Home Theaters

    When putting together the killer home theater system, special attention is paid to the screen, the speakers, the electronics, and possibly even the furnishings in the room before the connections between equipment.

    Wiring is something that escapes the thoughts of many today. I’m not sure why it is so, because in the time when a really fine audio system was what most people strived to achieve, audiophiles knew the incredible importance of having quality cables. If someone used just any connection, the cables were indeed the weakest point.

    A quick trip over to the Monster Cable web page will show that there are all levels of speaker wires, interconnects, and toslink cables to be had. Monster was there in the cable revolution of the late 70s, and the company is still there with quality products in every price range.

    Another player in the game is a bit harder to find, but is no less important, as some of their first designs pushed the people at Monster to produce better stuff way back in the beginning. Kimber Kable is that player, whose speaker wires and interconnects are well known for amazing quality at fair prices.

    Ask anyone who has been into sound for any amount of time about the Kimber Red, which was their first ultimate cable. It consisted of literally hundreds of strands of high purity copper, woven into a special braid configuration, with a diameter of about 2.5 inches! This was serious stuff, and sold for about eighty dollars per foot back in the 80s. Red seems to have been discontinued, as the demand was always low, and the cost high. There are several new cables, and some old favorites. 8PR is an old favorite, that never fails to impress, both sonically and visually.

    When connecting components, many will be using toslink cables. For that, Monster makes a fine line of optical cables, of various lengths. Kimber also has an optical cable line, which it manufactures from medical grade fiber. Either will be a good choice, giving much better performance than bargain cables, because of the care taken in the construction.

    One last thing, if buying bulk speaker cable, be sure to buy the proper connectors, whether they are spade lugs, banana plugs, or something else. Also, a proper tool for spade lugs will be needed, so that the connection point does not oxidize and affect the sound. If you have never used spades, or a crimper, ask the seller to give you a short demonstration of how to prepare the wire. It will only take a moment, and they usually will be more than happy to do it.

   Quality cables cost more than the cheap stuff, but it sounds better, and it lasts much longer. With many of the Monster or Kimber products, if you buy pre-terminated cable, the warranty is lifetime.