RE: A Comets Tail :) (its a bit long)

["Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

There are differences in the quality of cables but over short distances it
would be hard or even impossible to tell. As I pointed out on the SVGA
thread, over long distances degradation is noticable and varies greatly
with
cable type. Phil Harris once posted a link to a site offering a digital
Interconnect that was a couple of pieces of Wire Coathanger :-)

The screening between conductors in a SCART cable is important because it
carries signals in both directions but even some very expensive cables fall
down on this. It it particularly noticeable on Sony TV's. They seem to
output a very strong signal from the SCART which will bleed all over the
signal you are trying to feed into the SCART.

I generally tend to make my own SCART leads to just the right length. For
instance, a SKY box and VCR sitting on top of each other have SCART sockets
that end up physically separated by about 3-4 inches. I make a lead about
12
inches long which sits nicely as a U-shaped loop behind the boxes.

Many people have complained about SCART connectors but the functionallity
they offer with regard to source switching is not available using other
types of connector. The actual SCART itself is not the best designed
connector but in my experience most of the problems are caused by really
thick cable that you almost need a pipe bender to form to anything like the
cable layout you want. These exert a lot of strain on the plug/socket which
it what tends to cause the plug to come out of the socket, or the PCB
solder
joint to break under the stress.

SCART's arent the only connectors to suffer from this and cables can be
suprisingly heavy perticularly when there are a lot of them. You should
always provide some form of support to avoid putting strain on the
connectors.

I also see no point in using Gold Plated plugs when the sockets they are
plugged into are usually nickel plated.

Likewise, for speaker cables I just use bog standard 79/0.2 2.5mm Copper
Cable. Its good enough to supply 1000W Bass Bins driven flat out for hours
on end so it is more than capable of handling my 100w per channel HiFi.

I dont want to start another "my leads are better than your
leads" war, just
pointing out that I find no problems with the leads I use. Provided there
is
a good electrical connection, good screening, and a conductor suitably
rated
for the current it has to carry  I see no point in going beyond that.

If people CAN See/Hear a difference then the extra money is well spent but
if you get no improvement then it is a waste and could have been used to
buy
something else you wanted.

I attended a HiFi show with Mark McCall a few years ago and we saw an Audio
Leads presentation. The only thing I noticed was the psychology used.
Between each test, the presenter turned the amplifier down to change the
leads, he then turned it up. It only takes a slight increase in power to
make the sound richer. Over the other side of the room was his assistant
who
stood rigid during the first test, nodded his head slightly during the
second, getting into it by the third test and virtually break dancing by
the
fourth test.

After it was over, I was interested to see how they changed the speaker
leads so quickly... the cheapest crapiest banana plugs you had ever seen.
Likewise the super-duper mains plugboard for £79-99 was a cheap £3
plugboard
with 3 metres of 1.5mm flex and an MK SafetyPlug...oh and 3 metres of woven
fibreglass cable braiding over the cable.

Needless to say, I didnt buy anything :-)

Keith

www.diyha.co.uk
www.kat5.tv


> -----Original Message-----
> From: wayne [mailto:wayne@xxxxxxx]
>

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxx>
> To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>
> > 3. Where do they buy their cheap leads from ( no-one
> complained about the
> > quality of images on my KAT5 stand and my most expensive
> SCART lead cost
> me
> > £3 because I had to buy it in a shop because I wanted it in
> a hurry!)
>
> Am I reading this correct - these so called 'hi end' scart
> leads are no
> better than the cheaper stuff?
> Admittedly the only real thing I tend to go on is the
> robustness of the plug
> / toughness of the lead - I dont realy want one that falls
> apart when I push
> it in...
>
> How generaly sweeping is this? Things like your phono leads /
> s-video leads?
> is this another 'sucker' marketing thing? Ive have seen 'hi
> fi / home ent '
> mags etc that always rant on about how you should get better leads...
>
> >
>
> I agree with you on that - this could well be a 'custom' disk
>
>
> Wayne