Home Theater Audio Cables: More than an after thought!!!

The performance of your home theater's audio components is directly proportional to the quality of the audio cables used to connect those components. There is no replacement for quality cables in home theater. You have surely heard the phrase, "garbage in = garbage out". This is exactly why you bought the admirable components that you did. If that great signal that your new DVD player just rendered is sent through poor quality audio cables, it will come out "dirty" on the other side in spite of how first-rate your receiver is. This guide will aid you choose the audio cables that will give you the performance you ought to have.


Thicker Cable = Superior Signal

That's IT! Thicker gauge audio cables allow for better signal transmission between components. Go for copper cables that are 99% oxygen-free. When selecting which audio cables to purchase, you must know what components you are linking because that will dictate what cables you will buy. With a string, you can measure the distance between your components so that you know the minimum cable length that is needed.

Shielding

Several audio cables are "shielded" from electromagnetic (EM) and radio frequency (RF) interference. Whenever electrical current moves through a wire, it makes an electromagnetic field. This means that every component of your home theater system, all of the electrical wiring in your walls, every piece of equipment that uses electricity creates an EM field. When those EM fields disrupt a signal, it is considered electromagnetic interference (EMI). This is why it is of great magnitude for components that will be next to your television, such as your center channel, to have shielding. Or Else it will create visual artifacts on your screen. It is also important for your audio cables; EMI will create hissing and other audio artifacts if they are too susceptible to the fields.

Two types of Digital Audio Cables

Digital audio cables come in two types, digital optical and digital coaxial. Digital optical audio cable or Toslink uses light to transmit the information between components. Since the digital optical cable uses light, it is not perceptibly effected by electromagnetic and radio frequency interference.
Toslink


Digital coaxial should not be mixed-up with the RF coaxial used for cable television. This form of coaxial cable is intended exclusively for sending digital audio signals. Digital coaxial cables broadcast the digital audio signal without the need to make conversions. This simplification of the transmission method will reduce audio artifacts that may result from the conversions required for other types of cable.
Digital coaxial


In conclusion, there is no alternative for quality. You get what you pay for. Whether you are rewarded with excellent sound quality for using great audio cables or your home theater system never reaches its full potential because you purchased economical cables, it is all on you.