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.

The Broadband Have-Nots

Millions of Americans—many of them also residents of the inner city—remain on the other side of the chasm that separates those who have high-speed Internet access from those who don't. President-elect Barack Obama has taken to delivering a weekly address not only over the radio but also through videos on Google's (GOOG) YouTube. Yet almost half of U.S. adults don't have the necessary broadband connections that make it easy to view those messages, according to recent data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. A survey by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation ranked the U.S. 15th on household broadband penetration, having slipped from fourth place in 2001, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development. (Denmark ranked No. 1.)

In a Dec. 6 speech, Obama called the current state of U.S. broadband access "unacceptable" and said plans to "renew our Information Superhighway" would be a priority of his Administration. To deliver, Obama will need to address the wide swaths of the U.S. that remain unconnected. In some places—most of them rural areas with low population density—people who are willing to pay for service can't get it because telecom providers can't justify the necessary investment.

In the case of the urban poor, service may be readily available, but many families can't afford the $30 to $50 it costs each month to get broadband. Many also lack computers at home. Among households with an annual income of $50,000 or less—about half the country—only 35% have broadband service, according to Free Press, a technology advocacy group. Households with annual incomes above $50,000 are more than twice as likely to have broadband service.

Why Home Access Is Essential

For some people, there's no substitute for having access at home. "It's pathetic trying to research health issues on a computer in a library with no privacy and a 30-minute limit," McConnell says. Having a computer at home made all the difference for 17-year-old Christine Davis, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants and a regular at a computer clubhouse run by HCCI. Her family bought its first PC this year. "Having it [at home] is a big help with homework," says Davis, a resident of Bradhurst. "When I didn't have it, it was so frustrating, and I can work on college applications late at night." Getting to a computer outside the home can be especially difficult in neighborhoods like Davis's where gangs are active.

OneEconomy also tries to ensure that computer users in low-income areas have useful content, wherever they log on. TheBeehive.org contains articles and demonstrations on such practical matters as writing a check and using a debit card. Another site, Public Internet Channel, hosts video programming, including an upcoming 12-part dramatic series called Diary of a Single Mom that chronicles the lives of three women raising children on their own. It begins Jan. 27. The point, says OneEconomy Chief Executive Officer Rey Ramsey, is to encourage adoption of broadband among low-income people. "You have to give them a reason to think this is something that will help their lives in a meaningful way," he says.

Research also points to educational benefits. One study by the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2004 found that nearly half of high school graduates who had computers and Internet access at home went on to college. Among students who didn't have computers and Internet access, the college enrollment rate fell to one in four. "Kids who have access at home can do things like search for scholarships and apply for college and for financial aid more easily than kids who don't," McEwen says. "When kids have access at home it gives them a different outlook on school. It broadens their horizons. They tend to think more about life beyond the neighborhood."

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.