How an audio cable affects sound quality
How an audio cable affects sound quality
In the majority of stores that sell electronics and components such as audio cables, the clerks are employed on commission. The fact is, their pay largely comes from a percentage of their sales. Therefore, it’s often in their best interests to sell you the priciest item in the store, whether you need it or not.
We bring this up only to give some context to this next statement: There’s really no such thing as a “best” audio cable, or even a “better” audio cable, or in fact, even a “low quality” audio cable or “high quality” audio cable.
The truth is that that a gold plated cable doesn’t give you any better sound quality than a standard one dollar cable. If you want to get the best possible setup for your sound system, then what you should be thinking about rather than the quality or value of the cable itself is whether or not it fits in with your setup.
Getting the best sound is really just about how you want to set up. You have a number of options, here. In terms of technical quality, it essentially comes down to how many channels the cables deliver.
For example, a stereo RCA cable gives you two channels, while six channel analog gives you three sets of stereo RCA (hence, six channels). So really it comes down to what type of cable you need more so than how much you’re willing to spend.
Once you’ve determined what sort of setup you want, here’s a short list of everything else you need to consider before buying your audio cables…
1) The price
That’s it. That’s all you need to consider. And on that subject, you might as well save yourself a little extra on the side and shop online for cables.
Okay, it can be a little more complex if you’re, say, running a sound source outdoors, like if you’re connecting speaker cables for a live concert or something. In which case, you might want something that won’t bend and break when it’s being stepped on, moved about, and subjected to the weather. In that case, it might not be a bad idea to get a thicker audio cable. However, don’t kid yourself for even a second that it’s affecting sound quality.
In short; if it’s of the right type, if it’s not frayed, if it’s not snapped in two, and if you can plug both ends in where they need to go, then any audio cable is as good as the next one.
So, in other words, just don’t get hoodwinked by fast talking electronics store clerks. Save your money and get cheaper audio cables, because when it comes down to the quality of sound, there’s really no difference at all from one audio cable to the next. Just so long as you’re using the right cable for the right task, you should get clear, quality sound no matter what company made the cable or how much you spent on it.
At Cable Magic our mission is to provide reliable HDMI cables and other products, fast delivery and a customer user-friendly experience. Cable Magic is Australian owned and operated by professional home theatre installers. To view our extensive range of cables, visit Speaker Cable.
How to get sound on normal speakers from your Xbox 360 VGA cable. Sorry about the quality of this vid. The RCA to 3.5mm component: tinyurl.com If you need any help with other technical problems with any other device, let me know. Thanks!
Video Rating: 4 / 5



July 26th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
1 minute 26 seconds, exactly what i needed.
and i finally find a video that tells me what i what, that isn’t crammed with “jokes” and “help” that makes me want to eat my keyboard.
that gender changer was all i was looking for
thanks man.
July 26th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
will this work for just for watching TV or a movie
July 26th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
What cables do i need to connect a DVD player to an LCD monitor(no tv capability) using its VGA plug?Thanks
July 26th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
if im using a kvm switch will i still get sound through some headphones i have laying around?
July 26th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
on my pc i use mp3 speakers so will this still work?
July 26th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Thanks
July 26th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Do you know how to connect through VGA to a CREATIVE SBS260 speaker system?
July 27th, 2010 at 12:17 am
where do you get a gender changer. they didnt have one at radio shack
July 27th, 2010 at 12:39 am
i put my sound rca into a rca to 3.5 jack so i can run sound through stereo but i get lots of out of place echos any help
July 27th, 2010 at 1:14 am
Where do I get the Gender Changer thingy?
July 27th, 2010 at 1:50 am
July 27th, 2010 at 2:26 am
what is that small silver thing called
July 27th, 2010 at 3:19 am
@spdour0786 nevermind i now what it is now
July 27th, 2010 at 3:44 am
What was the silver thingy called?
July 27th, 2010 at 4:03 am
Thanks man, this really helped me
5/5
July 27th, 2010 at 4:32 am
doesent exactly work for tvs…. Unless I want those crappy speakers on my hd tv
July 27th, 2010 at 4:44 am
Ok so I have my xbox 360 hooked up to my HD pc monitor, I have image with my HDMI cable but I don’t have any sound.
Does the AV cable that comes with the console will work ? Or do I have to buy the thing you have there at 50 $ ?
July 27th, 2010 at 5:03 am
How would I hook up my turtle beaches? Thats the thing. No speakers work, so do I HAVE to get speakers for audio to EVEN work? THEN can I turn on my turtle beaches?
July 27th, 2010 at 5:35 am
@funnyguy1012
I have the coupler, but at one side it goes in easily, but the other side there doesn’t seem to be plugin or what ever, think i’ll grind the top of to what’s inside
July 27th, 2010 at 6:34 am
@FeyeThom hey i got the coupler and it seems much smaller then one this guy has in this vid, and when i plug the speaker plug into it its kinda loose, im still waiting on my vga and the other thing. let me know how your stuff goes if u can
July 27th, 2010 at 7:00 am
haha got the same stuff you did.
xept my switch is for 2 vga’s
July 27th, 2010 at 7:24 am
I just bought the stuff on ebay,
3.5mm Jack Coupler Adaptor Female Stereo Audio MP3 New
4 PORT VGA Switch 1 Monitor to 4 PC (so i dont have to change all the freaking time)
3.5mm to RCA converter plug
Thanks for the help, hope it will work.
July 27th, 2010 at 8:03 am
ok now i know where to get the genger changer but where would get the VGA XBOX CABLE ??
July 27th, 2010 at 8:36 am
does it work if i just plug it straight in my speakers if i can
July 27th, 2010 at 9:16 am
thanks man you really helped ratd 5/5