RG-6 cable and other questions

[BOSS]

I had Comcast come out last night and the guy told me I had RG-59 cable from the line in to the house and from the splitter down to each tv. He said I am losing some signal because of that and should switch out the cable to RG-6 instead.

Any thoughts on that?

Second, I know monoprice is the preferred website for HDMI cables, but what specific HDMI cables do people recommend?

I'd go to AVS for this, but I find their website to be a little daunting to search through

 

[7Titles]

www.eforcity.com/hdmi13.html

Cheap USB cables there, but that doesnt mean they are good. I put some in my new house construction, but I havent used them yet. They seem like good quality.

As for the RG-59 I would avoid it for long runs like the guy said, but that is more from reading different crap than personal experience. Depending on how complicated it is to replace your RG-59 I would do it. It obviously is the labor and not hte cost of the wire.

 

[digitalhorn]

I don't know what the comparison is for impedance/ft. comparing the two, but I installed RG-6 cable for my TW cable modem myself.

IIR, it has increased shielding, which helps because with all the increased radio signals in the air, wireless accessories, etc. the cable will better able to reject interference so that the signal is cleaner at its destination, i.e. clearer signal to your TV.

 

[Ignatius]

RG-6 will provide a superior signal to RG-59, but whether or not it's noticeable will depend on the specific case. If your signal appears fuzzy/distorted, or (as the poster above suggested) it's not a big hassle for you to swap it out, I would do so; 500 ft. of quad-shield RG-6 will run you about $60 or so. However, if your picture looks fine to you, I wouldn't worry about it...
As far as the type of HDMI cable, I think everything on there is made by Monoprice (or at least Monoprice-branded), so I assume you're talking about the gauge, length, etc. Unless this is for an in-wall installation, you don't need CL-2 rated, so cross all of those off. Unless this is for a pretty long run (ie more than 10 feet or so), you'll be fine with the cheapest one that is long enough for your need. Anything over 10 or so, and I'd pay the extra $$ to get the thickest (ie lowest AWG number) possible, it's not that much extra...

Above all, do not waste your money on anything made by Monster...

 

[brntorng]

RG-6 outperforms RG-59 and should be used for new installations. If you currently have RG-59 installed and you're not losing too much signal due to attenuation, leave it alone. If you're seeing marginally too much attenuation then upgrading to RG-6 may be called for. However, before doing so, make sure all the connectors and splitters are high quality and properly installed. Also, a high quality distribution amplifier can overcome the problem in many cases.

I faced the same situation and TW replaced my already high quality distribution amp with an even better one, replaced all the connectors and splitters on my RG-59 that was in the walls, and upgraded all the easily replaced cable to RG-6. As a result, I gained enough signal to avoid having to pull new RG-6 through the walls.

 

[digitalhorn]

I'll add:

Yes, plz don't buy Monster for this type of application. These cables are made to a certain standard and its the interference rejection that you want because of the noisier environment we now live in. You can pick this stuff up at Home Depot and it just fine.

After TW came out to install the modem, they ran a test on the line and the tech said it was very clean and that I did a really good job on the install.