Good Inexpensive Coax Cable?

[Ragonix]

Blue Jeans Cable sells the Belden 1694A. $13.50 for 3 feet. Apparently it's their favorite digital coax cable. The guy from Blue Jeans wouldn't say that if it wasn't really good, right? Other big name audiophile cable companies like Nordost sell their coax cables for like $200. Is there really a difference in digital cables? You either get the bits or you don't, right?

 

[Ricey20]

there may be a subtle difference but when it comes to cables, diminishing hits really fast. BJC is probably the best bang for the buck unless you went DIY.
Too bad they dont make power cables

also Digital Cables
They have some pretty good and cheap stuff too

 

[tiggers]

Belden 1694A is considered to be one of the better RG6 types for video cables. It works very well for audio as well. When constructing my home theater I was looking at the DIY route at one point and I did find a few alternative cable types with similar specs for a little cheaper. I do have a few of the BlueJeans cables, and they are very well constructed and work great.

Having said that, I don't think it is necessary for a digital interconnect for such a short run, unless your other cables are also the same and you want to match. You might want to check out Monoprice as well.

 

[tiggers]

Actually, for a 3-ft run, you might try this cable set at PartsExpress on closeout. Yes, it is a composite cable, but video cables in general have a little higher specs to meet than audio, so it should work fine. Especially for an digital interconnect.

Don't let the price fool you. This is a closeout from Radioshack from a while ago. I have a couple myself. They are well constructed and work just fine. Plus, you get a bonus 3-ft optical cable

 

[infinitesymphony]

Go with the 1694A from BJC. The parts and methods they use will ensure that the signal impedance remains as close as possible to 75 ohms, which is the standard for digital S/PDIF transmission. Yes, it's possible to use any old RCA cable, but they aren't all equally good for the purpose of digital transmission.