Flason Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 OK. So here's the situation. I'm at Rat Shak and I see the following cable on sale from $40 down to $10: http://www.monstercable.com/productPage.asp?pin=150 Without blinking, I clear the shelf of all 4 packages they had. I get home only to see I purchased "Digital" coax. I wanted to connect another amp and pre-amp, but I guess I can't use this cable...or can I? I understand digital is 75 Ohm but is analog the same? I was hoping to use a pair for the amp-pre amp connection and to upgrade the stereo connection coming from my SACD player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Throw it out. Monster products will void your warranty and fry your stereo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Good question, Flason. I use coax myself on some equipment. I'm pretty sure it's not the same impedance as the television connection. P.S. $10 is probably more what these cables are worth, anyway. Sales staff start losing me as soon as they say... "Now what you need for an upgrade are better cables - you;ll get better highs, better lows, better separation, more detail...". I haven't got any time for this snake oil stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScorpsFan Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Digital coax is usually just a single wire rather than a group of wires making up the same wire size. I've used digital coax to connect CD and DVD players to pre-amps without any problem. As far as the Digital versus Analog question, as long as they have RCA plugs, and you are using the two analog inputs and outputs you shouldn't run into any snags. Trying to use the single coax input/output will insure that you will only have a Digital signal, but it sounds like you have it all figured out and really should do ok. Best of Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerohm Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 You will be just fine. A 75 ohm cable is the 'swiss army knife' of cables and can be used for digital coax, video, or unbalanced audio. As a matter of fact, all the 'gold ends' Radio Shack stuff is the same 75 ohms cable... NO MATTER what it is sold as. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flason Posted June 2, 2006 Author Share Posted June 2, 2006 Thanks. I thought it would be OK to use. It looks to be a better quality cable then some of my current interconnects. I didn't think that $20 was too bad for it but it was a spur of the moment decision. I have seen the Blue Jean interconnects and these seem to a bit thicker. Thanks again for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efzauner Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 That is a good deal. There is no such thing as digital or analog wire. It is the same marketing BS that puts "Digital" on speakers, headphones and other analog products. Characteristic impedance is only important at high enough frequencies where the wire is a significant portion of a wavelegth. At audio frequencies, or even at the low data rates used in most CD player digital outputs, you do not need to worry about characteristic impedance, only lumped capacitance, inductance and resistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmdridq Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 The Monster Cable web page is pretty entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 Throw it out. Monster products will void your warranty and fry your stereo. I disagree. Unlike Bose, Monster does make high quality products, but, unfortunately, like Bose, they rely on Media hype and are way overpriced. Monster at 75% off is another story and probably worth it. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 I should qualify my statement about 'snake oil' and cables. I would still buy higher priced cables if I was looking for better connectors (i.e. I plug and unplug a lot) or I want cables that are more flexible, or I need flat cables etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 exactly...or like the color or...etc... Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I picked up a composite/optical spdif Gold line cable for $4 out the door on Sat at Rat shack, I am using it for digital audio. For the money it was hard to pass up. I didn't need the optical cable but what the heck? 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.