Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater cables.inter-connects,etc.

All of my cables are Acoustic Research - never tried any thing else, and don't plan to experiment with those supposedly high-end stuffs either. Again, my ears are reasonably deaf (darn those heavy metal days)

When you first mentioned Acoustic Research and Best Buy, I mistook you to mean Audioquest, which are some pretty, but overpriced cables with some seriously dubious claims attached to them. When I was setting up a videoconferencing system for an office in San Francisco, the consultant from Magnolia / Best Buy put together a proposal what included Audioquest cables exclusively. I bet they make good commission on those.

I've heard Acoustic Research and Blue Jeans (my choice) mentioned as being comparable.

So has anyone bought the RS Gold Series cables and compared them to other brands? How do simple, cheap cables like that compete on visuals or sound? I don't care what they look like, they're behind my components in a dark rack. It's how they perform for you everyday, IMO, that counts.

I have one Acoustic Research interconnect and subwoofer cable. I have the cheaper blue ones, not the 'premier' ones that are tannish in color and packaged in egg-like cases(I just saw them for the first time today..so I guess they are new?) I also have some Chroma interconnects/S-video cables. Both do just fine.

The only downside to the Chroma S-video cables is that they don't fit very snugly. One of them replaced a Monster Silver cable that fit much snugger. However, that high-dollar cable fell apart at the sauder joints after only a year. By the way, when I replaced the monster with the much cheaper Chroma, I noticed no difference.

All of my interconnects are a mix between Radioshack gold series and Acoustic Research (cheaper blue version). I only use these cables(s) because 1) they are prettier 2) appear to be better made (which means hopefully they'll last longer) 3) because I couldn't help but think the cheap "come with your components' cables" would degrade my sound. I have not done testing against the cables because I doubt I would hear a difference and I don't really care to. I just wanted peace of mind. I will say that when I do upgrade my system, somewhat better cables are on the list. the radioshack gold series ends are so stiff that I'm scared they will tear of the back of my SACD/DVD player (matter of fact, they almost have). I think the Blue Jeans cables have the "flex-fit" which ensures a tight connection but doesn't strip your inputs. I will probably go Blue Jeans the next time around.

After all that, the Gold series cables work fine and don't degrade the sound. I would recommend them over 99 cent interconnects any day.

The majority of my non-video interconnects are the thin jobbies included with my components. Only my s-video, composite video, optical, coax, and sub cable are higher quality.

HK, I took a look at the RadioShack Canada site and found only a rather overpriced speaker wire that was described as "Evolution II". If there are also interconnects, they didn't show. If they're available its unlikely that anyone here is personally familiar with them, but general principles would, as always, apply: as long as you have an RCA plug which makes good contact at each end of the shielded cable and it's long enough to reach, the signals will be transferred without audible flaws in the process.

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So has anyone bought the RS Gold Series cables and compared them to other brands?

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I have several RS "Gold" series optical Toslink cables, and several Monster brand. I can't tell any difference.

I also have several RS Gold audio interconnects, several Monster brand, and several cheap OEM interconnects. I've switched them around and can't tell any difference.

I've used several types of speaker wire from 16 ga to 12 ga. I currently use 12 ga zip cord from Home Depot. I can't tell any difference in sound but the 12-ga insulation was easier to strip without damaging the wires. It was also available in black which better matches my room decor than copper or white cables.

For component video, also have a mix of RS and Monster. Because video bandwidth is 1000 times greater than audio, there's a better argument that video cables can affect quality. However I can't currently see any difference. But over the years I have seen visible difference in some video cables.

The salesman at Radio Shack explained that the "Evolution 2"
was there answer to Monster. Seems to me that there prices where similar to Monster also but would have to double check.