HD Adapter

[ShadedNine]

Well, I cracked mine open today, and I'm sorry to announce that resoldering the component video connections is out. They're machine soldered, and far far too tight together at the connection point to get my iron in there to reattach better cables.

However, I did disable to stupid HDTV/TV switch, leaving it permanently set to HDTV...one less nuisance. As for extending/improving my cabling..I cut the cable near the adapter, and I'm soldering the appropriate wires onto longer/better cabling.

For those curious though, the wires themselves are well shielded, but a little limited in conductivity. From outside to in, inside the outer pvc shell there's a thin wire braid, most likely tin or nickel. Then there's a foil wrap, nothing unusual about it. All 6 wires are contained therein, but each one has another thin wire braid (same metal), to cut off any EMI from wire to wire within the cable. Then, each is wrapped in pvc shell, and the wire itself is stranded, again likely tin or nickel, and 22-24 AWG. The RCA connectors at the ends are no better. The visible connection itself is going to make a poor connection with the female RCA terminal, and the connector itself appears to be a solder job instead of a crimp-on.

So...is it worth it to rush out and buy the monster replacement? At their prices, I'd be inclined to say no. Hopefully other options will open up. But for the more technically inclined, a better wire can be made. More on that will come, but you'll need a soldering iron, some heat-shrink tubing, and ideally, a coax crimper. Just thought I'd share my progress so far.

Also in the works: splicing the microphone from the 360 and combining it with an actual audio signal to turn a regular PC headset into a fully functional mic and headphones combination. (since as you've probably realized, the "speaker" on the 360 headset is only for playing back other voices, and the whole thing is disgracefully cheap).

[l Maximus l]

Honestly, I would buy the Monster Cable just to save me the hassle of soldering and modifying cables with the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the cables, for the long-term, and to avoid any potential visual proverbial eye-sore.

But, at the same time, it's great that you have taken the time to discover practical shortcuts for the budget conscience.

[ShadedNine]

Honestly, I would buy the Monster Cable just to save me the hassle of soldering and modifying cables with the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the cables, for the long-term, and to avoid any potential visual perverbial eye-sore.

But, at the same time, it's great that you have taken the time to discover practical shortcuts for the budget conscience.

It's not so much about budget as it is quality and purpose. If It were as simple as buying a cable and plugging it in, I would have done so already. Unfortunately, my setup requires about 20' from media stand to the back of the projector, and it's running up a wall with a number of other high current wiring, including power. Plugging in an extension and adding a second cable to bridge the gap is pretty much out of the question, that will introduce a great deal of interference.

If they ever release a decent dongle system, where I can just plug my 20' component cables into it, I'll happily invest in that. That way I save the 10' of interference from a cheap cable, and can make the joint in an open area, as free of EMI as possible, but until then, I'll stick with my soldering iron

[F1Ox]

Yeah nice work dude!

[swivel]

Hey Shaded,

Is your projector ceiling mounted? If so, have you thought of moving some of your AV stuff to a floor-based projection center? I think it is worth it to have a piece of furniture behind the sofa to contain everything, unless your projector has a noisy fan.

Those long wire runs, even if it is stellar cable, is much worse for signal noise than a short Walmart cable, as you already know.

I feel your pain. I do AV work on yachts, and long cable runs are standard. Frustrating when you keep adding and removing components.

And thanks for the info on the included cables. Keep us posted on the headset.

[ShadedNine]

I don't use desk mounted for a number of reasons...one, it makes it that much worse when someone walks across in front, two, it requires a decent sized area of prime real estate between sofas for the image (especially since you don't want stray arms cutting off the picture), when I'm already short for sofa space as it is. Three, it's a rec room, meaning there's always chances of a pool ball, air hockey puck, even bottle caps flying off, and the unit is just that much safer on the ceiling. Four, occasionally, against my better judgement, children are allowed near it, and nothing fascinates them like shiny things and lights, and they will automatically want to touch the lens.

Anyway, I still have my media tower near the back, off to the side a bit rather than in front. It's only about 6 or 8 feet from the projo, but I need the extra length to run the wiring up the column, through the roof, and down through the mount to the projo.

Besides, long runs really aren't so bad if the cable is up to snuff, and the stuff I'm using is overkill for a 20' run.

[swivel]

children are allowed near it, and nothing fascinates them like shiny things and lights, and they will automatically want to touch the lens.

That's funny. Kids are like women, they are just drawn to the most expensive thing in any room.

I need to find a few EE papers for you regarding cable construction. I just read one that included a few double-blind tests, plus a ton of O-Scope work. They were comparing various cables to one another. It was a group of electrical engineers and audiophiles. Their conclusion was that the cable industry is ripping everyone off. Especially when it comes to reducing line noise.

[Salmonaitor]

I came really close to buying a projector for my basement. I knew I was definately sacrificing screen size when I made my decision, but in the end I'm happy with the decision I made, especially since I totally forgot about all the cable runs I would of had to have made.

[swivel]

I came really close to buying a projector for my basement. I knew I was definately sacrificing screen size when I made my decision, but in the end I'm happy with the decision I made, especially since I totally forgot about all the cable runs I would of had to have made.

Same. I went with a dedicated AV room instead. All my gear, plus TV are flush-mounted into a wall. A door leads into an air-conditioned room that allows access to the back of all my gear. One entire wall is a labeled set of drawers that hold all my extra cables, computer parts, adapters, etc. I wouldn't trade having this room, and not a single visible cable, for any extra amount of inches. Especially when my neighbor is having to sit 15 feet from his screen and replacing expensive bulbs.

I say go for quality over quantity. And just sit closer. The FOV is the same.