Are "thin" coaxial cables just as good as the regular ones?

True Colors

Junior Member
Oct 7, 2010
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Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Your second link to regular coaxial cable is bad.

You need to know some specifications for the cable you want. Specifically, to compare cables, you need to know the internal resistance, capacitance and inductance /ft. or /meter.

Resistance is typically specified in ohms or milohms (1 mohm = 0.001 ohm) per unit of length. Resistance is linear resistance, which causes losses depending on the input impedance of the load, whether it's a preamplifier, a video input or a speaker.

Capacitance, specifically shunt capacitance, between conductors or to ground, is typically specified in picofarads (1 pF = 0.000001 uF) per unit of length. Capacitance is a non-linear impedance like resistance, except that its falls with frequency. Shunt capacitance interacts with the source impedance to cause high frequency roll off, delay and/or phase shift which can degrade analog audio and video signals and cause loss of sync or other phase related problems in digital signals.

Factors affecting cable capacitance include the guage of the wire, whether it's stranded or solid, the spacing between conductors (which affects the physical size of the cable) and the insulation material.

Inductance, specifically series inductance, is a non-linear impedance like resistance, except that its rises with frequency. Series inductance also causes high frequency roll off, delay and/or phase shift which can degrade analog audio and video signals and cause loss of sync or other phase related problems in digital signals.

Factors affecting cable inductance include the guage of the wire, whether it's stranded or solid, the spacing between conductors (which affects the physical size of the cable) and whether the conductor (or conductors in multi-conductor cable) are straight, spirally wound or double-spirally wound (like a DNA helix).

Evaluating the overall quality of cable more complex than any one specification because all of the above characteristics interact with each other and how much they affect performance also depends on the output impedence of the source and the input impedance, capacitance and inductance of the electronics at the receiving end.

All of this is probably more than you need to know if you can find some comparative specs for thin and standard cables and some reviews of their performance, preferably from real technical AV professionals, rather than "tweaky" "golden ears" sites more interested in promoting over-priced, over-packaged glitz and less interested in the electronics and physics of electrical conduction.
 
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bobdole369

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2004
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As far as analog/digital cable is concerned (and I'm assuming that you are) this cable will work for a good couple dozen feet. 25 feet should be OK. It's 26AWG coax, I used tons and tons of this stuff as component runs, some exceeding 50ft wrapped up in equipment racks. It's great.
 

True Colors

Junior Member
Oct 7, 2010
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I am not sure why the 2nd link in my original post did not work. I edited it and hopefully it is okay now.

I have Verizon digital TV service. There is a cable jack in the wall. I want to connect that jack to my High Def Tivo Premiere using a coaxial cable. The length of the cable needs to be 25 feet.

I saw the two cables above listed on amazon. But if you guys have any specific recommendations of alternatives that i should look at then I would appreciate your suggestions. I am willing to pay up to $30 or $40 to get the best cable for what I am trying to do.

Thanks,

TC