Composite, Component and Audio cables

[admin_exported]

I recently changed the audio hifi cables (small thin bits of wire originally supplied with the units many years ago) for my CD player (Marantz) , Tuner (Denon) and Amp (Denon) for Atlas Equator MkII cables and both my wife and I were impressed with the results (blind testing) and thought we would upgrade the sound surround interconnect cables. Fool that I am I ordered QED Qunex P-CV1 cables (very cheap at £15 which arrive tomorrow,too late to cancel) instead of a composite cable with an audio pair (i.e. Yellow, Red and White). However to try and rescue the situation I can not see that there is much difference in specification between a composite and component video cable (what is the difference? is a component cable just 3 composite cables stuck together with different colour codes?).

So

1. Can I use 1 strand of the component cable for composite, or is a true composite cable a better performer?

2. Can I use all the component cables for the audio/video (R,B,Y) and it will be just as good using any other type of composite/auido cable combination

3. Finally, am I wasting my time? Would the original bits of cable that came with the devices be just as good (I will blind test and let you know)?

I am mainly using the cables for 2 systems (Onkyo 605 to Humax and VCR (so 2 sets of cables) and Onkyo 876 to another Humax. I have noticed that I could use optical cable for some of the audio connections which would be even better, but leaving that aside i am interested in your views on the above.

Thanks for any information, all helps understanding!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

There are lots of different types of component video but the one most commonly referred to as 'component' is YPbPr. In this case the video is split into three components. These are luminance (brightness), blue and red. To make up a picture you need a green component as well, but this can be derived from the blue an red signals. In the case of composite video, colour and brightness information is encoded into a single signal. This makes it harder to decode and more prone to decoding errors. Component is better.

The best type of cable to use is determined by the frequencies you need to transmit. So for component and composite video, the same cable will work fine. Audio uses much lower frequencies, so while video cables (or any other electrical conductor) will probably work, they aren't ideal.

There are all sorts of different views on cable quality / upgrades. From my own experience, I'd say it's definitely worthwhile upgrading analogue cables, especially video and audio interconnect cables. It's not so worthwhile with digital cables.ÿ

 

[kena]

Can you not just contact company and return incorrect cable and order correct composite from them or was it a e-bay transaction.