Why buy separate and expensive cables for home theater? What's wrong with the ones in the box?

The important thing in my eyes are the connections, not the cables. For example, if you connect your DVD player to your HDTV using a standard yellow RCA cable, your picture will be "OK" at best. If you use an HDMI cable, the picture will be great or even excellent. Same goes for the audio. Toslink optical cables and digital coaxial imputs are the best.

So basically, it's the connections more than the cables. This is a question most people ask when purchasing Home Theater Components. It's like asking...why are You changing the Rims and Tires and/ or Stereo on You Vehicle when it already has them? The answer is Performance! Did You know that cheap cables that come in the box can harm You system! Think of it like this... when You turn up the volume on Your Receiver and the Amps start pushing more and more power to Your Speakers is like switching on a light in Your Home. The current going through the light bulb is so great that the filament starts to glow. The same thing happens with cheap cables. In low volumes the current from Your Receiver doesn't affect the cables but when You begin the push the cables they get warm (Grab cheap cables after a min. or so) and where the weakest link is, the multi-wires in the cables begin to break from the amps/ current. (most cables in the box are only 26ga wire) What would happen if You put the same cables in a Car pumping out 500watts? Nothing because they'd disintegrate long before You hit 500watts. Remember...the more strands of wire, I only use 10-14ga on My Home Theater. the better the wire, use High Grade OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) and the shorter the runs, don't go over 3.0' for A/V Cables the better the Sound. The most you should spend is like $150, without a power conditioner. Just buy monster THX standard. the difference is the signal quality theres less noise, better power transfer, tighter bass, crisper highs, are some of the beefits of better cables.