Component Video Cable Diminishing Returns?


Where does the performance/price curve start to flatten out for video cables?

I was planning to purchase the Belden 7710A component video cables (three 1694A cables in one jacket) with Canare connectors from Ram Electronics because they seem like a good value, but then a friend offered to get me a deal on Audioquest cables. I could get Audioquest YIQ-X or maybe even YIQ-1 for just a little more than the Belden cables. Normally they would be 2 - 4 times the cost.

Will I see any picture quality difference between these cables? Any chance that the Audioquest cables might actually look worse than the Ram cables?
chouca

Showing 1 response by chouca

Thanks for the responses.

Display: NEC HT1000
Source: EAD Theatervision-P, Camelot Roundtable, or the equivalent (I'm shopping :)

Eventually I'll get a player with DVI out, but there seem to be issues with the current crop, so for now I'll run component out. I tried the Samsung HD931 to see how DVI looked and the picture had a distracting grain that was often quite prominent. It looked like the picture was printed on bumpy paper; evidently this is edge enhancement that was incorrectly enabled over the DVI connection.

I need an 8 meter cable, so it looks like the Silver Photon would run around $1200, which is out of my budget. The appeal of the Audioquest is in the discount I can get, otherwise my only option would be the Ram cable (short of waiting several more months and saving up for cables).

It sounds like there are observable improvements in picture quality as you move up the cable price ladder, which indicates that I should go with the Audioquest.