Every time I go to the Trade show in Montréal Salon Son & Image, I laugh at all of the setups, every single one. In all of the rooms, I always look at how the systems are hooked up, and I always see the same thing, everyone uses expensive cables to power their amplifiers and other equipment, these massive cables that are only six feet long and two inches thick. Then I get to wondering, how good is that power outlet that the cable is plugged into? We're in a hotel. What about a trade show hall, I am sure it is even worse, and with 50 other kiosks with high power home theater systems. That outlet must be 15 years or older, there is probably fatigued metal, who knows how corroded the wires are and in the wall probably has 14 gauge power cables. I can only imagine the mess of wires passing through the whole hotel, getting all sorts of electromagnetic static and distortion. Do they really think that a 500$ six foot power cable will make all the difference?
What your computer expects to get from the power grid (in the United States) is 120-volt AC power oscillating at 60 Hertz (see How Power Distribution Grids Work for more information). A computer can tolerate slight differences from this specification, but a significant deviation will cause the computer's power supply to fail. A UPS generally protects a computer against four different power problems
This quote from How Stuff Works is a good base line for my argument. It pretty much sums up what I am going target here. The power coming into your home is not always constant and stable, and retailers try to sucker the average consumer in to believing expensive cables can help.
The average consumer tends to over spend on the cables needed for their system. How good is the wiring in your home? Actually, better question, how old is it? I would start by looking at the power panel before anything, it will give you a good indication on what you're in for. Is it messy? over loaded? Call a professional to help. My dad had an electrician put a dedicated power line, almost straight from the box, using a 220volt source and made it into two 110volt outlets, and he got orange Hospital grade outlets good for 20+ amps of draw to power his whole setup.
I'm not saying that I am the reference for all that is Home Theaters, but it bugs me when everyone tries to justify any type of cable that is more than 50 bucks. They can argue about the material that is used but they are often empty promises. So they used gold on the connectors, I get it, gold is expensive, but is it gold plating? The cable is long, 25 feet, it needed shielding, I get it, expensive to properly shield a wire (or is it?). Those are somewhat valid arguments, butI have seen people MAKE custom cables and they cost no more than 75$ only because they were silver plated and shielded. When I look at my 12 guage power cable I am using on my PC (not the 16guage standard ones that come with powersupplys) the connectors are the same, and i paid 15$. At the show, i saw the same type of power cable, but it was is more than 1 inch thick and had the same plastic connectors, don't bullshit me and tell me it will give me better power to my computer. The power can only be as clean as the path it travels from the electrical box.
I plan on being as much as possible "off the grid" as possible (of course depending on the price for all of the items) when I move into a house. I have seen many shows on Plasma TV, but they all had the regular homes, no powerful electronic equipement that would be in a Home Theater, until I saw a cool post on Engadget: Solar power your home Theater setup! I live in Montréal, I am sure there is a local vender for Solar panels that are meant for roofs and can survive the harsh winters, in the summer i would use the solar panels and batteries, and I guess in winter depend on Hydro Quebec. When I mean off the grid, i hope to come as close as possible to what Ed Begley Jr. has, he is 90% off of the grid in California, his roof is practically all solar panels, rain water is used for his toilets and a few other great goodies I wish to do. It will be better for the environment, less of a carbon footprint and better for my bills if I am self sufficient! I am just worried: how good can two feet of snow on top of a solar panel be? I should look for a house near a fire station...
If you are having problems at home with your power, or your breakers often pop, start with the basics. Get a professional to look at your power box or wiring, how old is the house? I hope you still don't have the fuse type electrical box (it is 2009, come on!) How is the grounding in your home? It can make a big difference. An alternative in the mean time is to get a good uninterruptible power supply (UPS), or even making one from car batteries, it can help with the 'dirty' power from the outlet. Hardware Secrets has a great article about UPS units and Grounding. Get a good power bar with built in Surge Protection, for more tips, Hardware Secrets has details of what to look for. There are also Power Conditioners, but this is really if you have a serious problem, prices are pretty high for a good unit, might as well have an electrician's opinion before getting one of these. If you do decide to shop for one, my only tip, don't be cheap about it. Get a good unit, and it will last a long time and protect your hardware.
I didn't really touch the cabling for Speakers, there are many articles that claim there is less discoloration in the sound when you use specific materials, that copper based cables can give you a deeper bass, silver gives better crisper sound for the tweeters, and that instead of braiding cables that separating them is better. I am not a scientist, I can only go with what I read. Make sure you get your information from a reputable source. Byston have a good article on their website here for audio cables between speakers.
Remember folks, don't over spend on cables, I can not stress this enough! Look at what type of material and gauge was used to make the cable. Don't go to big box stores for cables, but go take a look at electronic stores, you can find many gems!
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