http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/rss.xml Reviews of cables and interconnect products as well as HDMI and analogue AV switchers, extenders and other devices. hourly 12 2006-12-01T00:00 http://www.audioholics.com/static/logo.jpg http://www.audioholics.com/ http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-3x5-component-switch You may not need the 3x5 Component Video Matrix Selector Switch (or you may just have a hard time saying it), but there are some that do. The real question is, "Does it work?" The answer is a firm yes. Not only does it perform as advertised, but the interface makes it so easy a… um… well anyone can use it. On top of that, the configuration options are completely open considering that each input can be assigned to each output with a discrete code. So if you have more displays than sources or are thinking of opening up a sports bar, take a close look at the 3x5 Component Video Matrix Selector Switch. tom 2008-07-01T15:40:42+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/planet-wave-cable-kit The Planet Waves DIY Home Theater Kit proved to be a versatile product for the end user and custom installer alike. It's probably the easiest self terminating system I have come across and is something every home theater aficionado and cable installer should have in their bag of tricks. Gene 2008-04-24T13:44:02+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/usb-to-serial-db9-wall-plate The USB to Serial DB9 SuperBooster Wall Plate essentially takes a serial (in HT terms RS-232) signal and converts it to USB. There are plenty of devices that can do this but the Wall Plate has the advantage of being wall mounted and extending the signal over Cat5 up to 150 feet. The USB to Serial DB9 SuperBooster Wall Plate worked exactly as expected, even over 100' of Cat5. If you're in need of a solution like this, you can rest assured that USB to Serial DB9 SuperBooster Wall Plate will work as advertised. With the ease of installation, this is a serious no-brainer for any custom installer. tom 2008-04-01T10:41:06+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-video-to-pc-converter Impact Acoustics is single handedly trying to confine me to my office. Take any composite or s-video video source with its accompanied analogue audio and the Video to PC Converter will convert your monitor to a display. All this without software or any other "not allowed by IT" programs. The box is small and unobtrusive which you can easily hide away. It will even deinterlace the picture for you! If you're an employee, this should be on your birthday list, if you're an employer, you should be looking for one to confiscate from your employees… so you can use it in your office. tom 2008-02-07T16:56:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/oppo-hm-31-hdmi-3-1-switcher-review Oppo's HM-31 is what I like to call "full featured." What's full featured to an HDMI switch? How 'bout it does everything you expect it to plus some? How 'bout it has every custom integration option you'll ever need? How 'bout it looks so nice that you'll want to upgrade the components sitting near it? Sure it's just an HDMI switch but when it does so many things right, it's easy to get excited about it. tom 2007-10-31T10:08:55+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-hdmi-selector If you find yourself with digital cable, a Playstation 3 or one of the newer Xbox 360's, and a high def player you're going to appreciate that Impact Acoustics has come out with two HDMI switchers to meet your needs. When working with multiple sources, a switcher is your only option. But what if you just want to extend the life of your display or receiver? For $130 bucks you can have an HDMI switcher that will allow you to use your 5 year old receiver for a few more years as you wait for the prices of HDMI receivers to come down. tom 2007-07-16T16:04:09+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/dvigear-dvi-3531a-hdmi-converter-scaler DVIGear's new AV-PC to HDMI Converter / Scaler is targeted towards custom installers and integrators who need a one-solution product to convert incoming audio and video signals to a single HDMI stream. This rather versatile unit can take either DVI-D, component or VGA (PC) input, along with an audio source, and convert the output to a single HDMI stream (with integrated audio). The system can also scale the video input to various output resolutions up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz. It includes 3D motion-adaptive deinterlacing as well as high-quality analogue to digital converters to maintain audio fidelity throughout the conversion process. clint 2007-06-14T13:45:40+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-digital-rapidrun-cable-review Thought you couldn't terminate HDMI and DVI in the field? Guess again. Impact Acoustics' Digital RapidRun cabling system solves a huge problem for the DIY home owner or CE installer. ray 2007-02-07T11:15:02+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-digital-rapidrun-video RapidRun is an award-winning interconnect system designed, from the ground up, to evolve with the components of any AV installation. Featuring a new one-of-a-kind connector technology and incredible flexibility, RapidRun is able to handle whatever signal you need wherever you need it; this versatility allows easy customization of any system. clint 2007-01-05T00:00:00+00:00 Video Spotlight http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/purelink-hds-41r HDMI is sweeping the electronics industry by storm and, not surprisingly, many manufacturers are not keeping up with the demands. On one hand you can get an HDMI-switching receiver, but you’ll likely have to pay $1000 or more to do so. While this might be a cool upgrade, it really may not be something you want to rush out and buy – especially if you just bought a receiver last year that has all the latest DSP and trimmings, save the digital video support. For those people an HDMI switcher may just be the ticket clint 2006-12-07T11:48:14+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-sonicwave-speaker-cables While the debate rages on with the "Cable Experts" or those whom I usually refer to as "Cable Soothsayers", its nice to know Impact Acoustics is on the same mission as Audioholics' a "no BS" approach while delivering the best products and/or services. Gene 2006-10-05T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/radiient-select-4 HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) equipped audio/video devices are gaining popularity and like them or not they are quickly becoming the industry standard now and for the foreseeable future. Manufacturers of A/V receivers, pre-amps, fixed pixel display devices, front projectors, DVD players, cable boxes, satellite receivers and other devices are quickly adopting and implementing the HDMI connection on their products. Terminating your system with HDMI connections is a very effective and neat solution for high-resolution audio/video signal transfer and system level switching. What happens when you run out of HDMI inputs or have a receiver or pre-amp that you really love that doesn’t have HDMI inputs? Another common problem is many HDMI sources will not transfer high-resolution audio/video signals long distances without introducing signal degradation. ray 2006-08-15T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/dvigear-custom-av-wall-plates Move into a new home and any respectable audioholic will quickly find himself looking around and planning cable runs for home theater. DVIGear is here to help you make the right connections. From their unparalleled build quality and performance of their HDMI 1.3a 1080p compliant cables to their custom accessory items, DVIGear has got you covered. clint 2006-08-07T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-meteora-speaker-cable Impact Acoustics offers the Meteora speaker cable for users looking to get performance on a budget. We ran them through our tests and they came out clean. Excellent performance, no nonsense build quality and snake oil free, these are some of the finest terminated speaker cables we've tested. Gene 2006-06-13T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/blue-jeans-10awg-speaker-cable-5t00up It’s no secret we are fans of Blue Jeans Cable. In fact, scan forum threads throughout the Internet and you will usually find people mentioning Blue Jeans Cable and Audioholics in the same sentence. This is no coincidence. Blue Jeans Cable and Audioholics are on the same mission – a “no BS” approach while delivering the best products and/or services. Gene 2006-03-01T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-rapidrun Impact Acoustics recently introduced an ingenious system that solves many of the problems associated with pre-wire. They take most of the guesswork out of the process and create a near foolproof way to pre-wire your home for multi-media called RapidRun. The system consists of two different breakaway main wire runners: PC/Video or Home Theater. The main wire runner is installed in the framework of your home, then you choose the termination module and/or breakout cable. ray 2006-02-15T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/wiretracks-wt-rf-01-10-wire-management-system A recent upstart company, Wire Tracks, located in the great Pacific Northwest has introduced a unique product that can help the average home theater DIY'er pre-wire their home theater easily and cost effectively. The Wire Tracks kit can be installed behind existing baseboard or surface mounted. There is also a kit for crown molding installation. The wires are neatly hidden within the plastic molding in a large chamber. ray 2005-12-22T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/river-cable-flexygy-8-speaker-cable In “straight” configuration, the Flexygy 8 is an 8 conductor (4 paralleled hot and return wires) with an aggregate gauge of 7AWG and effective gauge of 10AWG. You can also opt for bi-wire configurations where each pair has an effective gauge at each speaker terminal of 13AWG. I prefer to use a high quality single wired solution as opposed to a bi-wired one. Bi-wiring offers very few advantages over single wired solutions, but typically several disadvantages such as doubling of pair to pair capacitance seen by the amplifier, increasing cable costs, and furthering cable clutter by doubling up on your cables to each speaker. Gene 2005-09-21T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/diy-speaker-cable-faceoff This effort is an offshoot of my search for a decent performing large OD cable, which will be used for my DIY speaker cables. When I bought my first really good pair of speakers, the salesman sort of talked me into a set of Monster MCX-1S cables. I had been/ am a zip cord type of guy and did not know any better. Well, after purchasing those particular cables, and speakers, I had a bit of buyers remorse. Not over the $1400 pair of speakers, but the $75 pair of cables. Thomas Goldsworthy 2005-05-01T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/sonicwave-subwoofer-cable Gene 2005-02-03T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/impact-acoustics-toslink-s-video Velocity S-Video/TOSLINK combination cables from Impact Acoustics offer high quality digital sound and video for today's audio and home theater applications. These cost-effective high-performance cables ensure accuracy and fidelity. Velocity S-Video/TOSLINK cables are manufactured with high-quality optical fiber with a polished lens and gold-plated collar. The 24K gold plated S-Video connectors ensure a lifetime of performance. The stylish PVC jacket adds flexibility and durability for years of listening pleasure. For the ultimate experience, connect from your advanced performance gaming system to a quality home theater and large-screen display! Gene 2004-12-08T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/kb-signal-solutions-concert-series-speaker-cables K&B Signal Solutions is a newcomer to the audio industry. A group of Mechanical Engineers set out to produce affordable and well performing cable products, snake oil free. One unique perspective they bring to the table is their very clever and practical terminations comprised in their new speaker cable known as the Concert Series. I know you have heard this before, what could possibly be unique or differentiate this company from the next cable company? It's called "Interconnection Modularity" Gene 2004-10-12T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/speaker-cable-reviews-faceoff-2 After almost two years of objectively writing about speaker cables for A/V applications and dispelling a majority of the myths surrounding them we have… Gene 2004-08-30T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/speaker-cable-face-off-1 Introduction Speaker cables have become one of the least quantified and objectively analyzed audio products in the audio marketplace. Many cable… Gene 2004-08-30T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/avic-speaker-cable-11 Gene 2004-08-04T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/usb-kvm-switch I left the Mac scene around 2001 for the world of build-it-yourself PCs that cost less than $500 – but I cannot get myself to ditch the Mac for several reasons. As the Editor of the largest home theater review website I have to be sure that our pages, articles and designs look good on both platforms. I also admit that I like venturing into the world of Mac OS X from time to time for a refreshing (but fortunately no longer superior) alternative to the Windows world. The only way to make this transition is via physically moving from one PC to another – or by employing a KVM (keyboard, video & mouse) switch. clint 2004-07-06T00:00:00+00:00 Pro Review http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/cables/axiom-audio-interconnects-speaker-cables-subjective-review Wait a minute, a speaker company making cables? Well, who better than a company who has proven itself to be a no-nonsense manufacturer of quality products to make no-nonsense "sensible" cables. When Axiom offered to send us a set of their new cables to examine, we accepted, anxious to see if the quality they put into their speakers showed up in their cables. clint 2004-06-01T00:00:00+00:00 Tech Article