Ok, im getting my projector mounted soon and i dont want a ton of cables going to it, right now i just want the power and a good set of component video cables.

Will have to run 25 feet from the projector and will be split from there between DVD Player, 360 and Satelite TV Box, and i dont want it to loose alot of video quality between then.

Also, i am going to be getting an Onkyo S790 System soon to go with it and had another question regarding that - on the back of the S790 Receiver there is video inputs and an output, would it be best to switch the video signals through that or is there a A/V Switch that would work better?

I assume the S790 has component in/outs... That being said I am unsure of how the switching will effect the signal strength coming out from the receiver to the PJ. As for your actual cable, you definitely need to hit up Monoprice, I've had great results from their products. (50 ft. cables none-the-less)

$10 for a 25ft component cable?
Is it any good?

Most of the cables ive been looking at are like $150 for 25 feet :eek:

or heck $23 for their premium cable

I second Monoprice - I went with the 25 foot premium component video cable (also got HDMI cable from them too). I think they're comparable to any of the more expensive cables you'll find.

I third Monoprice. Honestly, for the price you can afford to try it and if it just doesn't meet your expectation or needs, then it's a $25 lesson. Maybe there is a difference between these bargain cables and more expensive, high-end cables but my philosophy is that if my eyes can't tell the difference, then I'm happy (and $125 richer). :)

I bought, and will buy, all my cables from monoprice. I've yet to use the component cable as a component cable- I just used part of it as a composite cable (don't have any component sources hooked up yet). Even with a composite cable over 35 feet, the quality is good (well, for composite- I wouldn't say its good, but I didn't really notice a difference between that running it direct from the gamecube, which would be like a 5 foot cable).

www.monoprice.com

'Nuff said.

$10 for a 25ft component cable?
Is it any good?

Most of the cables ive been looking at are like $150 for 25 feet :eek:

or heck $23 for their premium cable

You might also want to check out www.dvigear.com.

25ft SHR component cable for $56.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/ makes a pretty killer cable as well. Worth a look.

Monoprice.com is the way to go for quality and price. Have had great experience with their component and dvi/hdmi cabling, and switching boxes.

You can't go wrong with monoprice, but I've always made my own cables with coax and RCA compression ends. Now that I'm using HDMI though, I bought my HDMI cables from monoprice and am impressed with both their customer service and the quality of the cable for the price.

I've had good luck with pccables.com. Cheap and work with 720p / 1080i.

... Altan

$10 for a 25ft component cable?
Is it any good?
i bought this cable last week from them and it is a thick and heavey duty cable. I actually got the 5-wire version, so I could pull audio to my PJ when the kids are in bed and I am just watching "whatever". I think it is built on RG59 cable.

I highly recommend cablesforless.com. Excellent selection, prices, quality, shipping and customer service. They also provide great descriptions and technical information.

I recently bought a 25' CL-2 rated component cable from Monoprice. I was getting some interference on the cable I was using and the Monoprice cleared it up. I'm now running 25' component and 25' HDMI CL-2 rated cables to my PJ.

Highly, Highly recommended. In fact I'm in the process of replacing all my wiring with monoprice.

The only thing I noticed is watch the shipping charges. They are not high, but I have added several things to my cart, then decided I didn't want some of it, and the shipping did not go back down. Simply deleting everything and starting over solved the problem. They obviously do it by weight, so you might add an item or two to see if you can get a little more for the same shipping....added savings...

is it worth it to spend the extra on their "Premium" or should i just go with the regular?

is it worth it to spend the extra on their "Premium" or should i just go with the regular?

I'd say go with the premium... you're still not breaking the bank....

Defenatly not, i can get the 25ft cable, a couple shorter ones, and new speaker wire for less than 1/4 what i was expecting to pay.

I'd say go with the premium... you're still not breaking the bank....


Go with the premium cables. The standard ones are not very good. The connectors are thin and can easily slip off.

Here is what I did for what its worth. With the intentions of getting going and replacing with high quality component cables down the road I ran 3 coax cables I made with standard coax and thread type F connectors about a 40 foot run. I then adapted them using the gold plated F to RCA males and females on both ends. It was very cheap going this way and the length could be customized. It’s been a year now and the signal quality is perfect and no noticeable PQ issues.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me on cables and signal loss could tell me if there is a down side to this approach?

Stick with monoprice or blue jeans cable, you can't go wrong.

Or if home theater is going to be in your life for a while, then you might want to make your own cables. It's easy and you can make them for pennies.

Here's a link for you to watch:
http://revision3.com/systm/avcabling

I made all of my cables. Component, Composit, RCA sound, Bass cable.

A 500' roll of RG6 from Home Depot $50, 50 F-type connectors from Home Depot $30, Crimper from Radio Shack $20, F-type to RCA adapters from Harvey electronics $1 each, or you can go goos and get Canaire C53 from Westlake Electronics for $2.20 each and while you are there get some colored shrink tube and make it look AWESOME!

30' Component Cable cost me about $30 with Canaire Connectors and shrink tube to make it look pretty.

Here is what I did for what its worth. With the intentions of getting going and replacing with high quality component cables down the road I ran 3 coax cables I made with standard coax and thread type F connectors about a 40 foot run. I then adapted them using the gold plated F to RCA males and females on both ends. It was very cheap going this way and the length could be customized. It’s been a year now and the signal quality is perfect and no noticeable PQ issues.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me on cables and signal loss could tell me if there is a down side to this approach?

I'm not more knowledgeable by any means, but....

I did that exact thing. When I built my theater 2.5 years ago, I was on a tight budget and did not know about Monoprice. So I bought 30' RG6 RF cable from home depot (it said it was shielded). And then bought screw in RCA adapters from Radio Shack. This worked fine on my Infocus X1. I never had a problem.

Then, a month ago, I upgraded to an HD70. I soon noticed a large dark image band floating from the bottom of my screen to the top. On very dark scenes it was easy to see, on very bright scenes it was almost impossible to see. At first I thought it was the PJ as I got it on several sources, but then I noticed I didn't get it on HDMI. After much trouble shooting I narrowed it those RG6 cables. So I ordered from monoprice and problem solved. And yes before replacing, I checked every connection to make sure tight as it is a pain to replace wires in my set up.

I use to recommend those RG6 cables as a good budget cable. But after my issues and discovery a while back of monoprice, that is all I recommend.

I'm not more knowledgeable by any means, but....

Then, a month ago, I upgraded to an HD70. I soon noticed a large dark image band floating from the bottom of my screen to the top. On very dark scenes it was easy to see, on very bright scenes it was almost impossible to see. At first I thought it was the PJ as I got it on several sources, but then I noticed I didn't get it on HDMI. After much trouble shooting I narrowed it those RG6 cables. So I ordered from monoprice and problem solved. And yes before replacing, I checked every connection to make sure tight as it is a pain to replace wires in my set up.

I use to recommend those RG6 cables as a good budget cable. But after my issues and discovery a while back of monoprice, that is all I recommend.

The issue above is not due to the cable. It is due to the "floating" ground of your cable/satelitle box and the hard ground of the HD70. I have the same problem on my HD70 and my DirecTV HD20 DVR box, but if I use a "cheater" plug (the one that turns a 3 prong into a 2 prong plug) on the projector the rolling lines go away. This is a ground fault issue, not the cable.

The issue above is not due to the cable. It is due to the "floating" ground of your cable/satelitle box and the hard ground of the HD70. I have the same problem on my HD70 and my DirecTV HD20 DVR box, but if I use a "cheater" plug (the one that turns a 3 prong into a 2 prong plug) on the projector the rolling lines go away. This is a ground fault issue, not the cable.

Nope, not in my case. When I trouble shooted, I tried that exact thing. First It was not just with sd dishnetwork. It was with my dvdp player and OTA HD, all of which I had running thru component via my HT receiver. I even took the HT receiver out of the loop and did a "straight" run to a different dvd player I use in my living room. Still the problem. Yet I did not get the problem on CL-2 rated HDMI cable from a PS3 or a S-video cable I had on the same components I was using in the media room.

I then tried your 3-prong to 2-prong trick on the PJ. Then on each component. Then I bought one for every component! I even ran a 50' heavy extention cord from a plug to the other end of the house (to make sure it was not a a/c plug issue/circuit issue) into a pretty heavy surge protector and plugged everything into that. Still the problem.

Trust, me it was the RG6 cable. It is a pain to go up into my attic and try to fish wires from my media room (I physically cannot get to my media room attic, so I have to use a long pole to grab wires that are pushed thru the ceiling). I tried every I could think of before ordering the new component cable.

So when I did get the component cable in, I returned everything to normal and confirmed I still had the issue. I then replaced the RG6 cables and put in the component cables with no other changes. My issue totally and completely went away.

I asked about this problem in another thread and the two answers I got were either a ground loop or component cable interference. In my case it was without a doubt the component cables.

Like I said I did it with good results and I’m just pushing a XGA signal thru the 3 coax cables. I don’t really know what sending more information thru the cables would do to cause a problem. thus my above plea for someone more knowledgeable to weigh in.

You defiantly did all the right tests to eliminate ground loop first.

Maybe some cable experts will tell us where the coax falls short in this application.

Like I said I did it with good results and I’m just pushing a XGA signal thru the 3 coax cables. I don’t really know what sending more information thru the cables would do to cause a problem. thus my above plea for someone more knowledgeable to weigh in.

You defiantly did all the right tests to eliminate ground loop first.

Maybe some cable experts will tell us where the coax falls short in this application.

The one area, again not being an expert, that I thought of in my case was shielding. I believe I was getting some interference thru the shielding into the RG6 cable.

The reason I cannot get to my media room attic from the garage attic is the builder put a very large furnace in the attic right between the garage and the room I use as a media room. The cable I run has to come very close to the furnace. So I believe that the RG6 cable from home depot was picking up some electrical or something interference with the furnace. The heavier shielded CL-2 rated component cable from monoprice is blocking that interference.

That is my theory, however there are three reasons why that might not be the case:

-I got the issue with the dark band regardless if the furnace was on or not. However, even not on, I'm sure it pulls some electricity
-If my theory is correct I could have pulled the RG6 out of the attic and ran them in the room from the PJ to the DVD player and I should not have had the problem. I did not take the time to test this. Since everything worked with the new component cable, I stopped testing.
-I never had an issue before using this cable in that location with my X1 (2.5 years)

And even tho I keep referring to it as RG6 cable I know enough to know it is not the cable itself. The monoprice cable is marked as RG6 cable. This issue, I believe in my case, was a shielding or connector issue.

I can vouch for monoprice cables as well... what I bought my last PJ about 2 years ago... being naive I spent $60 on what I thought was a good deal for some monster component cables... after about 6 months I started getting a weird flicker in my picture with some of the colors flickering in and out. Examining the cables going into the PJ one of them looked like the where the wire met the connector there was a split in the plastic. Gently pushing the still connected wires off to one side to get a better look and the wire just fell out of the still attached connector. I'd pretty much just taken them out of the box ran them through the ceiling and hooked them up, nothing had been touched for nearly 6 months. and it's not like it was being pulled on as it easily had a good 6" of slack. (I'm guessing the exhaust heat from the lamp did it in)

I decided I wanted a quick fix to hold me over until I could get some higher quality cables, and I stumbled on Monoprice... ordered their relatively cheap premium cables and hooked them. They felt much more rugged then the Monster crap, and after hooking it up my picture was even cleaner then it was before the Monster cables started acting up. Colors were brighter and some noise that I previously thought was just artifacting from my crappy DVD player. I had a similar thing happen to a monster optical cable connected to my Xbox where it looked like the fiber got longer and the casing around the fiber stayed the same length... it's really strange where connector is still attached but the casing around the fiber is just 2" or so too short to cover it all, of course this really screwed up the signal. After that I replaced all of my cables with Mono price stuff and haven't been happier.

They will continue to get my business for offering a superior product at stunningly low prices.

I bought a couple HDMI cables from http://american-audio-video.com and am REALLY impressed with the quality and my picture. I would dare to say they are easily on par with Monster, etc. for about 1/5 of the price.

Hey, I need a 50FT 5-RCA Component Video/Audio Cable, but Monoprice is out with an ETA of a month, any place almost as equally beloved?