I went to Rat Shack for some S-video cable the other day. They were out of their gold series, so I bought some higher end cables just to satisfy my need at teh time. I think I paid a little over $30 for a 3 foot run. Brought it home - thought it worked just like it should - wasn't disappointed, wasn't wowed, etc.
Then, a couple of days later, I was in a mom and pop record store, and they were selling 3 foot s-video hook-ups for about $3 each for a 3 foot run. I said, what the heck, and brought them home. As expected, they looked identical (in terms of video performance) to the cables bought at Rat Shack. Obviously, I brought the cables that were 10 times as much back.
I'm always so surprised either at the glaring lack in differences between cables or my inability to notice the differences. Compared to most of my friends, I'm an A/V nut, with discerning tastes. Compared to some other "philes," I might be a weekend warrior type. But, either way, for the most part, and for most of us, the extremely small differences exhibited by cables are not enough for most of us to justify paying a ridiculous price for them.
