Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater RS cables... don't laugh too hard...

Because I desperately needed to get something off the Tivo and onto videotape, I, um, went to Radio Shack to get a set of AV cables. They have a new line called Fusion AV. Because I was curious, I bought a set of those ($30 for 3 ft, standard RCA all the way around). They actually look to be of decent quality; about 1/4 inch thick, with good connectors, that, unlike other RS cables, don't seem to want to clamp onto my jacks like Marlon Brando on a piece of beef jerky. They've also got those little cylinders at one end of the cable that's supposed to work some sort of magic. So, has anyone tried these things, and what did you think?

Ken

Interconnects are interconnects. I usually buy Acoustic Research Pro cables, but that's because my cats chew up the flimsy el cheapo cables that are packaged with most electronics. I'm sure your Radio shack cables will do the job fine.

Oi! You sure you're an audiophile? ;-) I'm used to people going off about how great $300+ interconnects are. Thanks for the support! Unfortunately, since I bought this shiny new computer, I can't even afford to replace the flimsy cables with these Radio Shack ones... Ah well.

Yes, Ken, as fhw said, your RadioShack cables will be fine. Sounds like you've been reading too much from the charlatans who peddle exotic cables, or maybe from those taken in by their line. The little cylinders on your cables are to hold the snake oil. Just kidding; they're interference filters, but with well-shielded cables like that there isn't any interference to filter. Actually you could have gone a few dollars lower for the cables with equal results, but that isn't bad.

The block thing on the RS Fusion cable is a ferrite 'filter.' It's supposed to filter out Radio Frequency. I've heard of them used on power cords, but have also heard they dull the sound when used on speaker cables or interconnects.

This forum isn't the friendliest place for discussing cables. I've observed a noticeable difference in sound quality between different interconnects and speaker cable, although more expensive does not always mean better.

My personal favorite speaker wire are the Mapleshade Clearview Double Golden Helix Plus and Monster micro flat elect. That's just me, your opinions sure may differ.

There are some terrific values out there for interconnects - my favorite for the dollar are the Tara Labs Prism 300i's, which can be had from a fellow named audiovideoman on ebay for a song - much, much less than the RS Fusion cables.

Here's a tip for those who hate cable spaghetti and find it irritating that they've got to use a pile of RCAs for analog output from their DVD-Audio or SACD player....

Monster MicroXLN. Intended for car audio applications, you can get them in 4 channel and 6 channel models. The nifty thing is that you can get 6 analog channels in a cable the thickness of a typical good single RCA cable. The connectors are also very durable but very small. Use a pair of the 4-channel models for 7.1. Induced noise levels are very low; they're meant for a noisy environment. However, I don't know what the crosstalk looks like. I use a 6-channel one in my car and love it (Alpine CDA-7878 to Alpine MRD-F752 to MB Quart components and a Sunfire subwoofer). I'm going to try some in the family room for SACD soon, in the interest of less cabling behind my gear.

The Tara Labs are great! I'm not really sold on older Monsters. I found no difference between ratshack 12g and Monsters. Actually Monsters seemed vieled (I have older monster bi-wire with that super think grey jacket). Another relatively cheap wire is Kimber 4TC. The dynamics seemed great to me. Very revealing but sometimes too much if speakers are of metal type. I like it. I own a pair. Interconnects either Kimber Hero (a little too overpriced) or Vandenhul Bay C5 Hybrid which also is used for cars is a general purpose interlink. Remember these cables may not necessarily be better than ratshack 12g cables. But to me personally I thought I heard a discernable difference. A difference that I actually liked. If you have a good dealer you should be able to bring in your ratshack 12g and test them against any wire they are trying to sell you and then you can do a A-B comparison. If you could not tell the difference stick to the the ratshack 12g and spend your money elsewhere like on DVD and CDs. My 2 cents.


Saturn

I'm sure your Radio Shack cables are plenty good... I don't beleive in super-hype cables, but I do think that people should generally use quality cabling.

Having said that - if you are not afraid of a soldering iron, buy some Canare Star Quad cabling... can usually be had for around 30 cents or so a foot ( like here http://www.electroniccity.com/brands/23.asp). It's quite good... just pair it with some decent connectors and you've some pro-quality cables really cheap. Plus, it comes in lots of colors... I think www.markertek.com sells it in about any color you could want. I generally think white cables sound the best - they do very little to color the sound

Your views on speaker wire don't jibe with those of some old coot named roger russell (roger-russell.com). He has impressive credentials and asserts that fancy speaker wire is a waste of money.

How exactly do different brands of copper wire affect sound quality (assuming same length and thickness of wire)?

Well, I wouldn't call Monster flat cable micro elect fancy, and clearly there is a difference of opinion as to what effect if any cable has on audio sound reproduction. I think cable (speaker wire/interconnects) make a difference, others laugh and contend that electrons don't care whether they're doing their thing, whatever that is, in lamp cord or $10,000 cables.

I'm not qualified to offer any theory as to why there would be a difference in sound between one cable or another. I've already been told, on this site, that I shouldn't even trust my ears (way too subjective) in judging the quality of one CD player against another, so I don't want to get too far into what I've heard and what I've judged except for my recommendations which I posted above.

Oops, didn't mean to start a holy war, just curious if anyone else had tried the things. I'd like to get some Kimber PBJs myself when I have the money. I'm not so sure about speaker cable, after reading the big thread (and related articles) on that on these forums. But the Kimbers sure are pretty...

BTW, I'm not really using them for much; just for transfer between TIVO and VCR (not exactly hi-fi there...).

Think it would be possible and/or a good idea to take them off?

I have snap-on ferrite chokes on some of my power cords. I'd do an A/B test if I could figure out how to remove them. I don't think the chokes on your Fusions are removable. I'd leave them on rather than risking damage to the cable.