component video cables

I won't be much help...

I have the Monster 3s and love them...never tried the signal cable though...

Do you notice a difference in quality between say the monster 1 and 3? If no, then cables may not be your issue, may be something else...just a thought...

Pretty sure this will not help in your situation Danger but I'm currently running ALL monster video 3 cables and next month all mine will be going up for sale. The end of next month I'm replacing all my monster cables with Signal Cables. Reasoning, all the rave reviews I've read about signal cables just seems like a time to do the next upgrade without buying new equipment. Just to give you an idea, 1 six foot component cable from Frank will cost you $76.

Right now I am running all Monster cables including the aforementioned Monster 3's component video cable, I love the detail and the contrast that they deliver in my system. Of course I am only transfering 108 mhz of progressive scan video information, but the transfer rate is near perfect with picture resolution rangeing from crystal clear to merely pristine, depneding on the source DVD. If you are transfering 182 mhz or the dreaded 224 mhz of video information, then your results might very.


Rocky

I used to be 100% MC, but now am running 100% SC. I found better performance in my application with the Signal brand, across the board.

I previously used MC Video 3. Frank does have a 30-day, money back guarantee, so you can't lose by testing them in your home....same warranty with Blue Jeans Cable.

kind of sad that people have to add disclaimers to their posts to avoid getting into a pointless arguement with someone who feels differently.

Originally posted by brettw22
Toshiba has some excellent players on the market, and to throw a blanket statement out where you have zero idea what model player he's using is a bit over the top.

Sources are important, but don't go slamming anyone for the gear they're running like that. Just kinda rubbed me wrong the way you put that.........

Same here...that's why I wanted to clarify...

You know its starting to really bug me that I have to defend myself every time I offer advice. I use to come here and enjoy sharing and receiving input.

Frankly, 4 years ago I would have loved somebody who gave me the straight goods. And I lucked out and did. People are so picky because I go against the grain. I go against what most forum posters post, or what the guy from Circuit City will tell you. If you don't like the advice I give don't use it. But stop with this constant in house "our club" bickering.

Why am I wrong for suggesting another DVD player? I think its a crime if somebody tells him to use different cables, its worse then telling him his DVD player could use an upgrade. If it was my own brother, father, cousin, friend, I'd tell them the exact same thing. Using boutique price cables on players found in your typical Big Box store is insane and a sure fire way to spend hi fi dollars on mid fi gear. If you feel the need to do this, then do it. If you think I'm crazy then continue what you are doing. I truely am just offering advice.

As far as the last comment about Toshiba DVD players...Toshiba makes a great consumer market DVD player which plays several DVD, CD formatts at a fair price. A person who requires higher performance from their RPTV may opt to look for a higher priced DVD player. Perhaps they can even sell their expensive cables and put that towards their new DVD player and buy cheaper cables. Sometimes its a bitter pill to swallow. I realize having a budget is hard. Taking that buget and spending it on something because what you really need/want isn't available right now is worse. Don't throw your money away, instead don't upgrade, spend it on something that will make an absolute difference. If need be hold onto your money and save for that new budget that will allow you to make a serious dent in performace.

I'm not cutting anybody system down, what I'm offering is advice, on how not to waste money. If you can't handle it, then dont reply, or perhaps just skip my post entirely. The childish in-house bickering is really starting to un-nerve me. I'm not cutting down, I'm helping grow.

I upgraded my component video cables from Monster Cable MV2CV with the Signal Cable brand.

The Signal Cable product is based on the Canare L-5CFB cable, and is hand-terminated with true 75 ohm RCA connectors. For more information, go here:

http://signalcable.com/component.html

I have no affiliation with Signal Cable - I personally use them because they do very high quality work, and I like to support businesses in my own state whenever I can. As an alternative, this cable can be done DIY (if you are confident in your termination abilities), or purchased from other cable vendors.

Equipment Used:

Denon DVD-2900
Hitachi 53” Ultravision 16x9 (calibrated with Avia)

Picture Resolution:

The improvement in fine detail and resolution was quite significant. The Monster product always seemed slightly out of focus in comparison.

In the opener of “Below”, every metal rivet on the airplane chassis was clearly resolved with the Signal Cable. The rivets were blurry and indistinct with the Monster. Other DVDs showed similar resolution improvements every time.

Background shots on most DVDs took on an almost liquid quality with the Signal Cable, with fine details visible everywhere and less video noise/grain.

Color:

Low light scenes showed the most improvement with the Signal Cable, with subtle blues and reds colors coming through with perfect hue. In comparison, the Monster Cable washed out colors during the dark scenes.

In addition, the Monster overemphasized greens during dark scenes, whereas the Signal Cable brought a more balanced and natural looking tan/green.

Without question though, the biggest color improvement was blue. Blues went from ho-hum to simply stunning in pureness and hue. The improvement in blues was frankly almost beyond belief for what could be expected with a cable change alone. Tough tests included Underworld (shot almost exclusively at night) - the lightning strikes, the vampire eyes, the irradiated bullets, neon lighting, the subway walls – everything blue was simply a huge improvement.

Summary:

If you can’t tell, I’m VERY excited about this cable upgrade. By any HT standard, I had a very good PQ with the Monster. But the PQ with the Signal Cable is just stunning. I honestly was not expecting such an obvious improvement in PQ and I’m generally a skeptic when it comes to these things. But I have to say, the Signal Cable (Canare L-5CFB) is truly a reference quality interconnect - it blew away the Monster Cable in every respect for about the same price. Highly recommended.

Post Summary:

There is a very good reason why I saw such a big improvement. The MV2 is NOT rated to even carry typical progressive scan frequencies (up to about 13 MHz IIRC), much less HDTV frequencies (up to 35 MHz).

The rule of thumb is to take the highest frequency you will encounter and multiply it by 4. The cable you choose must have a -3 dB rating at that frequency or higher or you will see noticeable signal degradation.

The SC is rated - 3dB (i.e., a 50% signal attenuation) at 250 MHz for a 100 foot run! It can EASILY handle both progressive scan and HDTV. MC does not publish Freq. vs. attenuation curves, but the MV3 is not rated for even progressive scan from what I have discussed with knowledgeable cable builders.

Video cables can make a HUGE difference in PQ for PROVEN scientific reasons, not hype and smoke/mirrors. LuSh is 100% correct though; a great cable cannot improve the signal, it can only minimize signal degradation. As the old saying goes....GI/GO.

Doc

Video cables transport the signal from point a to point b. I know I dont want any loss of singal or alteration. We use & sell almost all M-1000 CV cables or Z300 (both use a silver coated center conductor). Is it overkill for some systems? maby but would you want your cables to hold you back from having the best pic your system is capable of displaying? I was using monster 300 cv on my bedroom system from my sony dvd player to a Sony wega 27". The picture now with the 1000 is sharper, deeper,& colors are more vibrant. was it worth the cost of the cables? Yes it was, beacuse there was a difference!Now I know if the pic is bad it aint my cv cable! We build m1000CV cables here for customers, our installs, & for other installers. We use monster QL M1000 ends & m1000 cables, using the QL ends there is no solder used & that also has seemed to improve the pq! On my main system I switched from my Z300cv cable to m1000cv cable (retail packaged), no improvment ( same cable is used by monster for z300 & m-1000). Than switched to M1000cv that I built here, got deeper blacks, & again a deeper image. I know the blacks are deeper (darker) calibrated with dve before change & again after change. My guess is that the pre made cables if you look at them the manufacture cuts half of the shiedling off & solders only half or less of the outer shielding to the rca. The cables we do here have a full contact of the braiding all the way around contacting the rca, which in theory should give you a better signal. In any type of wire contact you want all or as much of the wire to make contact. The M1000 rca's we use dont use solder so there is no contamination or added resistance to the connection, which should give you a better more true signal. And to top it off it costs much less than retail packaged cable. M1000cv 2 meter retail packaged $199 / M1000cv custom built 2 meter just over $110.n Exact same cable different type of m1000 rca's, one reatil packaged the other in plain zipper plastic bag.

Are SC and BJ comparable in quality? Are BJ cables cheaper?

They both use either the Belden or the Canare products. The BJ website is quite detailed in this respect.

Is the build quality similar? I don't know; I've never seen a BJ product. I do know Frank's work is excellent, especially on the terminations.

Yes, the BJ is cheaper. Frank says he mustn't pay his people too well, and probably the living costs are lower in his area of that state. Frank has some pretty big bills to pay in downstate NY.