Griffinator Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Just started my new job as lead home theater installer for a local Sat/HT place. I was chatting with the boss tonight after I came back from a job where I had to send the customer off to buy cables that the salesman failed to sell him (c'mon, dude. Sell them a receiver and a DVD player, and he already has a digital HD cable box, and you don't sell him any digital audio cables?) Anyway, I brought up the idea of becoming a distributor for one of the better cable manufacturers out there - but we decided that Monster was a bad idea because we both agreed that it was hopelessly overpriced. So now I ask you: Who's your favorite cable manufacturer? We're talking strictly interconnects, and they need to be reasonably priced - preferably slightly less expensive than Monster, but still something that could be considered "professional grade" - you know, something you'd expect a professional installer to have in his truck when he came to put your system in... Thanks in advance for the opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SickPuppy Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 my 2 favorites are Transparent and AudioQuest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 2, 2004 Author Share Posted February 2, 2004 By the way: One critical factor for us is we have to be able to stock the stuff, without stocking outrageous amounts of it - just enough so we can send our guys out with a couple of everything (S/PDIF, Toslink, Component, S, and A/V sets) so we'll have whatever is missing right on the spot, so we service the customers better and make a little extra money in the process! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurs Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 why not contract with a smaller "high qulity - reasonable price" player like Cobalt or BlueJean Cable that readily performs at or above Monster level products? They are also less expensive and hungry for market share, and small enough to worry about quality and service, and could be marked up enough to make a decent profit for the company and still offer great value to your clients? Just my two cents, people will tend to be convinced by what their professional is sold on, and all those companies offer 30 day guarantees anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 2, 2004 Author Share Posted February 2, 2004 I checked out Bluejeancable.com - they look pretty good, but I didn't see a Toslink offering on their site. Checking out Cobalt now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurs Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Griff - try Frank at signalcable.com also, he and his products are excellent... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurs Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 hey if you end up going with one of these guys, give me a mention maybe the referal is worth some free IC's or something.... also, for some higher end check out discovery cable, not much on the website but you can find Joe on A'gon and his product is top shelf, but more $$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om13934 Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 IXOS is my personal favorite for price and quality. Check them out! http://www.ixos.co.uk/us_interconnects/index2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 2, 2004 Author Share Posted February 2, 2004 Same problem at Signal Cable - good looking stuff, reasonable prices, but no Toslink. Cobalt looks like they're competing with the higher end Monster and some of the other really esoteric stuff, but their price points are right in line with midrange Monster (i.e. the "high end" Best Buy stuff) I suppose if their retail prices are similar to Monster's retail pricing breakdown (cost + 150%) then we might be able to work with them (provided we can come off that retail price and sell at maybe cost + 60-70%) - otherwise, it'll be just as tough a pill for our customers to swallow as if we were carrying Monster. I guess that's the tricky part. I'm shooting for a cable that comes in a little below the BB Monster stuff (as opposed to Z series, etc) - but I want something that's reasonably well constructed, so it doesn't look like we're trying to screw them over with a cheap cable. It's a tricky spot - if we sell something that's too high priced, they'll just say "screw you, I can get Monster cheaper than that!" and actually go to BB and buy their cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 I second the signalcable,I've used them and for the price there very good,so is Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 Why not build your own, on the spot, custom length to match? Use Canare cables and connectors - top quality. And with the tools (a one-time investment per truck) they'd go together in no time. Plenty of room for profit margin and still offer a high quality piece at a great price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 my personal fav is MIT Cable. They sound absolutely beautiful with my RF system, and they sell all variety of cables. www.mitcables.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschfoot Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 'Tried XLO? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 I agree with dougdrake as far as digital cables are concerned for S/PDIF. I would look at Acoustic Research. The price to quality ratio is good. I would avoid Audioquest because AQ tends to be more expensive than Monster. The lower end AQ is competitive, but prices go rapidly upward as the snakes get more exotic. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 I second the cobalt rec. I also use MIT and it is great as well. Check out bettercables.com. Top quality interconnects and video cables (their component cable is my reference) at internet direct prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 3, 2004 Author Share Posted February 3, 2004 ---------------- On 2/3/2004 1:41:41 AM MrMcGoo wrote: I agree with dougdrake as far as digital cables are concerned for S/PDIF. I would look at Acoustic Research. The price to quality ratio is good. I would avoid Audioquest because AQ tends to be more expensive than Monster. The lower end AQ is competitive, but prices go rapidly upward as the snakes get more exotic. Bill ---------------- I'm not real impressed with Acoustic Research stuff. I spent a great deal of time examining their component/composite/SPDIF cabling at BB, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the only difference between them is price and color bands on the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted February 3, 2004 Author Share Posted February 3, 2004 ---------------- On 2/3/2004 12:10:06 AM dougdrake wrote: Why not build your own, on the spot, custom length to match? Use Canare cables and connectors - top quality. And with the tools (a one-time investment per truck) they'd go together in no time. Plenty of room for profit margin and still offer a high quality piece at a great price. ---------------- If it were just me and the boss, I'd suggest this. There are guys on the crew that barely know how to configure an HT receiver (one of the primary reasons I was hired), never mind assembling cables on the spot for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 the two brands that have very reasonable prices on the entry level products are tara labs and phoenix gold... several of my dealers use these lines for their installs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickB Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 I really like the cobalt cables, and the price is pretty reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 I too am using all Cobalt Cables in my Heritage HT except for speaker wire. I am VERY happy with them and the service John gave me. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.