Opition of QED's SQART scart leads please [Archive]

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jimmy_b

08-01-2002, 15:57

I'm looking for a better quality scart lead than my £4 Argos job I have had for years now. I made a visit to my local independent DVD/Hi-Fi store. The sales person said something along the lines of "we only sell these scart leads" (showing me the rack of scart leads) "they're the best you can buy, you'll not get any better than this" Wow I thought they look really cool, and then I read the spec, WOW they sound like the Rolls Royce in scart leads. "How much?" I enquire

£50 :eek:

I make my excuse and leave the store. I'm not spend £50 on a scart lead.. until the consult the forums that is ;)

Well I have been looking on the manufactures web site http://www.qed.co.uk/main.htm and they seem to justify this price. But before I slap this on the Credit Card, am I really making the best use of my cash? Has anybody else got one of these scart leads and care to voice their opinion of them.

I have to say they are the best looking scart lead I've ever seen!
But are they the best quality scart lead I've ever seen?

MikeK

08-01-2002, 16:19

Are they good - yes
Are they worth £50 - no chance!

(well not unless you've spent £10000 on home cinema gear, want the very best and money no object)

See if they'll let you borrow one on sale or return. If not, ask them to demo one.
See if you can really see a difference between this and a decent £10 one from somewhere like CPC.

You will probably be able to see a difference between either of the above and an ultra cheapie though, which is no doubt what they would demo it against.

Alanok

08-01-2002, 16:21

The universal answer is this often asked question is yes and no unfortunately. Some people swear by them and genuinelly see the difference between a £50 and £10 scart lead. Whether this is down to superior manufacturing etc or just blinded by price who knows. Other's say (and i'm one of them) that a £10 scart lead from someone like beyondhifi (www.beyondhifi.net) does exactly the same job.

I would recommend you borrow some expensive scart leads from the shop in question and compare them to your existing scart or to a £10 gold plated scart from beyondhifi. See if the £40 difference is worth it. Me.....I would say save the £40 and get some film's.

Alanok

08-01-2002, 16:22

God damn busy server:mad: :D

GarethH

08-01-2002, 17:57

I started with a Gold Plated Scart Lead from Maplins which are pretty solid and are fully shielded with OFC and stuff. Picture was pretty damm good. I then changed to the QED RGB Only SQUART Range which cost me £35 (got it cheap from Mail Order).

After spending 20 Minutes just to fit the huge super solid plug into my TV, I finally managed to get it into the socket. Fired up my Best Picture DVD's and WOW what a difference. I can't really explain the difference but I just stood back and went WOW!!!

Get the QED, might as well!

John_bones

09-01-2002, 00:04

If you've got it flaunt it as Mikek says see if you can get one sale or return. Be cheeky and ask for a discount, accessories in the electrical trade generally have v. high profit margins.

My belief is that there is a major improvement on my setup over a fully shielded scart. As an upgrade I think my £50 was money well spent because it's a damn sight cheaper than a new DVD player or TV. Value for money depends on what else you can do to get the same improvement.

RGB only or fully wired including S-VHS? I went for a fully wired as it leaves both options open. If in the future you decide to upgrade your TV, DVD or both if the performance increases in S-VHS to the point where you prefer it then you don't want to go and get a new £50 Sqart.

tuco

07-03-2002, 21:43

GarethH, mind telling me where you got one for £35 ?

Sheepking

08-03-2002, 00:39

Try Here (http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/warehouse/details.asp?ProductID=QEDAV2105) :D

GarethH

08-03-2002, 07:02

Nah you want the RGB only lead!

Looks like its gone up to 42.99 though :(

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/warehouse/details.asp?ProductID=QEDAV4110

jimmy_b

08-03-2002, 11:27

Forgot all about this thread. Well I did go for the QED scart in the end, managed to get it for £25 :)

Its really makes you think WOW look at that picture! Even tried it on a 14" screen and you can even see an improvement on that! So glad I plumped up the cash now :clap:

kaneda

08-03-2002, 12:21

and where might i ask did you get one for £25 ;)

tuco

08-03-2002, 12:31

£25 ?? fall off the back of something did it ? :)( link please ) how come the rgb only scart, costs the same as one fully wired ?

jimmy_b

08-03-2002, 15:24

Originally posted by tuco
£25 ?? fall off the back of something did it ? :)( link please )
Before I get branded the forums Del Boy, a local DVD/HIFI shop did it for a special price as I purchased a DVD player at the same time. :cool: So if you are planning to purchase some new equipment and are in the Worhting area then give Phase-3 HIFI a shot :)
No I don't work for them before you ask.

JamesW

08-03-2002, 18:10

I got one of those a year ago, but with my system (Toshiba 2109 player and a Panasonic 28PK3 TV) I didn't notice much, if any, difference over my existing £10 effort. Looks nice though. ;)

tuco

09-03-2002, 21:02

Well, one rgb only QED on the way, thanks for the link Sheepking.

SOUNDSTYLE

11-03-2002, 13:21

I had a £20.00 scart and changed it for a top of the range Ixos and I could see a sharper picture straight away.
It's worth paying a bit more for your scarts I say.

tuco

11-03-2002, 13:25

Mine arrived this morning, apart from being a total ****** to get in the back of the tv it made a big improvement to the quality of the picture.

punisher46

11-03-2002, 13:39

Does this cable only make a big difference on expensive equipment.

I have a Sony trinitron flat screen 29" (super sharp picture) and a pioneer 444 dvd player.

jimmy_b

11-03-2002, 15:50

MikeK

11-03-2002, 16:07

Originally posted by punisher46
Does this cable only make a big difference on expensive equipment.

I have a Sony trinitron flat screen 29" (super sharp picture) and a pioneer 444 dvd player.

No - it really depends on what lead you are already using.
If it's a freebie (thin 6mm or 8mm diamater cable with cheapo black plastic SCART plugs) then you'll probably see an improvement straight away with just about any equipment.
On the other hand, if you are already using a decent quality lead, then it may not make much, if any, difference at all.

The problem is that you can only really tell whether the lead you are currently using is any good by comparing it against one which is kind of known for being good - something like the QED Squart.
I borrowed one a while ago, and there was no difference between it and my home-made leads (about a tenner each all in). It certainly wasn't any worse either though.
It is however definitely a lot better than the cheapo freebie ones (like the one we use at home in the bedroom for VCR-TV).

I think they are good, but they aren't really worth £50.
If you can pick them up for £25, then obviously the VFM stakes go up quite a bit. The one I tried was a fully wired jobbie, so I can't say whether the RGB only one is better still.

nickwall

11-03-2002, 18:51

Anyone know what these TechLink leads are like from Beyond Hifi (http://www.beyondhifi.net/shopping/MoreInfo.asp?ProductID=643&CatID=283)? Reasonably cheap, and listed as 'professional' quality...

Also see the scart cable on this page (http://www.techlink.uk.com/techlink%20products/home_cin/home03.html).

Just got a Marantz 4100OSE player, and would like to improve the connections, but not really into paying for a QED Sqart or similar.

Any opinions?

tuco

11-03-2002, 21:30

One other thing i've noticed is this, i used to get faint wavy lines appear when i used the rgb output( dvd/ps1/ps2 ) & now they're gone:) as i have the ps2 plugged into the rgb scart pass-through on the dvd, it's gone from the ps2 as well.