Monster Cables anyone using any any difference at all ??

[Son Of Sheep.]

Monster Cables anyone using any any difference at all ??

iam thinking of getting some for my HD PC to HD Tv connection some
componet cables. Just want the best picture i can get. Not going to
get the REALy expensive cables just the 200 Aussie dollar ones.

Ive read that they work better with HD and you notice the qiality
colours sharpness much more with HD over SD.

If you think iam wrong let me know :)

Thanks.

[bassett]

Your wrong, Try it with some normal cables first. try it everyway,
Component, Composite, S-video, RCA,
Then when you have it perfect, get some fancy priced cables, of the
connection configuration, that's does it best, and compare, but when you
find no difference, take them back , after careful returning them to there
equally expensive package, and tell the salesman , that your wife already
bought them when you got home.
bassett


"Son Of Sheep." <sheep.com.au> wrote in message
news:sk1gd1hhn6t2mf1ool8ku5sem8nkv208nu@4ax.com...
>
>
> Monster Cables anyone using any any difference at all ??
>
> iam thinking of getting some for my HD PC to HD Tv connection some
> componet cables. Just want the best picture i can get. Not going to
> get the REALy expensive cables just the 200 Aussie dollar ones.
>
> Ive read that they work better with HD and you notice the qiality
> colours sharpness much more with HD over SD.
>
> If you think iam wrong let me know :)
>
> Thanks.
>

[haha]

Last week I bought some Crest Xtreme component cables from WOW Sight
and Sound - they were reduced from $140 to $39.95 because they were
last year's packaging.

I wanted to believe expensive cables made no difference, but my wife
and I both thought the picture quality was slightly better. I switched
back and forth a couple times, and maybe it's in my mind but I'm
convinced the cables made a difference, albeit very small. One thing I
could prove. I replaced the antenna cable (from the set top box to the
wall outlet) with the Crest Xtreme one and the digital reception signal
strength improved by 10%.

The salesperson claimed the Xtreme cables are better than monster
cable, but I said to him, even if I couldn't tell any difference I
thought $39.95 was a good price for cables that look and feel so good!!

[geoff]

> I wanted to believe expensive cables made no difference, but my wife
> and I both thought the picture quality was slightly better. I switched
> back and forth a couple times, and maybe it's in my mind but I'm
> convinced the cables made a difference, albeit very small.

Ah look....if you only run the cables a small distance then its not going to
make any difference...eg a metre or so

... but if you have 5metres or more of cables of course you will notice
that ell cheapo cables are more prone to interference and signal loss..

[bassett]

Very debatable

"geoff" <geoffbickle@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:42db133d$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
>
> ... but if you have 5metres or more of cables of course you will notice
> that ell cheapo cables are more prone to interference and signal loss..
>
>
>

[conradvr@yahoo.com]

In my experience the improvement most people get when they replace
their existing cables is more due to improving the connection between
the plug and socket than the cable itself. Try cleaning your existing
plugs and sockets and often you will probably discover that over time
the quality of the connections have gradually deteriorated.

I know that I can make my own quality cable for a very small fraction
of the price some of the $$$ brand cable manufacturers are asking, this
is using some of the best quality cables and connectors available.
Some of the $$ cables I have looked at don't reflect their price in the
quality of the cable, quality of connectors and quality of assembly - I
once checked out a rather expensive digital coax cable (1.5m for $200+)
and when we opened the plugs they had used solder connections instead
of crimp connections, also it was most probably just a standard RCA
type plug (looked flash though) instead a RCA plugs that is designed to
impedance match a 75 ohm cable as close as possible. It is a pity you
can't always use the formula price = quality.

[Julien Goodwin]

On 19/07/2005 1:07 PM, conradvr@yahoo.com wrote:
> ...when we opened the plugs they had used solder connections instead
> of crimp connections...

Out of interest why are crimped connections better? You would think that
solder connections would have less resistance, and many high-end
connectors (non-audio) are even welded.

Thanks,
Julien

[Fraser Johnston]

"Julien Goodwin" <julieng@usenet.studio442.com.au> wrote in message
news:yw6De.25367$Le2.172359@nasal.pacific.net.au.. .
> On 19/07/2005 1:07 PM, conradvr@yahoo.com wrote:
>> ...when we opened the plugs they had used solder connections instead
>> of crimp connections...
>
> Out of interest why are crimped connections better? You would think that
> solder connections would have less resistance, and many high-end
> connectors (non-audio) are even welded.

Because all the connectors need to share the same impedance.

Fraser

[Ext User(conradvr@yahoo.com)]

Google crimp versus solder and you will find a number of technical
documents that will give you information such as: "Crimp versus
Solder: Crimp contacts offer improved electrical performance, strain
relief and quality control compared to solder cup contacts."

This is critical in applications with high frequency signals where the
wavelength is shorter than the length of the cable as transmission
theory applies. It is best to have the terminations the same impedance
as the cable due to refelected waves - google on this topic and there
are a few wbsites with little visual applets to show what happens.

Welded connections are not soldered - normally used in high power
applications and electrical earthing points, think of a crimp
connection as a "cold weld"

Regards,
Conrad

[Ext User(bassett)]

your aguement goes right out the window, once the connection, whether
crimped or soldered, meets the binding post.

<conradvr@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1122004151.674268.25900@g44g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> Google crimp versus solder and you will find a number of technical
> documents that will give you information such as: "Crimp versus
> Solder: Crimp contacts offer improved electrical performance, strain
> relief and quality control compared to solder cup contacts."
>
> This is critical in applications with high frequency signals where the
> wavelength is shorter than the length of the cable as transmission
> theory applies. It is best to have the terminations the same impedance
> as the cable due to refelected waves - google on this topic and there
> are a few wbsites with little visual applets to show what happens.
>
> Welded connections are not soldered - normally used in high power
> applications and electrical earthing points, think of a crimp
> connection as a "cold weld"
>
> Regards,
> Conrad
>

[Ext User(conradvr@yahoo.com)]

Why Bassett? As you fail to provide references or specifics as the how
and why my argument is wrong it is hard to rebuke your comment in
detail. Crimped connections are generally superior to soldered
connections for use in HF systems - why then are the majority of plugs
and connectors used in HF applications crimp type and not solder?

For starters in HF applications we are concerned about reducing
impedance missmatches along the transmission line, as at every
missmatch you lose power in the form of reflections back down the line
(note that impedance is more than just resistance). Crimped
connections generally offer better electrical performance than soldered
and if you have tried to solder coaxial cable you will know it is very
hard to achieve as good a quality result as a crimped conection.

Naturally the RCA type plug available on most equipment is not as
suitable as a BNC, F or N type connector and will result in more loses.
You can source one of the special RCA plugs from suppliers like Canare
to achieve a better result.

If you want to get an introduction into transmission line theory then
try starting here:
http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14182/css/14182_109.htm

Regards
Conrad

[Ext User(John)]

conradvr@yahoo.com wrote:
> Why Bassett? As you fail to provide references or specifics as the how
> and why my argument is wrong it is hard to rebuke your comment in
> detail. Crimped connections are generally superior to soldered
> connections for use in HF systems - why then are the majority of plugs
> and connectors used in HF applications crimp type and not solder?
>
> For starters in HF applications we are concerned about reducing
> impedance missmatches along the transmission line, as at every
> missmatch you lose power in the form of reflections back down the line
> (note that impedance is more than just resistance). Crimped
> connections generally offer better electrical performance than soldered
> and if you have tried to solder coaxial cable you will know it is very
> hard to achieve as good a quality result as a crimped conection.
>
> Naturally the RCA type plug available on most equipment is not as
> suitable as a BNC, F or N type connector and will result in more loses.
> You can source one of the special RCA plugs from suppliers like Canare
> to achieve a better result.
>
> If you want to get an introduction into transmission line theory then
> try starting here:
> http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14182/css/14182_109.htm

The problem with normal solder is that the tin and lead isn't as good a
conductor as can be provided with a *good* crimp. However, a good
silver solder can be better than a crimp.

It mostly comes down to cost.

It's easier and quicker to crimp connectors than have someone silver
soldering, thus lower cost, more profit. You will probably find your
$200+ soldered cable is using good quality soldered joints.

You are correct with regards to connector impedances. An RCA will never
be perfect impedance, no matter what the advertising says. The better
ones are close though. RCA should be put out to pasture...

I would have to argue about the majority of HF leads being crimped
though. I've worked with a lot of RF gear and some very, very expensive
leads, test leads, reference leads etc. and they have all been soldered.
Again, I guess it comes down to ease of construction and price. I
can't see a Foxtel guy up on a roof with a soldering iron... ;-)

[Ext User(conradvr@yahoo.com)]

In HF you need to get a connection that has good conductivity and
maintains the geometry of the conductors when using cable types like
coaxial. The main advantage of crimping is it is much easier to
maintain this geometry, get good electrical conductivity and design
connectors that allow the cable to be inserted deep into the plug to be
as close to the point of connection as possible.

Crimping isn't always cheaper as buying a bunch of soldering irons and
solder is much cheaper than the cost of tooling for crimping cables
(hence the use of clamp type connectors in some applications). In the
expensive cable I referred to in my previous post the plug had the
standard type solder terminals you find in most RCA plugs, silver
solder or not this was not a quality result, the cable was terminated
too far away from the actual connection points so the impedance
missmatch would have been significant due to the geometry of the
conductors changing.

Yeh, I know that some of the reference leads you buy are soldered,
these leads are expensive and typically manufactured in very low
volumes and take a fair amount of time and skill to get right - you
even get the occasional crimp + soldered connector. A few years ago I
had to solder some plugs for use in a very high speed control system
network using coaxial cables (didn't have a crimping tool handy on
site) - lets just say it took a fair number of attempts before I
achieved a working result.

I wish we could get rid of the RCA connectors for HF connections, why
they don't use BNC connectors is frustrating.

[Ext User(John)]

conradvr@yahoo.com wrote:

> I wish we could get rid of the RCA connectors for HF connections, why
> they don't use BNC connectors is frustrating.

I'm just glad that my G70 uses BNC's.. :-)

Used to play around a lot with TNC and other Amphenol connectors, but
not so much anymore.

Now, if we started talking about microwave frequency gear and
waveguides... ;-)