Your experience is typical for what I have found for consumer use. I have
set up systems for government agencies, surveillance systems, test and
observation labs, church organizations, productions houses, sales floors,
and consumer installations. Each setup has vastly different expatiations
and what is acceptable. Try projecting computer information up on a 15 foot
wall.
I tell the customer to put one hand over one eye, and squint the other -
Looks Great! Really, the lines are doing dances and colors are
psychedelic. It's not fair to stand 2 feet away from a 15 foot projection
and complain about fuzzy lines and images.
Hi-frequency roll off is always present, more or less, over 3 feet of cable
on computer boxes. They just don't have enough low z to drive much more than
a few feet before things begin to go funny. It becomes most noticeable
around edge detail. Pre-emphasis is often used in distribution amps to
compensate for this. Ringing is a big problem in cheep equipment and cable.
The signal reflects off of bad termination and shows up on top of the main
signal, like ghosting on off-air television reception.
Often, 'expensive' equipment / cable is in name only. You have to know your
vender. It is truly amazing how much difference good quality cable can
make. Oxygen-free crystalline-aligned copper wire can add 1.4 to 2db
increase in s/n ratio, and an extra mhz in hi-end frequency roll off. And
yes, I have seen cheep stuff do just fine for some installations.
Often when BIG MONEY was on the table, we would have an 'old fashion
shoot-out' between venders. They would bring in their boxes, projectors,
cable, whatever was needed. We would hook up systems in test configurations
and see what each could do. The venders, customer, sales reps, and
engineers (me) would all be their. I'd get out my test equipment, wiggle a
few knobs, kick a few boxes, trip on a few wires to see how everything would
hold up. It was fun. Trust in equipment is built over time through such
experiences.
Hum coupling only comes into play with runs around 50 feet or more. I have
run video feeds thousands of feet long around critical installations where
hum is a problem to contend with. Never run video/computer cables in the
same conduit that has power lines in them. You will be sorry.
You should try some oxygen-free crystalline-aligned copper Monster cable on
your sound system. You can hear a big difference in the low-frequency
delivery of sound. Same thing with audio runs, it is less susceptible to
noise pickup, can be run further without signal degradation, and is often
smaller in diameter compared to the competition. Often when I run small
installations, I like to purchase my audio/video/computer cables with ends
on them from quality venders I know have good stuff. One less problem to
contend with.
Unfortunately most people don't know or care about quality of the product
used in installations. They only like what they see and here and what the
bottom line is.
I guess I am rattling on.
William
