Last Christmas our "stereo" system consisted of a 20" inch ProScan TV, a $99 Hitachi VCR, and a 15 year old portable cassette deck. After the VCR broke and the cassette deck ate three of our Christmas tapes, my wife and I decided we needed an "upgrade".

In putting together the home theater system each time I would buy a component I would also buy good cables. Although there is a lot of information out there on various components there is little information on cables (except for the manufacture's hype). Since many of these cables run anywhere from $15 to $70 or more for one cable, when figuring all the cables needed I wondered if it was worth spending the money.

Last week the final pieces of the system arrived, the DVD and CD players (I'm still waiting for the Pronto that is backordered). In my frantic haste to set up the players I realized that I didn't have my good cables. Throwing caution to the wind I used the cables that was provided in the box. Where was the stunning picture and sound that I read about from these components? I was really disappointed with the DVD and CD players.

I debated about spending ANOTHER $100 bucks on three cables but since I'm already $3000 over budget hey-why not! What a difference! There was the great picture and cool music trapped in the cables. I would never have believed it if I hadn't experienced it. Many of you may already know this but for those of you who are like me just getting started spend some extra money for good cables. After this experience they really seem to be worth the investment. Any thoughts to the contrary?