Fun thread going on over at fark.com

[shawn_a]

Provided Link: http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink


Bashing Monster Cable along with a few jabs at Blose. It sounds like a few of the regulars here are already participating by the sound of a few replies. No mention though of Cat5. Yet.

shawn

[Andy_G]

Hey, don't you knock Cat%. My braids cost me nothing, and they look heaps better than that ...p you are using.

[shawn_a]

> Hey, don't you knock Cat%. My braids cost me
> nothing, and they look heaps better than
> that ...p you are using.

Because if you aren't you have some egg on your face. I hashed together a couple of short Cat5 cables a little while back. So I'm pretty sure my crap is just about the same as your crap .

shawn

[Andy_G]

> Because if you aren't you have some egg on
> your face. I hashed together a couple of
> short Cat5 cables a little while back. So
> I'm pretty sure my crap is just about the
> same as your crap .

So you use Cat5 too, heaps of difference to the sound, hey ;-))

Actually, using my Cat5 braids is heaps better than the old silver cables I had.
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because the silver cables didn't reach the speakers ;-))

[shawn_a]

I've put it (the Cat5) on just about every pair of speakers in the house and I really am not noticing that big of a difference, if any at all. Of all the speakers the crappy little Pioneers I am working on had the most noticeable difference. Still didn't make them any more enjoyable to listen to though. No really good way to polish those turds.

As long as the electrons are flowing I guess it really doesn't matter too much to me. Next up are some cables for my Crown. Using the Carol two conductor power cable and Speakons.

shawn

[Dirk]

Hey Shawn:

Did you send me anything yet? I asked my wife, and she said there were no letters addressed to me.

(nice work on now being "published", btw...)

[shawn_a]

And thanks. Also while I have your ear, are the rest of those drivers long gone and sold?

shawn

[mikebw]

From the page:

"whats this hdmi doohikey on my cable box? who the hell knows. I'll just use coax and tune to channel 3 like I have for the past 20 years. hey honey look at that great picture glad we spend so much for that TV"

This is what happened when Comcast came to my place to install my HD cable box. The guy just hooked the box up to my TV using plain old coax. I said "don't you have DVI or component cables?" He said no, they were all out but the coax would work just as well. What a loser. If coax could carry a uncompressed HD signal then why the heck does every new TV have component, DVI or HDMI connections?

[Dirk]

> And thanks.

Oh good. Here I was worried that you HAD sent it, and it had actually gotten lost, and that you were going to think I had shorted you or something. :-)

> Also while I have your ear, are
> the rest of those drivers long gone and
> sold?

Nope. What's listed on the auctions page is still around and ought to be up-to-date. I was going to be cranking up the 'ol eBay engine here shortly, so your timing is good.

<A HREF="http://www.oceamedia.com/dirk/auctiony/auctions.html">http://www.oceamedia.com/dirk/auctiony/auctions.html</A>

[shawn_a]

> Oh good. Here I was worried that you HAD
> sent it, and it had actually gotten lost,
> and that you were going to think I had
> shorted you or something. :-)

Man, I've had the terrible luck sending out money owed to people lately. I found the last two I sent out buried in a snow pile across the street from my house. Long story. I took yours (and the others for that matter) directly to the post office. I'm done trusting that my outgoing mail is making it to the post office.

> Nope. What's listed on the auctions page is
> still around and ought to be up-to-date. I
> was going to be cranking up the 'ol eBay
> engine here shortly, so your timing is good.

>
> <A HREF="http://www.oceamedia.com/dirk/auctiony/auctions.html">http://www.oceamedia.com/dirk/auctiony/auctions.html</A>

Lemme take a look around and I'll get back with ya. I had my mind set on what I'm getting from you already but there's always room for more HA!

shawn

[Dirk]

> From the page:

> "whats this hdmi doohikey on my cable
> box? who the hell knows. I'll just use coax
> and tune to channel 3 like I have for the
> past 20 years. hey honey look at that great
> picture glad we spend so much for that
> TV"

> This is what happened when Comcast came to
> my place to install my HD cable box. The guy
> just hooked the box up to my TV using plain
> old coax. I said "don't you have DVI or
> component cables?" He said no, they
> were all out but the coax would work just as
> well. What a loser. If coax could carry a
> uncompressed HD signal then why the heck
> does every new TV have component, DVI or
> HDMI connections?

Coax *can* carry it. A digital HD signal is contained in (roughly) the same bandwidth as an analog signal. The problem is that the cable company can't as easily control what you can (or cannot) have access to. That's the whole point of the CableCard business. Which they'll eventually get right...

This is where Bob sticks his head in and informs me I'm wrong... ;-)

[Wolf]

[shawn_a]

I've got to get up and get some running done and make sure I don't have to take Beau to the vet. Something goofy is going on with one of his eyes but it was looking better when I saw him at dinner.

shawn

[mikebw]

Coax can carry the compressed signal, that's how it gets from them to me. After that I pick which channel I want, the box descrambles/decrypts/uncompresses it, then it goes to my TV. In the sense of pure bandwidth, are you sure that a single shielded copper wire
will carry an HDTV signal? This would be like saying you could hook up your HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player to your HDTV with a single composite video cable. Sure, it CAN work, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as nice to look at as if you used component, VGA, DVI or HDMI.

> Coax *can* carry it. A digital HD signal is
> contained in (roughly) the same bandwidth as
> an analog signal. The problem is that the
> cable company can't as easily control what
> you can (or cannot) have access to. That's
> the whole point of the CableCard business.
> Which they'll eventually get right...

> This is where Bob sticks his head in and
> informs me I'm wrong... ;-)

[Dirk]

> Coax can carry the compressed signal, that's
> how it gets from them to me. After that I
> pick which channel I want, the box
> descrambles/decrypts/uncompresses it, then
> it goes to my TV. In the sense of pure
> bandwidth, are you sure that a single
> shielded copper wire
> will carry an HDTV signal? This would be
> like saying you could hook up your HD-DVD or
> Blu-Ray player to your HDTV with a single
> composite video cable. Sure, it CAN work,
> but it wouldn't be anywhere near as nice to
> look at as if you used component, VGA, DVI
> or HDMI.

I we're saying the same thing, but in different ways. Coax has the bandwidth because of the ultra-high frequencies it's capable of carrying. Indeed, up to RF frequencies. The coax OUT on your cable box only passes an analog NTSC signal, so right THERE is the loss of quality. It's not the cable's fault; it's the ancient way it's being utilized.

[mikebw]

OK, yeah. I think we're on the same page.

> I we're saying the same thing, but in
> different ways. Coax has the bandwidth
> because of the ultra-high frequencies it's
> capable of carrying. Indeed, up to RF
> frequencies. The coax OUT on your cable box
> only passes an analog NTSC signal, so right
> THERE is the loss of quality. It's not the
> cable's fault; it's the ancient way it's
> being utilized.