Surely, you will want to get the best out of your home theater system.

On the other hand, most home theater components come equipped with 'free' cables to allow you to hook up your system and get it running within a short time. 

But are these 'free' cables really good for the job?

Unfortunately, many fail to realize that the quality of cables and interconnects used in home theater systems can have a noticeable impact on the sound and picture quality. Even the greatest receiver or speaker wouldn't deliver its best with poor-quality cables.

In most cases, the 'free' cables delivered with audio and video components are of relatively low quality.

Replacing these with higher-quality ones will inevitably result in a noticeable difference in system performance - leading to a clearer picture and more realistic home theater sound.

Why?

Poor quality cables and inappropriate home theater wiring installations can allow noise and interference to compromise the signals from your system components - resulting in an unpleasant home theater experience.

Further more, insufficient cable bandwidth response and inappropriate conductor thickness may impair the transmission of the full signal information between system components, leading to loss in picture and sound detail. 

Unfortunately, the vast selection of available options on the market for audio video cables and speaker wire, as well as the different quality levels to choose from can at times be confusing. 

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Like all quality products, good quality home theater cables do not come cheap - except to spend at least 5% of your budget on good quality home theater cables.  Making the right choice is important to avoid wasting money in substandard or inappropriate products.

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Cables Runs and Performance Implications

It is very important to fully understand how the issue of cable quality fits into the overall performance equation.

The truth is that if you want to get the best results, YOU wouldn't fit low-end tires on an expensive sports car. In a similar manner, do not expect to enjoy the best performance from your system components with cheap cables and interconnects.

BUT Wait! 

Don't just throw away those free cables that came with your gear.

If you have very short cable runs, most probably, there will hardly be any perceptible difference in system performance if the connectors on your cables do provide a good fit.

What constitute a very short cable run depends on the application (i.e. video or audio), as well as signal level. For example, in the case of speakers, cable runs of less than 20 feet (approx. 6m) might make less of a difference.

On the other hand, the use of larger speaker wire in the case of either relatively long runs (over 30 feet), or very low impedance speakers (less than 4 ohms), will surely help deliver more of the amplified signal on to the speakers themselves.

The same is true of video cables. Low-resolution signals, like NTSC or PAL, don't require thick wires. A decent-quality S-video interconnect can run up to a hundred feet; poor-quality video cables wouldn't.

A few points to worth considering:

• Up-converted or high-definition signals should only be run over short lengths using regular sized cables; the use of mini-type cables may adversely affect signal quality.

• Digital audio signals can use the same type of wire as composite video cables.

• Keep line-level audio cables as short as possible, unless you're using balanced cables; the latter can be longer.

Our recommendation is that you opt for the best possible home theater cables you can afford when upgrading those 'free' audio/video cables delivered with your gear. 

On the other hand, do not just upgrade for the shake of it - if the cables delivered with your gear are of decent quality, and you only have very short cable runs, probably, a more expensive cable would not make much of a difference in the end result.

Remember also that there are plenty of affordable, decent-quality interconnects that will still allow you to enjoy better sound and clearer picture should there arise the need to replace your 'free' interconnects.

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As already indicated, quality home theater cables can add a substantial part to your home theater budget. Therefore, an understanding of the basic cable structure that leads to a different build-up quality, as well as the various cables on offer, will surely put you in a better position to determine the exact cable requirements for your home theater gear.

We therefore suggest that you go through the rest of this series of articles on home theater cables and interconnects for additional information and recommended supply sources.

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