[Herakleitos]

We have as of this week the Sanyo PLV-Z2 and the Onkyo LSV500C 5-Disc DVD Home Theater System (the latter a $169 refurb). The system is now set up (in a 17' x 11' ft room with 11 ft ceilings -- old house) and we watched "Patton" as our first sample movie. Very impressive - and I was glad to find that the Z2 is dead simple to use. The Onkyo is a bit more complex but not impossible to figure out, with the manual in hand.


Little tweaking seems necessary but it's hard to resist thinking about it. ;-)


The Onkyo came with only 22 gauge wire. I read the AVS cable FAQ and it recommends 10 gauge. But we all think what we have now sounds great. Some of the wires travel as much as 21 feet. Will we really benefit from heavier speaker wire?


Another newbie question I have is what's the best cable to use for linking the Z2 to the Onkyo box? DVD movies are our sole purpose. The distance is a few feet. Right now I am using the supplied cable with the three red, green and blue connectors (component, right?) and that seems fine. Is there a better choice?


Many thanks for any suggestions.

 

[dawziecat]

Ah, the old "cable debate" will now break out . . all over again.


Let me be first:


I have NEVER seen an improvement, or heard an improvement with one cable over the other. N E V E R!!


And I have tried . . . many times.


A few clarifications, mind:


That is certainly changing WRT DVI runs . . . "sparklies" and all that.


Hovever for composite, S video, component: THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME be it old gray Radio Shack "spaghetti," lamp cord or ultra-costly and deviously marketed audio-videophile products pandered to the credulous.



"The Onkyo came with only 22 gauge wire."


Surely not! 22 gauge?!!!


Now, 20 and 22 gauge stuff as speaker cables?? Well, that is just not heavy enough. The reason you might hear a difference is because the light cables are causing you to push your amplifiers to near clipping because of the power loss in the cables. Go up to 16 gauge or so and you will be fine. If you are driving an inefficient speaker with several hundred watts, 12 gauge might be warranted.


Expensive cables are an embarrasment to the entire industry IMO. Even RS no longer sell the really cheap "gray spaghetti" any longer. It is just too profitable to pander the more expensive stuff . . . the "cables-as-jewelry" philosophy.

 

[Herakleitos]

Thanks for your comments, Terry. As you suggest, I will upgrade the light speaker wire and leave the supplied component cable in place.