If you're going to run your own studio, make your own cables. It's easy, it's a good learning excercise, and you'll feel oh so super cool. Buy a decent soldering iron (good Wellers are $40), buy some cable, and buy connectors. Canare, belden, mogami cable and neutrik or switchcraft connectors are all good and if you talk to someone at http://www.cameltraders.com
they will give you good advice on what to buy. There are tons of sites on the net that tell you how to make your own cables. It's cheaper and after you do, you should never have to buy any more.

Another great source for cable / connectors:

http://www.markertek.com

Tom

Thanks for the advice, I think I will build my own cables, but for now I need some good XLR cables quick. Being that I have no time to make/learn to make my own, I do have to buy a couple pairs, hopefully today. Please help if you have any suggestions. Thanks again for the info.

While I totally concur with "roll your own", I understand sometimes you need ready made. Monster is very overpriced, and I don't find they stand up to abuse as well as some of the "cheaper" brands.

If you can find them, for store bought XLR's, I really like the B.L.U.E. line. I've got a half dozen of the KIWI model (green) which is one of the more expensive of the line, but still a lot cheaper than Monster. For even less money they have Cranberry (red) and Blueberry (blue). I think they now have one color higher than Kiwi (Champagne?).

For really mass produced cables, which I often use on sound reinforcemnt gigs, some ProCo and Whirlwind models aren't bad.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot littledog. I'm looking into it as I write this. I also noticed that monster cables were a bit pricey for what they are. Also, do you need speaker cables to go from the XLR outs of a mixer to the XLR ins of a pair of active monitors? I just can't remember. I knew at one time when I bought my 1/4 inch cables for that same purpose, but now that I want to upgrade to XLR cables for sound quality reasons, I of course can't remember. Thanks again.

Most active monitors that I've seen (like Genelecs) have XLR inputs - a decent mic cable will work just fine.

"Speaker" cables are only used to go from a power amp output to a passive speaker input. They are two wire unshielded, and could use various kinds of connectors at each end, like unbalanced 1/4", banana plugs, Neutrik Speakon, or even bare wire.

You're the man littledog. That's what I thought, but some meathead from my music shop told me that "I think you might need speaker cables", so that got me pretty confused. Ok, about to redo my computer and hook up "the system" hehe. Thanks for your help.

Hey, TD - Yer busted, been shoppin' at GC again, huh? ("some meathead from my music shop told me that "I think you might need speaker cables", ") They really need to spend at least 5 minutes with their new hires - then, the poor guys might start out knowing the difference between a keyboard and a guitar. Oh well, at least when the guy goes back to work at K-mart next week, he won't have had any of his vast knowledge of cheap auto parts displaced by his half-vast knowledge of sound gear... Steve

GUILTY AS CHARGED KNIGHTFLY! HAHAHA. DAMNIT! I tried to slip it by, but nuttin gets past you guys. Sometimes you can get good deals there, that's the only reason I go there, I swear. I DRIVE BETTER WHEN I'VE BEEN TO GC! The audio addict that I am, I just can't resist. Yeah, now that K-Mart's bankrupt I think all the former GC employee's might starve. hehe.

GC is about the only game in my area, so I can't really completely boycott them, but their last advertising campaign has me swearing I won't buy anything more expensive than strings there.
"Gear of the Pros" is the theme, and lots of pictures of pop stars saying things like:
"There's basically no alternative to Guitar Center. It's the only place to go"
"Yeah I've been to the other places, but the people who work there are all jerks. All the nice people work at Guitar Center"
"You want a guitar, you go to Guitar Center, of course"
"Everybody who's anybody in the industry is at the Guitar Center"

I expect BS, but this for some reason really pushed me over the line. I could handle "you save money buying at" or some other half truth, but this "you have no choice" campaign is revolting to me, at least.
The whole way the music industry is intentionally misrepresented and misrepresents itself as a situation where hip stars (and YOU could be one!) run the show and make all the decisions seems to me criminally irresponsible.
Ted

In Boston there are actually a few people at Guitar Center who know some shit. One guy named PK actually sells "private stock" of high end new and vintage gear out of a little corner of the Pro Audio department. Could be that's a one-in a-kind situation for GC, though. Far worse is MARS music. I've yet to meet anyone even remotely knowledgeable there. It's a chain, but I don't know how nationwide they are at this point.

In general I like those stores only for quick pick-ups of cables, stands, cases, and accessories. Big ticket items I get from Parsons or Pro Audio Design because I can count on them for superior sales and tech support, including loaners when needed.

Yeah, that was the one.
Revolting and pitiful to think of a bunch of kids looking at a PT system and believing that Aerosmith used the 666's and the PT clock, then buying it with no payments until 2003- and in 2003 they will be in total arrears, just like they were supposed to be making payments all along, and didn't....

There are a few very very cool and knowledgeable people stuck with shitty day jobs at GC, and as individuals they can be valuable resources. No fault of GC's!
Ted