Expensive Cables “Monster” VS Reasonable Ones

You’ve all looked at the prices of high end audiovisual cables in stores like Best Buy and Future Shop costing up into the high $100’s. Is the price worth it and do you get any extra benefit for throwing your money away? I would have to say no and that I’ve made cables of my own that perform just as well if not better! Once again we need to go back to the difference between Analog and Digital signals.


Analog Signals: An analog signal is a little tricky simply because there are a lot of factors that come into play contributing to the overall performance and signal quality. Here are some to think about.

Length of the cable
The longer the cable is the harder it will be for an analog signal to reach the other end. A nice short cable could be compared to a car driving along as normal but if you start pressing the breaks “Resistance” the car slows down. The same thing happens to your signal when using longer and longer cables. The longer the cable is the more resistance there will be and can make it very hard for your signal to reach the other end without degrading.

Quality of the connectors
The connector can also play a role in how well a signal can make it through the cable based what the resistance value is of each connector. Remember that you have a connector at each end and they both add some resistance to the puzzle.

Quality of the termination
Most cables have their ends put on “Terminated” by an automated assembly line but what counts here is the quality of the strain relief that was used. The strain relief helps the cable to stay attached to the connector longer. An example would be pulling on the cable instead of the connector to unplug it. The strain relief helps to take some of that force off of the very delicate “Soldered” joints. This said even the type and quality of solder used can factor into the overall performance of the cable.

Induction “Unwanted noise making its way onto your cable”
This can be caused simply by running your AV cables too close to power lines. Power gives off a 60 hertz hum that can be heard in your speakers or sometimes you’ll even see it on your TV screen.

In my opinion if you are buying short 10ft cables and are able to keep them away from your power “You can cross over a power cable but never run along beside” then I would say there is no reason for you to go out and buy “Monster” cables. You will not notice any bit of difference in the picture or audio quality. I would recommend buying brand name cables of some sort to get a respectable build quality but as for “Monster” the expensive brands they are all marked up 70% above wholesale and only god knows how much they are marked up from the manufacturer.


Digital Signals: This type of cable is much easier to talk to because a digital signal either works or it doesn’t. There is no unhappy middle where the quality of your picture or sound has degraded to the point where it’s unbearable. HDMI for instance has a specific minimum standard that all manufacturers have to follow to carry the HDMI certification. If you were to buy a certified 25ft HDMI cable from Tiger Direct for $30 it would perform just as well as a 15ft cable from “Monster” for $120. No consumer would ever be able to tell the difference and no hardcore video boys would see a difference without some fancy testing equipment. When it comes to digital signals do not under any circumstances waste your money on high end “Monster” cable types. Unless however you enjoy wasting your hard earned money in harsh economic times!


Stay tuned for my next post!