8. Cables – you can only get out what you put in
As long as your components have the available inputs/outputs, a cable upgrade is the most affordable way to improve the quality of your home theatre system. In the pursuit of entertainment excellence, a simple cable upgrade is often overlooked in favour of buying flashy new components. Learning a little bit about cables could save you splashing out hundreds – or even thousands – on unnecessary components.
Cable quality
Sound cables:
Stereo RCA: Analogue sound signal (Good)
Coaxial/optical: Digital sound signal (Better)
HDMI: Digital sound and image signal in one cable (Best)
Image cables:
Composite: Analogue image signal (Good)
S-Video: Analogue image signal (Better)
Component: Analogue image signal (Better still)
DVI: Digital image signal (Best)
HDMI: Digital sound and image signal in one cable (Best)
Making the right cable connections
DVD Player to screen
Sound: It's not recommended that you play sound through the low grade speakers on your TV. You won't enjoy surround sound, which defeats the purpose of investing in home theatre.
Image: Most TVs accept an S-Video or component cable. If you can, opt for a component cable and you will see an obvious visual improvement. If you have the option to upgrade to a DVI cable then the quality difference will be even more dramatic.
Got HDMI? If you have an HDMI output from your DVD player, you'll need to plug it into your AV Receiver if you want to enjoy surround sound. Remember, one HDMI cable carries both a high-definition image signal and a multi-channel sound signal. If you connect the HDMI cable directly to your screen, the surround sound signal won't reach your surround sound speakers.
DVD Player to AV Receiver
Sound: To hear surround sound in the Dolby Digital or DTS formats you need to connect your DVD Player to your AV Receiver with a digital sound cable (coaxial, optical or HDMI).
Image: Because your AV Receiver doesn't alter the image signal (it just passes it on to the screen, as is) you can connect the image cable from your DVD Player directly to the screen if you wish. The exception to this is if you're using an HDMI cable. That's because an HDMI cable carries both a high-definition image signal, plus a surround sound signal. If you want to hear surround sound, you must connect your HDMI cable directly to your AV Receiver.
AV Receiver to speakers
If you've hooked up your speakers with that 'free' roll of cable they came with you won't be hearing them at their best. When you do upgrade your speaker cable, be sure to use the same grade of cable for all the speakers. If some speakers perform better than others, the surround sound effect becomes less convincing.
AV Receiver to active (powered) subwoofer
Any 'free' phono interconnect cable included in the box probably isn't your best option. Upgrading this cable can make a difference, but it probably won't yield as much of a sound gain when compared to upgrading your surround sound speaker cabling.
Remember that an active subwoofer is self-powered and will need to be plugged into the mains. Try to keep your mains cord away from your phono interconnect cable, as this can cause an electric hum. Shielded cables prevent this.