Speaker Cables

ENGINEERING WHITE PAPERS

ON CABLE ANATOMY
By Pro Co Sound
used with permission

CABLE ANATOMY I: UNDERSTANDING THE INSTRUMENT CABLE
Are instrument cables used for high-impedance or low-impedance lines?
Generally, the source impedance is the determining factor in cable selection.
Instrument cables are used for a wide range of sources. Many keyboard instruments,
mixers, and signal processors have very low (50 to 600 ohm) source impedances. On
the other hand, typical electric guitar or bass pickups are very inductive, very high
impedance (20,000 ohms and above) sources. Typical load impedances are greater
than 10,000 ohms, which limits the electrical current flow to a very small amount
on the order of a few thousandths of an ampere (milliamps).
How much power does an instrument cable have to carry?
The voltages encountered range from a few millivolts, in the case of the electric
guitar, to levels over ten volts delivered by line-level sources such as mixers. By
Ohm's Law this represents power levels of less than a thousandth of a watt.
What kind of frequency response does an instrument cable need? What are the
lowest and highest frequencies produced by the source?
The bandwidth spans the entire audible range of frequencies, from the 41 Hz (and
below) of bass guitar and synthesizer to the 20 kHz harmonics of keyboards and
cymbals. Recording applications demand wide bandwidth to preserve the "sizzle" of
a hot performance. Even an electric guitar has a bandwidth of about 82 Hz to above
5 kHz.
How big does an instrument cable need to be? Will a bigger cable sound better?
Will a bigger cable last longer?
In order to be compatible with standard 1/4-inch phone plugs the diameter of the
cable is effectively limited to a maximum diameter of about .265". Larger cable
diameters demand larger plug barrels, which sometimes won't fit jacks that are
located close together or in tight places. In terms of both sound and durability, "it's
not how big you make it, but how you make it big."
What are the basic parts of an instrument cable and what does each one do?
The coaxial configuration is generally used for unbalanced instrument cables. At its
simplest it consists of a center conductor, which carries current form the source,
separated by insulation from a surrounding shield, which is also the current return
conductor necessary to complete the circuit. These three components are
augmented by an electrostatic shield to reduce handling noise and an outer jacket
for protection and appearance.
Instrument Cables
What is a stranded center conductor? Why is it important?
A stranded conductor is composed of a number of strands of copper wire bunched
together to form a larger wire. Solid conductors having only one strand are the
cheapest and easiest to work with when assembling cables, because they do not
require the twisting and tinning that stranded types need to prepare them for
soldering. The problem with a solid conductor is that it quickly fatigues and breaks
when it is bent or flexed. This makes stranded conductors a must for cables that are
frequently moved around, especially when they are attached to human beings
playing music. Finely stranded conductors increase the cost of the cable because of
the increased production time and the expensive and sophisticated machinery
required to assemble very small and fragile strands into a single conductor. The
stranding of the center conductor is only one of a number of factors that influence
the overall flexibility of a given cable, but it is generally true that finer stranding
increases the flexibility and the flex life of the cable.
What is wire gauge? What gauge wire is used in instrument cables?
The diameter of copper wire is typically given in AWG (American Wire Gauge), with
the larger numbers signifying smaller size. For instance, a 20 AWG (or "20 gauge")
wire is smaller than an 18 AWG wire. Generally, instrument cable center conductors
are in the range of 18 to 24 AWG, with strands of 32 to 36 AWG. Many American
wire mills simply cannot work with wire smaller than 36 AWG because their
equipment is too antiquated. The Japanese manufacturers Canare and Mogami have
been leaders in the use of very fine (40 AWG) copper stranding.
What gauge should the center conductor of an instrument cable be?
Since the current involved in instrument applications is negligible, the amount of
copper in the center conductor has only a very slight effect on the strength of the
signal reaching the amplifier. In practice, the center conductor's size is determined
primarily by (1) the necessity of obtaining a maximum diameter of .265" or less
while (2) providing sufficient tensile strength to withstand the rigors of
performance without breaking. The 20 AWG center conductor has become quite
standard, normally in the form of 26 strands of 34 conductor has become quite
standard, normally in the form of 26 strands of 34 AWG(26/34) or 41 strands of 36
AWG (41/36). A 20 AWG conductor has a breaking point of approximately 31 lbs.
Reducing conductor size to 22 AWG reduces breaking point to about 19 lbs. (a
reduction of 39%); increasing it to 18 AWG increases the strength to over 49 lbs. (an
increase of 58%). The most common cause of failure for instrument cables is broken
center conductors.
What are the differences between tinned copper and bare copper stranded
conductors?
Sometimes the individual strands of the center conductor are run through a bath of
molten tin before assembling them into a wire. Tinned copper wire is often easier
to solder, especially if a lengthy (months to years) shelf life is required, because
the tin coat prevents copper oxides from forming. If the cable is to be used
immediately upon manufacture pre-tinned strands are not required and add
unnecessary expense. Furthermore, an electrical phenomenon known as skin effect
makes the use of tinned conductors a potential threat to the high-frequency signal-
carrying properties of the cable. However, the aging effects of the formation of
copper oxides on untinned conductors may also cause a gradual deterioration of
performance.
What is skin effect and how does it affect tinned copper?
Briefly, skin effect is caused by the magnetic field generated by the current flow in
the cable causing electron flow to be concentrated more and more on the outer
surface of the conductor as frequency increases. If this outer surface is coated with
tin, which has higher resistance than copper, the cable will have a falling high-
frequency response and act as an attenuator.
What is oxygen-free and linear-crystal copper? How do they affect sound in
cables?
There is a continuing debate concerning the use of oxygen-free and linear-crystal
copper wire. These types of wire contain lower levels of oxide impurities and fewer
crystal boundaries than standard copper. Since these impurities form tiny
semiconductors within the cable, the theory is that the cable itself introduces
signal distortion, especially of low-level "detail" information. These claims have
been very difficult to document with scientific test equipment, but numerous
listening tests suggest there is something to them.
What materials are used for insulation of the center conductor?
The insulation that surrounds the center conductor can be made from thermoset
(rubber, E.P.D.M., neoprene, Hypalon) or thermoplastic (polyethylene,
polypropylene, PVC, FPE) materials. The thermoset materials are extruded over the
conductor and then heat-cured to vulcanize them. This process yields a very high
melting pint which makes soldering very easy, but the vulcanizing stage adds to the
cost and introduces unpredictable shrinkage which can make it very difficult to
maintain the desired wall thickness. Thermoplastic insulations are cheaper to
process but will return to a liquid state when overheated, requiring great care
during soldering when used to insulate large conductors. In the past decade the
insulation of choice for instrument cable has largely shifted from rubber or E.P.D.M.
to high-density polyethylene, with cost being a major factor.
How does the insulation affect flexibility?
The insulation material and its thickness can be very dominant in determining the
flexibility of the cable. A finely-stranded conductor insulated with a stiff compound
will behave much like a solid conductor, as will a conductor insulated with a very
thick layer of a more flexible compound. The thinner the insulation is, the more
flexibility it allows in the overall cable.
How thick does the insulation need to be?
The basic electrical requirement for insulation thickness is called dielectric strength
and is determined by the cable's working voltage. The voltages involved in
instrument cable applications are very low and very little dielectric strength is
necessary to prevent the insulation from breaking down. However, a very important
consideration when the cable is to be used for instruments like electric guitars is
the amount of capacitance between the center conductor and shield.
What is capacitance and what does it do?
Capacitance is the ability to store an electrical charge. In cables, capacitance
between the center conductor and shield is expressed in picofarads per foot
(pF/ft.), with lower values indicating less capacitance. Combined with the source
impedance, cable capacitance forms a low-pass filer between the instrument and
amplifier; that is, it cuts high frequencies, much as the instrument's tone control
does.
Why is low-capacitance cable an advantage? How can cable capacitance be
eliminated? How long of a cable can I run before I lose high frequencies?
Lower cable capacitance allows more of the natural "brightness," "presence," or
"bite" of an instrument to reach the amp, which in turn allows the treble controls to
be run lower, reducing "hiss" and other unwanted noise. High-frequency loss from
the cable becomes audible and objectionable depending on the source, the
amplification and other circumstances. Raising the source impedance or increasing
the length of the cable increases the loss; there is no point at which high-frequency
loss suddenly appears or disappears. Guitars typically have much higher source
impedances at higher frequencies because of the inductive nature of their pickups,
which aggravates the effect of cable capacitance. A guitar will often sound
noticeably "muddier" when run through a 40-foot cable, whereas keyboard
instruments, samplers, mixers and other line-level devices with low source
impedances can usually drive cable runs of hundreds of feet without problems.
How is low-capacitance cable made?
Given that the overall outside diameter of the cable is limited by the plugs that
must be used, cable capacitance is largely the result of trade-offs between
conductor size (and hence strength), insulation material (cost) and insulation
thickness (size and flexibility). The term dielectric constant is used to rank the
insulation quality of a material. Some materials are great insulators but impractical
for use as wire insulationglass, for instance! As far as practical materials are
concerned, the thermoplastics are generally far superior to the thermoset family.
For instance, polyethylene has a dielectric constant of 2.3, while that of rubber is
6.5. This allows a cable with polyethylene insulation to have perhaps one-third of
the capacitance of a cable insulated with the same thickness of rubber. This can
make an audible increase in the clarity of the sound.
What is the best all-around insulation material for instrument cables?
Polyethylene is very economical and dielectrically hard to improve upon (teflon is
slightly better, but its cost is far greater, and its flexibility is far from ideal). Its
only drawback is a low melting point which requires a skilled touch with the
soldering iron to avoid problems in production.
What does the electrostatic do?
As the cable is flexed and bent, the copper shield rubs against the insulation,
generating static electricity. The electrostatic shield acts as a semi-conducting
barrier between the copper shield and the center insulation which discharges these
static electrical charges. Without it any movement of the cable would result in
obnoxious "crackling" noises being generated.
What are electrostatic shields made of?
Electrostatic shields first appeared in cable as a layer of rayon braid. Nowadays
carbon-impregnated dacron "noise-reducing tape" is a common element in any good
high-impedance cable. Increasing in popularity are conductive-plastic (carbon-
loaded PVC) electrostatic shields. Conductive PVC is extrudable just like an
insulation, which guarantees 100% coverage of the insulation with a very consistent
thickness and a very low coefficient of friction. The superior conductivity of C-PVC
makes it much more effective than the semiconductive tape in bleeding off the
small electrical charges that cause "the crackles." Extruded C-PVC is also thinner
and more flexible than dacron tape, which is applied longitudinally and restricts the
"bendability" of the cable. Although conductive plastic (with a copper drain wire)
has been used to completely replace copper braid or serve shields, its effectiveness
falls off above 10 kHz.
Why are some cables microphonic?
As was noted previously, the center conductor, insulation and shield of a coaxial
cable form a capacitor; and, as many a microphone manufacturer will tell you,
when the plates of a capacitor are deflected, a voltage is generated. (This is the
basis of the condenser microphone!) Similarly, when the plates (conductor and
shield) of our "cable-capacitor" are deflected (for instance, by stepping on it or
allowing it to strike a hard floor), a voltage is also generated. Unfortunately, this
voltage generally pops out of the amplifier as a distinct "whap," and can be very
hard on ears and loudspeakers alike. Effects of this type are called triboelectric
noise.
How can cable noise be reduced?
The electrostatic shield's charge-draining properties help greatly to diminish
triboelectric effects. Triboelectric impact noise is also reduced by decreasing the
capacitance of the cable with thicker and softer insulation because the deflection
of the conductor is proportionally reduced. This is the main reason that the single-
conductor coaxial configuration remains superior to the "twisted pair" for high-
impedance usesit allows thicker insulation for a given overall diameter.
Triboelectric effects are accentuated by high source impedances, and are at their
worst when the source is an open circuitfor instance, a cable plugged into an
amplifier with no instrument at the sending end. Testing for this type of noise
requires termination of the cable with a shielded resistance to simulate the source
impedance of a real instrument.
What does the shield do?
The copper shield of a coaxial cable acts as the return conductor for the signal
current and as a barrier to prevent interference from reaching the "hot" center
conductor. Unwanted types of interference encountered and blocked with varying
degrees of success by cable shielding include radio frequency (RFI) (CB and AM
radio), electromagnetic (EMI) (power transformers) and electrostatic (ESI) (SCR
dimmers, relays, fluorescent lights).
What makes one shield better than another?
To be most effective the cable shield is tied to a groundusually a metal amplifier
or mixer chassis that is in turn grounded to the AC power line. Cable shielding
effectiveness against high-frequency interference fields is accomplished by
minimizing the transfer impedance of the shield. At frequencies below 100 kHz, the
transfer impedance is equal to the DC resistancehence, more copper equals better
shielding. Above 100 kHz the skin effect previously referred to comes into play and
increases the transfer impedance, reducing the shielding effectiveness. Another
important parameter to consider is the optical coverage of the shield, which is
simply a percentage expressing how complete the coverage of the center conductor
by the shield is.
What are the characteristics of the three basic types of cable shields? Which is
best?
A braided shield is applied by braiding bunches of copper strands called picks
around the insulated, electrostatically shielded center conductor. The braided
shield offers a number of advantages. Its coverage can be varied from less than 50%
to nearly 97% by changing the angle, the number of picks and the rate at which they
are applied. It is very consistent in its coverage, and remains so as the cable is
flexed and bent. This can be crucial in shielding the signal from interference caused
by radio-frequency sources, which have very short wavelengths that can enter very
small "holes" in the shield. This RF-shielding superiority is further enhanced by very
low inductance, causing the braid to present a very low transfer impedance to high
frequencies. This is very important when the shield is supposed to be conducting
interference harmlessly to ground. Drawbacks of the braid shield include restricted
flexibility, high manufacturing costs because of the relatively slow speed at which
the shield-braiding machinery works, and the laborious "picking and pigtailing"
operations required during termination.

A serve shield, also known as a spiral-wrapped shield, is applied by wrapping a flat
layer of copper strands around the center in a single direction (either clockwise or
counter-clockwise). The serve shield is very flexible, providing very little restriction
to the "bendability" of the cable. Although its tensile strength is much less than that
of braid, the serve's superior flexibility often makes it more reliable in "real-world"
instrument applications. Tightly braided shields can be literally shredded by being
kinked and pulled, as often happens in performance situations, while a spiral-
wrapped serve shield will simply stretch without breaking down. Of course, such
treatment opens up gaps in the shield which can allow interference to enter. The
inductance of the serve shield is also a liability when RFI is a problem; because it
literally is a coil of wire, it has a transfer impendance that rises with frequency and
is not as effective in shunting interference to ground as a braid. The serve shield is
most effective at frequencies below 100 kHz. From a cost viewpoint, the serve
requires less copper, is much faster and hence cheaper to manufacture, and is
quicker and easier to terminate than a braided shield. It also allows a smaller
overall cable diameter, as it is only composed of a single layer of very small
(typically 36 AWG) strands. these characteristics make copper serve a very common
choice for audio cables.

The foil shield is composed of a thin layer of mylar-backed aluminum foil in contact
with a copper drain wire used to terminate it. The foil shield/drain wire
combination is very cheap, but it severely limits flexibility and indeed breaks down
under repeated flexing. The advantage of the 100% coverage offered by foil is
largely compromised by its high transfer impedance (aluminum being a poorer
conductor of electricity than copper), especially at low frequencies.
What type of shield works best against 60-cycle hum from power transformers
and AC cables?
The sad truth is that the most offensive "hum-producing" frequencies (60 and 120
Hz) generally emitted by transformers and heavy power cables are too low in
frequency to be stopped by anything but a solid tube of ferrous (magnetic)
metaliron, steel, nickel, etc.none of which contribute to the flexibility of a
cable! For magnetically-coupled interference, the only solution is to present as
small a loop area as possible. This is one of the reasons that the twisted-pair
configuration generally used in balanced-line applications became popular.
Fortunately the high input impedances generally found in unbalanced circuits
minimize the effects of such interference. Don't run instrument cables parallel to
extension cords. Don't coil up the excess length of a "too-long" cable and stuff it
through the carrying handle of a ampthis makes a great inductive pickup loop for
60 Hz hum!
What does the outer jacket do? What is it made of?
The jacket is both armor and advertisement; it protects the cable from damage and
enhances the marketability of the assembly. As armor, the jacket must resist
abrasion, impact, moisture and sometimes hostile chemicals (Bud Light, for
instance). As advertisement, it may be distinctively colored or printed with the
name of the manufacturer or dealer for product identification. The materials used
for jacketing are the same type as those used for the inner insulation (thermoset or
thermoplastic), but the choice is dictated less by electrical criteria and more by
physical durability and cosmetic acceptability.
What is the best cable jacketing material?
For years rubber or neoprene were preferred for their superior abrasion resistance
and flexibility, but modern thermoplastic technology has produced a number of PVC
compounds that are soft and flexible but also very tough. As previously noted,
thermoplastic processing is cheaper, faster and more predictable than that for
thermoset materials. Only very specialized situations requiring oil or ozone
resistance or extremes of temperature and climate demand neoprene or Hypalon
jacketing.

The use of PVC has two other major advantages. PVC is not as elastic as rubber or
neoprene, and this lack of "stretch" lends additional tensile strength to the resulting
assembly by taking some of the strain that would otherwise be borne solely by the
center conductor. This has made a dramatic improvement in the reliability of
currently manufactured instrument cables.

The other important property of PVC is its almost limitless colorability. Once found
only in gray or "chrome vinyl," PVC-jacketed cable now ranges from basic black
through brilliant primary colors to outrageous "neon" shades of pink and green.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ballou, Greg, ed., Handbook for Sound Engineers: The New Audio Cyclopedia, Howard W. Sams and Co.,
Indianapolis, 1987.
Cable Shield Performance and Selection Guide, Belden Electronic Wire and Cable, 1983.
Colloms, Martin, "Crystals: Linear and Large," Hi-Fi News and Record Review, November 1984.
Cooke, Nelson M. and Herbert F. R. Adams, Basic Mathematics for Electronics, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York,
1970.
Davis, Gary and Ralph Jones, Sound Reinforcement Handbook, Hal Leonard Publishing Corp., Milwaukee,
1970.
Electronic Wire and Cable Catalog E-100, American Insulated Wire Corp., 1984.
Fause, Ken, "Shielding, Grounding and Safety," Recording Engineer/Producer, circa 1980.
Ford, Hugh, "Audio Cables," Studio Sound, Novemer 1980.
Guide to Wire and Cable Construction, American Insulated Wire Corp., 1981.
Grundy, Albert, "Grounding and Shielding Revisited," dB, October 1980.
Jung, Walt and Dick Marsh, "Pooge-2: A Mod Symphony for Your Hafler DH200 or Other Power Amplifiers," The
Audio Amateur, 4/1981.
Maynard, Harry, "Speaker Cables," Radio-Electronics, December 1978,
Miller, Paul, "Audio Cable: The Neglected Component," dB, December 1978.
Morgen, Bruce, "Shield The Cable!," Electronic Procucts, August 15, 1983.
Morrison, Ralph, Grounding and Shielding Techniques in Instrumentation, John Wiley and Sons, New York,
1977.
Ott, Henry W., Noise Reduciton in Electronic Systems, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1976.
Ruck, Bill, "Current Thoughts on Wire," The Audio Amateur, 4/82.

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Crutchfield Advisor A/V Learning Center:Home Theater & A/V Audio and Video Cables - Does Quality Matter?

Audio and Video Cables: Does Quality
Matter?

Whether you're a hardcore gearhead or you just bought your first
home theater system, you want to get the most out of your A/V
equipment. Poorly made cables can allow noise and interference to
compromise the signals coming from your source components,
resulting in a subpar listening or viewing experience.

If you owned a high-performance sports car, you wouldn't outfit it
with low-end tires you'd get insufficient traction, poor handling,
and increased road noise. You'd lose all the benefits of buying a
high-performance car in the first place! In the same way, low-quality
cables can rob you of the performance you paid for when you
bought your system.

Many A/V components don't include all the cables you need; some
may include a cable whose length isn't right for your setup. And,
when cables are included, they're always low-quality. Replace those

The difference between typical "in-
the-box" cables and high-quality
cables is visible note the beefier
connectors and superior
construction.
free "in-the-box" cables with higher-quality ones, and enjoy more
realistic sound and a clearer picture. With Crutchfield's 30-day
money-back guarantee and free return shipping, you can feel free to
give our high-quality cables a try if you don't like what you see (or
hear), return them!

Anatomy of a cable
There are three main parts of a cable which affect signal quality: the
conductor, the shielding, and the connector. The conductor is the
part of the cable through which the signal actually passes. Since the
conductor is basically a wire which can act as an antenna to receive
radio frequency interference (RFI) and electromagnetic interference
(EMI), a good cable also includes some kind of shielding, to filter
out these potential sources of noise. The connector is the part of
the cable that actually comes into contact with your gear; types of
connectors include RCA, S-video, and F-type.

Audio interconnects
Most good audio cables contain an oxygen-free copper (OFC)
conductor, which passes signals accurately with minimal signal loss.
Many cables also include two separate shields one made of
braided copper, to guard against RFI, and one made of foil, to guard
against EMI so that no annoying buzzes or "pops" are introduced
into the signal.

In many cables, the shield is grounded only on the end that
connects to the audio or video source, so that interference will drain
away from the destination end of the cable. Cables of this type often
have directional arrows printed on their jackets, and should be
hooked up with the arrow pointing away from the source.

Connectors are extremely important to cable quality. Good RCA
connectors provide constant, high-pressure contact with your
components' jacks, and are usually gold-plated to prevent corrosion.
This results in high-quality signal transfer that won't cut out
intermittently or degrade over time.

Some manufacturers such as Monster Cable offer several different
levels of cable quality; how do you pick the level that's right for your
system? If you've noticed lots of interference in your picture or
sound, or if you're running cable over a relatively long distance, look
for the best shielding you can afford. (However, if you find you need
an audio interconnect longer than 30 feet, you'll get better results by
running longer speaker cable instead, and moving your
components closer to one another.)

Digital audio interconnects
A special subset of audio interconnects is digital audio cables. There
are two types: optical and coaxial.

Optical cables transmit digital audio signals as pulses of light.
Toslink connectors the connector type found on most optical
cables are often found on CD and DVD players, as well as home
theater receivers. Some portable players (such as most MiniDisc
and some CD portables) are equipped with mini-optical jacks. To
connect a standard-sized component to a portable's mini-optical
input (for recording to MiniDisc, for example), you'll need a special
Toslink-to-mini-optical cable. To connect a CD portable's mini-
optical output to an MD portable's mini-optical input, you'll need an
optical cable with mini connectors on both ends.

Because they use pulses of light rather than electrical impulses to
transmit audio signals, optical cables are virtually impervious to
interference. It's still important to look for a well-made cable,


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however: a quality fiber-optic element can prevent jitter, while solidly
built connectors add durability.

Coaxial digital cables look on the surface like standard analog
RCA cables; however, you should avoid using a standard audio
interconnect to transfer a coaxial digital signal. Cables engineered
specifically to pass a digital signal provide 75-ohm impedance and
wider frequency bandwidth, ensuring superior signal transfer.

Common video interconnects
Video signals can travel over many different types of cabling, but the
majority of video components are equipped with at least one of the
following four types of jacks (listed in order from lowest-quality
signal transfer to highest):
? coaxial RF, also known as F-type
? composite video, also known as RCA
? S-video
? component video
Used for connecting antennas, cable boxes, VCRs, TVs and more,
coaxial RF cable (not to be confused with coaxial digital audio
cable, above) can carry video and stereo audio information
simultaneously. Standard coaxial cable is stamped "RG-59"; higher-
quality "RG-6" cable features lower signal loss and better shielding,
both of which are essential for DBS satellite systems and longer
cable runs.

Composite cables plug into the composite video jacks found on
many kinds of A/V components, including DVD players, VCRs,
receivers, and DBS satellite systems. These jacks are often marked
in yellow, and grouped with corresponding red and white stereo
audio jacks. Composite video cables use standard RCA-type
connectors, and are designed for high-quality video signal transfer.

S-video cables feature round, 4-pin connectors, and transmit the
chrominance (color) and luminance (brightness) portions of a video
signal along different paths. As a result, they provide better color
accuracy and detail than either RF or composite connections do.

Found on most DVD players and HDTV tuners, and on a growing
number of TVs and A/V receivers, component video connections
deliver better detail and color accuracy than you get with RF,
composite, or S-video. They do this by splitting the video signal into
three parts, with each part transmitted via its own cable. Unlike the
other three types of connections, component video is capable of
passing high-definition and progressive-scan video signals.

Because of their higher frequencies, video signals are more
susceptible to degradation than audio signals are, particularly while
traveling through a substandard conductor. And, as with audio, radio
frequency and electromagnetic interference can taint the signal. This
can cause lines, snow, and other artifacts to appear on your TV
screen. A higher-quality cable with a copper conductor, 75-ohm
impedance, and double shielding can effectively preserve the
strength and accuracy of the original signal.

Kits and specialty cables
Want to upgrade your audio and video cables at the same time?
We've got the perfect solution convenient A/V cable kits. They
include the audio and video cables you need, all in one package!

Game systems have come a long way in the last few years. Take
advantage of the high-quality picture and sound produced by your
PlayStation2 or XBOX console by using premium game cables to
connect it to your home theater system. Your gaming experience will
be much more intense, with clearer graphics and more realistic
sound effects!

If you've already got a digital camcorder or you're thinking about
buying one, you'll want to check out our selection of i.LINK
cables. Since camcorders rarely include them, you'll need one if you
want to hook your cam to your computer's i.LINK jack in order to
perform desktop editing.

Because a high-definition video signal contains so much more
information than a standard-def signal, only a few types of cables
are capable of carrying HD. One such type is i.LINK. Another, DVI,
was designed specifically for this purpose. Yet another type of
cable, RGB, is often used to connect PCs to monitors. Any of these
connections will give you superb image quality from your high-
definition source if you use a high-quality interconnect (such as one
made by Monster Cable).

Cable connection tips
Follow these general rules of thumb to get the best results from your
cables:
? Avoid long cable runs if possible the shorter the cable,
the better.
? That said, make sure your cables are long enough,
especially if your components are shelved in such a way that
the rear panels are difficult to access. There should be
enough slack to let you pull the component forward and
reach the rear panel.
? Because they can introduce interference into the signal, try
to keep power cords away from signal cords. If this isn't
possible, at least try to minimize contact between the two.
? If an interconnect has arrows printed on its jacket, hook it up
so that the arrow is pointing away from the signal
source, and toward the destination.
? Avoid kinking or bending cable. Don't try to make a short
cable reach it can put stress on the connector and
potentially cause damage. Buy a longer cable, if necessary.
(This is especially important for optical interconnects.)
? Don't keep excess cable lying in loops. Arrange it in an
"S" shape or a figure-eight instead; this can help minimize
electromagnetic interference.
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