Welcome to Audio Cables Up
If you just listen to background music, new shows, etc., you can use the cheap audio cables that come in the package with your audio components. But only if you are not too concerned about sound quality and what components you are hooking up to the cables. Usually you will invest about 5-7% of the systems cost in your cables. This is usually adequate. Several types and many brands of audio cables can be found.
People who are more keenly interested in higher sound quality have more options. Cable specialists have products designed for increased quality and durability. Some of these cables can cost as much as five hundred dollars or more. While many people have trouble telling the difference between sound coming through the most expensive cables and through ordinary cables, there is an elite that believes that no price is too high when it comes to owning the very best equipment for the ultimate audio experience.
The basic purpose of a cable is to transfer the signal from point A to point B unadulterated. At audio frequencies the goal is to minimize losses by controlling the amount of Resistance, Inductance and Capacitance. There are four basic kinds of cables that one can use which are analog audio cables, audio video cables, audio speaker cable and digital cables.
To pass analogue line level audio signal between componets, RCA connections are employed. RCA audio cables are joined in stereo couples, with a connection for the right channel and one for the right channel of audio. For line level analogue connections it is a good idea to employ cables which have low capacitance and properly shielded to avoid interferences and external noises from getting to mix to the signal.
Video Cables are possibly the most important as the signal that is passed through is at a very high frequency. As the frequency increases it becomes more critical to ensure adequate shielding, solid terminations and proper impedance that audio video cables provide. Therefore it is necessary for a video cable to be adequately shielded and maintain characteristic impedance.
Audio Speaker cables are usually fairly thick, and have two conductors; they can be tipped with spade lugs, metal pins, banana plugs or just bare wire. One needs to ensure that there is the tightest connection of the cable to amp and loudspeaker to minimize contact resistance. One should always remember to keep the speaker cable runs as short as possible and not to loop excessive cables as this may slightly increase cable inductance.
Audio cables come in two different types and are usually a single cable. The first type is an optical cable; it transmits digital audio signals as pulses of light. The second form is coaxial cables look like standard analog cables, but what they do is transfer digital audio signals.
By M.Green