Page 1 of Gold Scart lead

I`ve just bought one of the `Gold` scart leads as they are supposed to be better. Is this a con or what as my picture and sound look exactly the same as with my cheapo scart lead ?

I`ve always been led to believe that gold, in itself,does not mean a better lead.
What I`ve always been told to look for is oxygen free and fully shielded.
I, and others on this forum, buy scarts from the B-Tech range sold by beyondhifi.com. Their ribbon scarts are especially cool and make an immediate difference to picture and sound quality.
Superb service and brilliant prices. Only a tenner for a ribbon scart that your local Currys/comet/argos would probably charge £30 for.

Ok. Then again this was only an Argos one for a Tenner! They also do a standard one for a fiver.

Again, I`ve been led to believe it`s the actual `cable` that makes the difference, not the connectors.
None of the scarts I`ve ever bought are gold, but they are superb and worth every penny. Gold, on it`s own, is perhaps a bit of a gimmick I think.

Definitely a gimmick. "Ooh look! It`s real gold!" ;-)

Gold is only of an advantage if the pins of the SCART socket are also gold, and even then it`s a very marginal one.

The real reason for these gold-plated, diamond-encrusted, snake-oil-coated plugs is to add "perceived value" to the product - I`ve seen gold-plated plugs with the crappiest, stringiest cable connected between them.

There`s a lot of bollocks and voodoo floating around regarding cables, to the extent that people with £200 TVs and £60 DVD players are persuaded to buy £50 IXOS leads! In fairness, the IXOS cables are very good, but hardly a cost-effective upgrade for owners of budget-priced equipment. I would advise anyone considering a SCART cable upgrade to get a really cheap cable (such as the ones that Poundland sell for £1) and then do an A-B comparison.

Mike

This item was edited on Wednesday, 8th January 2003, 12:07

Hi,
I agree with Mike G. Unless you`ve got real decent equipment, upgrading your cables wont make an iota of difference. Only if you have a spaghetti junction of cables coming out of all your equipment need you look to buy decent sheilded oxygen free cabling to eliminate or reduce interference from other cables, including the power leads.

I`ll second (third? fourth?) the general opinion here, it`s the cable that matters.

Gold is used for the connectors as it oxidises (rusts) slower than the standard cables. Use a multi-meter to test if theres any resistance in the cable from one end to the other - the gold makes no difference at all. I`ve never seen a silvery pinned scart lead rust and I have a couple of bent ones that I`ve had for well over a decade.

Saying that, the good leads I`ve got do happen to be gold plated, but it`s the inside that counts, the oxygen free-ness and the shielded cable to keep out the nasty interference!