any attention to daytime television because I personally find it tragically boring, maudlin, facetious or melodramatic (with bad acting to boot),
d) do read the entire contents of at least one national newspaper, several magazines and follow numerous industries besides my own online almost every day, and
e) have far above the neanderthal IQ of your supposed Appalachian trailer park resident. But five out of five FAILS aren't bad.

I do not own any "cheap crap," (and most of the posters in this forum who agree with me don't either) and although I have never paid full price for any of my assembled gear, all are midrange or better hifi components from respected makers like Denon, NAD, Harman Kardon and NHT. The only thing I didn't spend hundreds of dollars on were cables, and that's not damaging my appreciation for music and video one bit. So while you may target MY post simply because it was the last in line and you're too lazy to read further back to belittle other posters, your vitreolic arguments still have no credibility because you haven't bothered to cite any scientific sources or make any provable statements. It's all opinion all the time, and yours is no better than anyone else's.

Captain Stereo, indeed. Come outa your Cracker Jack box, give back the decoder ring, and live in the real world with the rest of us.

[Loves2Watch]

Originally Posted by Captain Stereo

Well, apparently at 50 you bypassed getting educated on what it is that cables do and how they can contribute to the signal as the signal passes through them. Ever heard of speed-rated HDMI cables? Ever wonder why you get to a certain length after which virtually every manufacturer says it won't guarantee signal? Wait, it's just digital!!! But bottomline, if you enjoy your Vizio by way of $3 cables, then live it up. Careful though, I hear that tornados are hell on the trailer park you live in, and I'd hate you to lose your Vizio TV, $3 cables, and all that cheezwhiz in your minifridge.

What an arrogant, insulting and totally wrong post.

[Loves2Watch]

Originally Posted by Captain Stereo

You are clearly one of those people happy to live in ignorance, so be happy. If you think cables are snake oil, that certainly is in keeping with saying you're happy with your $3 video cables. Anyone with an open mind, and this clearly would not be you, can see the difference in cables and hear the difference as it regards audio cables and speaker cables. Funny how people who say it's snake oil always own cheap crap. So be happy with it. And google speed ratings for cables. It's not complicated. You might have to turn off Judge Judy and actually pay attention while you read, but it's plain science. And I'm not even going to bother responding to your feigned indignation over living through an earthquake. Glad you and all the chatchkies on your laminate shelving made it through intact.

If you can hear a difference then you better quit taking those hallucinogenic drugs.

[GrtGrfx]

Originally Posted by Loves2Watch

What an arrogant, insulting and totally wrong post.

You know, something interesting occurred to me today. We (all of us posting on these forums) are computer users, whether experts as I happen to be, or just typical casually-informed users. Let's take an example from the computer world we know and love.

You can buy a $40 SATA or CAT 5 ethernet cable for your new PC or Mac at a retail store. It delivers 0s and 1s between a drive and the motherboard, allowing you to access your data. Or you can buy a $2 SATA or ethernet cable from another dealer (probably online), which does the same thing. If A SINGLE DATA BYTE of the file you are accessing is not transmitted by the cable, your file will not open, or your program might crash, or the text/image/video display incorrectly, or who knows what else. Therefore we can say with certainty that barring a defective product, ANY cable you buy with the appropriate (SATA, CAT 5) spec should deliver 100% of the signal, exactly as it was recorded, 100% of the time. In the computer world, there's no such thing as "well it isn't AS NICE as the higher-priced cable." If it doesn't deliver 100%, it's a failed product and cannot be sold.

Also, note that there are no manufacturers in the computer world advertising $2,000 cables for your computer or network (okay, there's Denon with their $500 ethernet "interconnect" but they're laughed at by anyone who knows networking). Why? because they haven't a leg to stand on justifying such a high price.

How could audio or video cables be any different? Either they deliver 100% of the signal or they don't, because wire is wire and connectors are connectors. The only limiting factor, as far as I can see, is degradation caused by distance, which would be the result of signal loss. Take extra-long length out of the situation and any cable designed to fit into a certain port should deliver an identical signal. At that point, the differentiator is the connector end and whether it's making contact with the device.

If you trust your computer to work with its cables, then you should similarly trust any AV cable to do the same. Cables should be rated for distance, NOT for "sweetness and accuracy." And fancy covers, exotic materials and high prices don't equal higher quality reproduction. THIS is why an engineer can confidently mix his audio with Radio Shack cabling and expect good results. Because it shouldn't matter.