Which audio cable is better for my current setup?

Question

I have a DVD player hooked up with regular RCA cables to my TV. My TV has a pair of audio cables hooked up to an A/V receiver which is hooked up to my stereo. I was thinking of upgrading to component cables (especially for the improved video quality). But i have been recently doing a little research on coaxil and optical cables, and I was wondering if it was worth it to use a coaxil cable for only a stereo setup, or if i should stick with the normal red and white audio cables.

Answer 1

You won't hear a lot of difference between rca audio and optical unless your runs are particularly long (25' or more). If you have hdmi inputs/outputs that's your best bet. Otherwise the component cables will be fine. Monoprice.com has excellent quality cables for reasonable prices.

Answer 2

Actually, component video is not a standard.  NTSC is a standard.  Also, component vid is not the second best, it is the third best.  RGBHV is the best form of analog video transmission, digital being the best.

Answer 3

i have my system hooked up like this......video is using red, green, blue hook up....audio is digital coax, its way better than red and white. it sends the proper signals to the proper speakers.......true surround

Answer 4

RCA cabes are analog.

Coaxial and optical are digital.

If your stereo can accept/decode a digital signal, then yes, you should use them.

Latest Dolby and DTS formats are all digital.

Answer 5

For your audio set up, even though it is only stereo , I would go with digital cable (either coaxial or optical) , because it keeps your audio signal in the digital domain, rather than composite cable (red & white), which is analog.

Answer 6

You are mixing apples an oranges here. Component is a video standard and gives the second best video you can get. HDMI is preferred because it is a digital transfer not analog like component.

Now onto sound. Only HDMI is capable of transmitting audio and video at the same time. Component hook ups require a separate audio cable or cables to deal with the sound. By far the best way to move sound is digitally, even with just a stereo set up. If you are going to spend the time and money to get the best picture you possibly can why would you not spend equal time on your audio?

Given the fact that cables of reasonable quality can be had for $10 and under a piece just run digital cables for all your audio needs. You will hear a huge difference between analog and digital sound. If you don't you either need better speakers or better ears, lol. There is a vast difference between digital audio and analog audio.

Another point is that you want to run a direct line from your sources to your AV receiver as well as a line from your TV digital audio output to your receiver's input.

In short run the video to your TV and the audio separately to your receiver from each source you are using. When the time comes and you upgrade your equipment this will be less of a problem as newer equipment properly decodes both audio and video over digital (HDMI) hookups but most older equipment does not.