High Tech Household

One of the biggest rackets in home tech is audio/video cabling. I recently got a shiny new LCD HDTV, and I wanted to upgrade the connection on our Nintendo Wii from an RCA composite cable (three plugs: yellow for video, red and white for stereo audio) to component (five plugs, three for video, two for audio) for progressive-scan video. I walked in to Fry’s and saw the Monster-brand item for about $50. Digging through the store, I found the MadCatz cable for $16. Sold.

So, sounds like I got a good deal, right? Monoprice.com has the same type of cable (as of this writing) for $3.36. Even with shipping, that’s a pretty huge savings. So how do some vendors charge $50 or even $16 for the same thing? The only things I can figure are laziness or ignorance.

An audio/video cable is basically just a length of insulated copper, so any claims of high-fidelity super-quality-iousness are generally bogus, except perhaps in the case of very long cables (as in, way more than the six feet needed in most home setups).

My Wii cable anecdote may have limited applicability, but as bad or worse is happening in the sales of HDMI cables. In general, you’re better off ordering audio/video cables online rather than being gouged at a brick-and-mortar retailer.