Improved colour saturation and picture detail.

A subtle improvement

I've only had a chance to review a couple of movies (Star Wars Definitive version and Forbidden Planet) and notice an improvement especially in colour saturation. A reasonably priced product and a favourable first impression, but I wouldn't call it a home run product. I'm hoping after a month or two of burn-in and more movie watching it will reveal even better performance.

My audio equipment:

Pioneer CLD-D504 laserdisk player

Toshiba 50HX70 High-def ready big screen TV

Similar Products Used:

Sony s-video and generic s-video cables

Great picture and quality construction

A little pricey ($180 for 3 S-Video cables)

This cable is great. I ordered one to try on my satellite receiver and I was really amazed at the difference. I was so pleased that I ordered two more. The cable also brought out more detail in my dvd picture. Everything seems so crisp and clear. Ordering from the website was a good experience. I will definitely buy from them again when I upgrade to a tv that has component inputs.

Similar Products Used:

Monster Cable S-Video Cable

performance, value

not really a weakness, but my fiancee didn't think they looked as impressive as some of the much more expensive audiophile cables she's seen in her dad's system...

Last fall, I replaced the cables between my DVD player and TV with BetterCables' original S-video cables, with amazing results. When I put a TV in the bedroom recently and set it up with digital cable, I decided to put a good S-Video cable on it (yes, I'd been that pleased with the original BetterCables s-video). In the process, I replaced all of the Monster Cable s-video in my main system -- I moved the existing BetterCables S-video to the digital cable and VCR, and put new Silver Serpent on the DVD-to-receiver, receiver-to-TV, and the new TV in the bedroom.

So what did I think of the Silver Serpents? Initially, I saw little benefit, but then a month or two later I rented a couple of movies and sat down after work one day to watch Dungeons and Dragons (wondering if it was as bad as I'd heard). I noticed that it appeared to have one of the best transfers I'd ever seen -- very film-like and vibrant. I enjoyed the transfer more than the movie for the latter half of the disc, but found myself wondering if it might actually be the Silver Serpents breaking in. I tossed in some other discs to check on it. Turns out I'd been giving the disc more credit than it deserved: the Silver Serpents were responsible, providing a more smooth, film-like image. It took probably 20 hours to really get them broken in and see all of their potential.

Similar Products Used:

BetterCables premium S-Video, Monster Cable s-video, Radio Shack s-video

Video Clarity and Accuracy

None

These cables are worth the modest expenditure for "high-end" cables. They have really made a difference in my Dish Network picture as well as my SVHS picture from my JVC SVHS VCR. My Toshiba 27h95, which has been calibrated via Video Essentials, really shows a crisp, accurate picture. The difference between these cables and the Monsters aren't huge but still discernible. Given more break-in time, the picture should improve even more. The customer service at this company is excellent with speedy delivery and great support. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Monster Video 3 S-Video

Built quality.

None.

This cable is awesome. As soon as I replaced the link between the Dish Network reciever, the VCR, (JVC SVHS), and the TV (Sony 27" non-XBR) everything came to life. The blacks were blacker, the colors more vibrant. My girlfriend even noticed! The build quality is as good as I've seen.

Similar Products Used:

Bundled cables, Apple ADB keyboard cable.

Improvements in color, detail, and black levels. "As advertised" impedance and capacitance superior to anything else I've found at this price point (although I didn't independently test these). An excellent value.

Within the limits of my system, none.

In my video system (Sony DVP-S9000ES DVD player, Mitsubishi SVHS, 32" Sony WEGA, and Pioneer Elite VSX-27 Receiver), I bought one Silver Serpent S-video cable for the tape player, and was so impressed with the improvement that I have now replaced all of my S-video connectors with the BetterCables product. While The S-video quality is still not equal to the component connections for DVD (and it shouldn't be!), it is certainly much closer than before--the dropoff in picture quality is much less noticeable.

Similar Products Used:

OEM, Monster Cable.

Better general picture clarity, apparent improvement in picture resolution, deeper blacks, more vivid colors

Price is a bit high

I was somewhat skeptical about upgrading my "in-the-box" S-Video cable that came with my Sony DVP-550D DVD player, but I needed an upgrade to a digital coax audio cable for my new receiver, so I decided to go ahead and order a Silver Serpent S-Video cable from BetterCables. And I am ever glad that I did!! The video clarity is definitely improved. The colors are more vivid, the blacks are "blacker", and the general resolution apears better, as well. I thought the picture was already pretty good with the original cable, but the BetterCable Silver Serpent makes my 8-year-old 35-inch Mitsubishi look better than ever. I haven't received my new receiver yet, but if I see the same level of performance from the BetterCable Silver Serpent digital coax that I see with this S-Video cable, then I will be very satisfied with my purchase. The cost is somewhat higher than I really wanted to spend on a cable, but not really worse than other "big name" brands like Monster Cable. I don't know what kind of improvement one would see on a smaller screen, but if you have a nice big-screen TV of 32-inches or more, then I highly recommend the BetterCables Silver Serpent S-Video Cable!

Similar Products Used:

"in-the-box" cable included with DVD player

This one is the new Serpentine cable. Great finish, fantastic appearance, solid build.

Uh, doesn't cost as much as others, so I can't brag that I spent a month's salery on this cable

Got to love this cable, right out of the box. Surrounded in a really cool(and supposedly useful) serpentine cable wrap. What a comparison with my Radio Shack cables. Old cables were about the thickness of a noodle. New guys are thickness of thick crayon. Picture is cleaner, but again, not reinvented. Bot this cool player for its clean construction, strong shielding and clean/tight connections. For the price, this is a "know" brainer. Please feel free to email for more info. Mike

Similar Products Used:

Radio Shack cable

Quality casing, flexable, look good

I've only been using this cable for about 2 weeks, but I am less than impressed. I was using a MIT RCA cable to connect my Satellite reciver to my TV before I bought this cable and I will probbaly go back to it.
I figured it was time to take the plunge and spend the money on a quality S-Video cable but couldnt really afford to spend $100+ on a cable from Monster or MIT, so I tried BetterCables.com.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a bad cable, I'm just saying not to listen to all the hype on how these cables will outperform other cables costing twice as much.
I got what I paid for a $50 S-Video cable. The colors on the MIT RCA cable were much better. As was teh picture quality.
I have the family over my house each Sunday to watch the Sopranos on HBO. This week they were all asking me what was different about my TV--the picture looked grainier and not as clear. That tells me that my experiment is up and I'm going back to my old cable. These are non audio/video enthusiest and even they realized that the great picture I get on my Sony XBR400 was worse this week.
If you are starting off with nothing, then these cables are a first great step for the price. If you are buying them to upgrade your Monster Cables, then save your money (unless you have the really crappy Monster Cables). Personally I would only recommend the only the top of the line Monsters or the MIT Terminators. They are what I've been using and will keep using. This only happaned when I tried to save a few dollars!

Similar Products Used:

Monster, MIT, standard cables

full vibrant colors, low cost

gotta wait for delivery

I'm very impressed by this cable. I recently added an SVHS VCR to my home theater, and decided to compare this cable to the Monster cable I'm using for my DVD, and keep the better of the two on the DVD, and the lesser (if I were to keep it) on the VCR. I honestly didn't realize what a difference this cable would make until I compared the two. The Bettercables cable is, needless to say, on the DVD player, while the comparitively unimpressive Monster is on the VCR. One of the keys in this comparison is that these two cables cost are about the same cost, but the performance is totally different.

The Bettercables S-Video cable provided much deeper colors, better blacks, and greater detail. To test blacks and detail, I used several chapters from Eyes Wide Shut, which tends to be a very dark film. I immediately noticed greater color contrast and deeper blacks, along with better detail. I also used Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me to test colors and detail once again. The colors were suddenly much more vibrant (not that this film really needs more vibrant colors, but it is what was truly intended) and detail was once again much better. Fleshtones were more realistic and fully colored, while details in Austin's and Felicity's face while listening to Elvis C and Burt B were much more apparent.

I'm very impressed. I ordered the cables on Friday morning, and they arrived to my NJ home with the Thursday UPS run. Brad at Bettercables offers a terrific 6 month satisfaction guarantee and lifetime performance warranty, so its safe to just try it out. If it doesn't make a difference, all you are out is a couple bucks for shipping a small item.

Similar Products Used:

Monster M500, basic S-video cable